Biology, B.A.

Degree and Major Requirements

The department offers a four-year B.S. degree program for a major in biology and for a major in biology qualifying for the Secondary Collegiate Professional License. Requirements for the B.A. degree can be met by adding the completion of an intermediate level foreign language and three credit hours in philosophy. Students may not receive dual credit toward the biology major for 300- and 400-level BIO courses that are applied toward the biotechnology major.

Biology majors must complete 40 credit hours of biology courses including 16 credit hours at the 300 and 400 level. Specific requirements include four core courses (, , and ), at least two upper-division laboratory courses and one course from a list of courses with an emphasis on organismal diversity. In addition, biology majors must complete a set of cognate courses in chemistry, mathematics, statistics and physics that are listed below. Students are encouraged to participate in independent research with a faculty mentor. Credits earned doing research will count toward the biology major but some restrictions apply.

When requested, senior biology majors are expected to participate in program assessment test activities as a graduation requirement. Assessment information helps the department modify the curriculum to meet student needs.

Degree Requirements

Required Courses

41 Credit Hours ¹
Quantitative requirement (in addition to General Education) 3 Credit Hours ²
Scientific Literacy requirement (in addition to General Education) 3-4 Credit Hours ²
Biology requirements (listed below) 40 Credit Hours
Cognate requirements (listed below) 31-36 Credit Hours

Total: 120 Credit Hours

Footnotes

¹ The program contains a set of requirements each student must fulfill. The number of credit hours necessary to fulfill these requirements may vary.

² The quantitative and scientific literacy requirements are met by courses required in the major.

Major Requirements

BIO 140. Foundations of Biology I (3,3) 4.00
BIO 150. Foundations of Biology II (3,3) 4.00
BIO 240. Genetics (3,3) 4.00
BIO 250. Ecology and Evolution (3,3) 4.00

Total: 16 Credit Hours

Additional Biology Course Requirements

Students in the biology major must complete at least 24 credit hours of approved biology courses and at least 16 of these must be at the 300 and 400 levels. Also, one course must be from a group of courses on organismal diversity and two courses must have a laboratory component. Courses in both lists may count for both requirements. Three credits of independent research ( and/or BIO 499) may be used for one, but only one, of the laboratory courses.

Choose at least one organismal diversity courses:

BIO 305. Ornithology (1, 4) 3.00
BIO 309. Marine and Freshwater Invertebrates (3, 0) 3.00
BIO 310. Marine Biology 3.00
BIO 320. Comparative Anatomy of Vertebrates (2, 4) 4.00

Cognate Requirements

The following five groups of support courses are required for the biology major. Consult your academic adviser about which courses are appropriate.

Recommended Schedule for Majors

First semester first year biology majors are encouraged to start with a 14-15 hour course load. This will generally include , and , and/or a math course plus . The work load will then be increased in the second semester based on the level of first semester success.

Credit by Examination

When evidence of sufficient background or preparation is presented, the Department of Biology offers credit by examination in many of its non-lab courses at the discretion of the course instructor or coordinator. Students seeking such credit should make arrangements with the course instructor or coordinator and obtain approval of the department head.

Teaching Licensure

Biology majors need courses in physics and geology as well as inorganic and organic chemistry for many science education positions.

In addition to the general education and academic major requirements, biology majors desiring secondary teacher licensure must be admitted to teacher education, complete the pre-professional program in secondary education at the undergraduate level and complete the graduate level Master of Arts in Teaching degree.

It is critical that students seeking licensure consult regularly with both their education adviser and their major adviser to support their progression through the programs. For a full description of the program in secondary teaching, refer to the , in addition to the .