Category: Class schedule

Chem 201 will experiment with a new schedule in Fall 2012 (but Chem 202 will stick with the traditional schedule). So for 201 only:

• Two lecture sections to choose from: MW 3:10-4:20 OR TuTh 10:30-11:50. They will cover identical material. The only difference is when they meet. Students are asked to attend only the section that they have signed up for, but this rule will be relaxed in case of student illness. So preregister for one section.
• No conferences (but Chem 202 will have Thursday conferences)
• Lab days are MTF, 1:10-5:00 (no W lab in the fall). Students are asked to attend only the section that they have signed up for. It is not unusual for students to swap lab sections during the first week of the semester (and if enrollments are sufficiently high, we will add a fourth lab section, but we aren't there yet). Preregister for one lab section.
• Lab lecture has moved to F 9:00-9:50. Attendance at lab lecture is not required and I will permit students to sign up for other 9 AM classes that might conflict with the lab lecture. That said, you are still responsible for all of the material presented in lab lecture and I strongly discourage students who have a conflict from taking the F afternoon lab.

The prerequisites for Chem 201 are Chem 101/102, lecture + lab, or their equivalent. Students who have not completed the prerequisites cannot preregister for 201. This includes students who plan to take the equivalent of 101/102 during the summer.

Students need to provide evidence of satisfactory completion of summer (or other transfer) courses to Reed's Registrar's Office before SOLAR will allow them to preregister for Chem 201. No exceptions. However, I will allow students to use the following loopholes at the end of the summer/start of the Fall semester so that they can pre-register and settle their schedule and so that we can get a more accurate count of enrollment:

• End-of-summer loophole #1: if you bring me a signed note on Th-F, Aug 23-4, from your summer introductory chemistry instructor (email is also acceptable) that says you have completed the entire intro chem sequence, lecture and labs, with grades of C- or better, I will override SOLAR's prerequisite requirement so that you can preregister for Chem 201. You will still need to file your transfer documents with the Registrar's Office ASAP.
• End-of-summer loophole #2: if you are taking intro chem at PSU this summer, your final exam will probably be held Aug 24 so you probably won't have a final grade until classes start at Reed. If you believe that you are earning a passing grade in lecture and lab going in to your final week of PSU classes, simply ask the instructor(s) of your third term lecture and lab to email me your academic status ("status" means confirming that you passed the first two terms of intro chem lecture/lab + confirming that there is a highly likelihood that you will pass the third term lecture/lab). You will still need to file your transfer documents with the Registrar's Office ASAP once they become available.

Students who want to earn one unit of credit for Chem 201 in Fall 2010 must sign up for four activities:

• lecture (MWF 9-10 AM)
• conference (choose from Th 9:30, 10:30, 12, 1 and always attend the same conference)
• lab lecture (Th 6:10-7 PM)
• lab (choose from MTuW 1-5 PM and always attend the same lab)

It is not unusual for certain conferences and labs to fill up during pre-registration; the Tu lab was particularly popular last fall. It is also not unusual for students to change their plans during the summer and want to change sections, add the course, or drop the course, during fall pre-registration. To add to the general uncertainty, I have no idea how many students will pre-register for the course in the spring.

Here are some common pre-registration requests and my customary responses:

• I cannot override the enrollment caps on conference and lab. The lab situation is simple: we only have room for 24 students in each lab section and not one person more. The conference situation is more complicated. We will reassign students to conferences in the fall to make sure that each conference has roughly the same enrollment.
• I cannot override the Chem 101/102 prerequisite for students who haven’t completed these courses. This includes students who plan to complete these courses during the summer. If you complete the prerequisite during the summer and your institution is “slow” to send a transcript of your summer work to Reed, have your summer instructor send me a note (email is fine) that you have passed these classes and I will override the prerequisite requirement during pre-registration in August.
• I will approve conflicts with the lab lecture on Th evening. However, I do this only with the mutual understanding that the student accepts full responsibility for any missed material. I will not give make-up lectures, explain parts of lecture, provide copies of my lecture notes, and so on, to students who miss class because of a conflict with another activity.

If a student finds that a must-have lab or conference section closes during pre-registration, I recommend the following: first, pre-register for courses assuming that the section will stay closed (call this Plan B), and second, contact me during the August pre-registration period and explain which “closed” section you want to enter and why, i.e., give me Plan A. The Registrar and I will use our (limited) powers of persuasion to move students around and accommodate requests.

Welcome back!

Chem 202 pretty much picks up right where Chem 201 left off: same book, same rooms, same hours. There are some important changes, however, so please check out the following.

• Lecture. My role will be reduced. Pat McDougal will take over all of the lectures and all that that entails (homework assignments, exams, and so on).
• Conference. Pat and I will swap conference sections. He will direct the morning sessions and I will direct the afternoon sessions.
• Lab. I will continue on in the Tuesday lab, and Pat will take over the Monday and Wednesday labs.
• Online materials. Pat will distribute assignments in whatever way he likes best, but with only one important exception: he won’t use this website. The exception is the online lab manual. This manual includes all of the experiments currently planned for Chem 202.

If you have questions about how Chem 202 will operate, please direct them to Pat (Rm. 420, ext. 7206, Patrick.McDougal@reed.edu)