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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
American Chemical Society Post-Baccalaureate Bridge Program (ACS-BP)
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Background:
The American Chemical Society Post-Baccalaureate Bridge Program (ACS-BP) is a credentialed post-baccalaureate bridge experience modeled in accordance with the ACS Bridge Project, which integrates culturally responsive practices into the program curriculum to provide alternative pathways to graduate programs in the chemical and/or biochemical sciences for students from underrepresented/minoritized (URM) groups in STEM. 1 Accordingly, the ACS-BP is tuition-free and offers a competitive salary, housing stipend, and health insurance for the full two years of the program. The goal of this structure is to enable students the space to fully engage, relax into their STEM identity, focus, and thrive while getting high-quality, rigorous preparation for graduate programs in the Chemical and/or Biochemical Sciences.
Advantages of this Program:
Graduate admissions decisions rely heavily on a student’s upper-division electives, hands-on teaching experience, immersive research experiences, and scientific literacy skills. The ACS-BP provides depth and breadth of opportunity for students in each of those critical areas while introducing students to the graduate school experience. The program curriculum is modeled after the first two years of a graduate program, but unlike grad school, we provide at least three tiers of mentorship for each student to ensure holistic, comprehensive support while they’re discovering their graduate school path. Formal and informal networking and collaborative research interactions are also included to provide students with a wealth of opportunities to interact with the broader scientific and URM-centered STEM communities.
Curriculum Specifics:
During the first year, each student completes advanced undergraduate coursework, an effective college teaching experience, graduate school and research support coursework, and research rotations. Students gain invaluable experience and insight while they prepare for the second phase of the program: an Immersive Research Internship. The Immersive Research Internship begins in the second half of their second semester when students transition to hands-on laboratory research with a principal investigator at MSU Denver or a partnering graduate institution for the remainder of the program. During this time, the students create and iteratively refine a poster and an oral presentation on their research project through scheduled presentations at MSU Denver and partnering institutions. The ACS-BP culminates in a capstone project wherein the students prepare a thesis or publication-quality document on their research and present their final poster and oral presentation to a panel of program mentors.
Notes:
- While this program is specifically designed for students from URM groups in STEM, we recognize that there are many ways that people can be systemically affected in today’s society. Therefore, any student who has experienced overwhelming circumstantial disadvantage and associated resource needs is encouraged to apply.
- Additionally, if students are admitted to and attend graduate school at one of our partner universities, a portion of the ACS-BP coursework is designed to directly transfer as credit toward their graduate program.
- The minimum passing grade for the undergraduate-level curriculum in this program is a C-, and the minimum passing grade is a B- for courses that will transfer into a subsequent graduate program (due to the requirements of our partnering graduate programs).
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ACS-BP Program Requirements (19.5 credits)
To complete the ACS-BP certificate program, each student must complete 19.5 credit hours of coursework as outlined in the categories below. The specifics of the program timeline and curriculum category specifics are described in more detail in the following sections. Program Credit Categories | Credit Hours/Course | Required Credits/Category | Internship I/II: T1 Mentor | 0.5 | 3 | Effective College Teaching in Chemistry: T2 Mentor | 0.5 | 1 | Graduate School and Research Support Coursework | 0.5 - 1 | 3.5 | Research Rotations | 0.5 | 0.5 | Immersive Research Internship: T3 Mentor | 0.5 - 2 | 5 | ACS-BP Research Capstone | 0.5 | 0.5 | Advanced Undergraduate Coursework* | 2 - 4 | 6 | Total Credits for the Program | 19.5 |
*For this certificate program, students must complete 6 credits of advanced undergraduate coursework in addition to/ or to replace the coursework completed during their bachelor’s degree. For that reason, transfer credits will only be assessed on a case-by-case basis under outstanding circumstances.
Year 1 - Semester 1 (1.5 - 8.5 credits)
During the first semester, students work closely with their Tier 1 and Tier 2 mentors to plan their course through the program, learn teaching practices, and begin to plan for graduate school admission processes. This is a good time to complete the specified electives in the Advanced Undergraduate Coursework and Graduate School and Research Support Coursework categories. Year 1 - Semester 2 (3.5 - 10.5 credits)
During the second semester, the program begins to ramp up as students continue to work with their Tier 1 and Tier 2 mentors to define their graduate school trajectory. Students select their Tier 3 research mentors and become more involved in graduate preparation coursework, such as Advanced Science Communication I. All specified electives in the Advanced Undergraduate Coursework and Graduate School and Research Support Coursework categories must be completed by the end of Year 1 - Semester 2. Year 1 - Summer (1 credit)
The students start fully engaging in the Immersive Research Internship portion of the program with their Tier 3 mentor during the summer after their first year. The students continue to work with their Tier 1 mentor to ensure they are adequately supported at every stage of the program. Year 2 - Semester 1 (2.5 credits)
The students continue the Immersive Research Internship portion of the program during the second academic year, working with their Tier 1 and Tier 3 mentors to hone their research and science communication skills while submitting their graduate application packages. Year 2 - Semester 2 (3 credits)
As students approach the end of the program, they take Advanced Science Communication II to prepare them to complete their capstone projects on the work they’ve completed during their Immersive Research Internship. Year 2 - Summer (1 credit)
Students work closely with their Tier 1 and Tier 3 mentors to complete their Research Capstone projects and present their research to a panel of mentors in an open forum discussion. Program Credit Categories
Internship I/II: T1 Mentor (3 credits)
Students must complete a total of 3 credits of Internship coursework with their Tier 1 Mentor during the course of their program. Both of these courses are repeated three times. Effective College Teaching in Chemistry with a T2 Mentor (1 credit)
Students must complete a total of 1 credit and associated non-credit coursework in Effective College Teaching in Chemistry with Tier 2 Mentorship during their first two semesters. Graduate School and Research Support Coursework (3.5 credits)
Students must complete a total of 3.5 credits of Graduate School and Research Support Coursework during their first two semesters. Research Rotations (0.5 credits)
Students must complete a total of 0.5 credits of Research/Laboratory Rotations in the first half of the second semester in the program. Immersive Research Internship with a Tier 3 Mentor (5 credits)
Students must complete a total of 5 credits of Immersive Research Internship coursework with their Tier 3 Mentor during the course of their program. ACS-BP Research Capstone (0.5 credits)
Students must complete a total of 0.5 credits of Research Capstone coursework with their Tier 1 and Tier 3 Mentors during the course of their program. Advanced Undergraduate Coursework (6 credits)
Students must complete a total of 6 credits of Advanced Undergraduate Coursework during their first two semesters in the program. We expect that most students will take advanced electives in chemistry or biochemistry for this program. However, we have identified coursework within and outside the department in the Research Interest areas below that could benefit students who want to enter a graduate program in a specific area. Any courses listed below at the 3000 level or higher, including Omnibus courses at the 390 level or higher, will satisfy the Advanced Undergraduate Coursework requirement for this program. Note: Most of these courses have prerequisites that are not listed below. Students are encouraged to discuss their potential coursework with their T1 mentor prior to registering for classes. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Advanced Undergraduate Coursework
Analytical/Instrumental Research Interest
Biochemical Research Interest
Chemical Education Research Interests
Computation Chemistry/Biochemistry Interest
Environmental Research Interest
Forensic Chemistry/Biochemistry Research Interest
Inorganic Research Interest
Organic Research Interest
Pharmaceutical Research Interest
Physical/Spectroscopy Research Interest
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