The Chemistry Department currently has seven full-time members and many adjunct faculty. Plans exist to add additional full-time faculty in the near future. A listing of the full-time faculty along with their graduate degrees and granting institutions follows.

Isidore Goodman, Ph.D.	University of California, Los Angeles
George Ogar, Ph.D.	Brown University
Bob Ono, Ph.D.	University of California, Irvine
Alex Oxyzolou, Ph.D.	University of Southern California
Cari Meyer Joiner, Ph. D.	University of California, Los Angeles
Sedaf Sehati, Ph. D.	University of California, Los Angeles
Sara Harvey, Ph. D.	University of California, Los Angeles

In addition, the department has a number of adjunct faculty who teach part-time during the day or at night. The instructional program is supported by a full-time laboratory technician and many part-time student laboratory assistants who, in addition to getting practical laboratory experience, maintain the teaching laboratories and the general stockroom.

More information can be obtained by referencing our college and department web page at www.piercecollege.com or by e-mailing the chair at goodmaii@piercecollege.edu.

Courses Offered

The department offers a day program consisting of eight different courses. A number of these courses are also offered at night for those students who are working during the day or find it more convenient to attend school at night. Approximately 1350 students are enrolled in chemistry classes per year. The courses offered by our department are listed below.

All of the coursework includes laboratories.


Teaching Goals

The Department of Chemistry, in accordance with the mission of the California Community Colleges, supports a variety of different educational programs that include occupational education, a college transfer program, and guidance and counseling support. We have articulation agreements with the major universities in California allowing for coursework taken in our department to be accepted towards the completion of a bachelor's degree or fulfilling the prerequisites for professional schools. Pierce College has a good record of transferring students to four-year institutions and data shows that those students show high achievement upon transfer. In the past, students from our department have successfully completed bachelor's degrees in a variety of majors (chemistry, physics, biology, engineering, pharmacy, etc.) at UCLA, U.C. Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, California State University, Northridge, University of Southern California, U.C. Santa Barbara, U.C. Irvine, U.C. San Diego, Occidental and many others. Some of these students have continued on to graduate work in the sciences. Many pursue professional degrees in medicine, dentistry, optometry, chiropractics or veterinary medicine.

The Chemistry Department also plays an important role as a service department, providing preparation for students entering a variety of Allied Health fields, such as nursing, physical therapy, nutrition, animal health technology, clinical chemistry, and chiropractics. Their matriculation at Pierce College allows them to enter directly into specialized educational programs or employment in these areas. In addition, the department attracts currently employed students who wish to upgrade their present occupational position or pursue new areas of endeavor.

Professional Activities

In addition to teaching, administrative, and counseling responsibilities, many of the chemistry faculty are active professionally through membership in professional organizations, attendance at conferences and seminars, specialized teaching responsibilities, campus governance and sabbatical leaves. Members have also been involved in incorporating the use of multimedia and Internet technology in the classroom. In fact, our department was the first in the district to offer an on-line science course in Fall 1998. The department also coordinates a seminar series in conjunction with Caltech called Frontiers In Science. A grant from the Parsons Foundations helps to support the project. This series features professors from Cal Tech visiting with students and faculty on our campus and presenting a public lecture showcasing their research work. Our annual National Chemistry Day activity in November celebrates the contributions of chemistry to society with demonstrations and lectures and attracts students from on and off-campus in addition to community members. Every summer our students are active in a number of different community college research experiences. These include the UCLA Bridge Program, funded by the National Institutes of Health, for which we are a partner institution and the Occidental College Summer Undergraduate Research Program.

Facilities

With the passage of Proposition A and AA, Pierce College has constructed a new $45,300,000 building, the Center for The Sciences, to house chemistry and a number of other related departments. It is a state of the art structure that contains multimedia ready classrooms and laboratories and customized teaching technology and instrumentation.  The current building has a number of computers on which students can manipulate laboratory data, view simulations and use other chemistry-related software. The department has a variety of chemical instrumentation including electronic balances, FT infrared, NMR and UV-visible spectrophotometers and two capillary column gas chromatographs, which are all for hands-on student use, and is designing laboratories to use computer-aided temperature and pH probes.

A Chemistry Department Scholarship Fund exists to provide a number of awards to outstanding chemistry students each year. This fund is supported by royalties obtained from the sale of a faculty authored laboratory manual and by private contributions. The department’s web page can be found at http://www.piercecollege.edu/departments/chemistry/.

 

CURRICULUM

PREPARATION TO TRANSFER PROGRAM
(Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biology, Physics, Engineering, Pharmacy, Premedical, Predental and Preveterinary majors)

Chemistry 101: General Chemistry I

Prerequisites:

Chemistry 102: General Chemistry II

Prerequisites: Chem. 101 with a grade of “C” or better, completed within two years of enrollment for Chem. 102. Transferability: Acceptable for Chemistry 102 and 102L credit at CSUN. With Chemistry 101, acceptable for 20A, 20B, 20L, and 30AL credit at UCLA and for Chemistry 101, 101L, 102, and 102L at CSUN.

Chemistry 211: Introductory Organic Chemistry I

Prerequisite: Chemistry 102 with a grade of “C” or better Transferability: Acceptable for Chemistry 30A and 130 BL credit at UCLA and Chemistry 235 credit at CSUN. With Chemistry 212, acceptable for Chemistry 30A, 30B, 30BL, 30C and 30CL credit at UCLA.

Chemistry 212: Introductory Organic Chemistry II

Prerequisite: Chemistry 211 or equivalent with a grade of “C” or better Transferability: With Chemistry 211, acceptable for Chemistry 30A, 30B, 30BL, 30C and 30CL credit at UCLA; similar credit at UCB, UCSB, UCSD, UCI, UCR, UCD, USC and others.

Chemistry 221: Biochemistry for Science Majors

Prerequisite: Chemistry 211 or equivalent with a grade of C or better. Transferability: With Chemistry 211, acceptable for Chemistry 30A, 30BL, 153A and AL 153 L credit at UCLA; similar credit at UCB, UCSB, UCSD, UCI, UCR, USC, UCD and others.

ALLIED HEALTH SCIENCES
(Nursing, Physical Therapy, Nutrition, Animal Health Technology, Dental Hygiene and Chiropractic majors)

Chemistry 51: Fundamentals of Chemistry

Prerequisite: 1 year of high school algebra or Math 115. Transferability: Acceptable for Chemistry 103 or Chemistry 105 and 110L credit at CSUN. Acceptable for Chemistry 103 credit at CSUN.

PREPARATORY COURSE

Chemistry 60: Introduction to General Chemistry

Prerequisite: Math 115 (Elementary Algebra) with a C grade or better, or equivalent skill level demonstrated through the mathematics placement process. Recommendation: Eligibility for English 28. Transferability: Chemistry 103, CSUN. Acceptable for Chemistry 17 credit at UCLA and Chemistry 103 credit at CSUN.