Biology Program Upper Level Course Offerings

Listed below are the planned upper level course offerings for the next four semesters. This information is provided to help you plan ahead and does not imply that you have to complete all the courses in the next two years. Biology majors take courses in all three categories to meet degree requirements. All of these courses have prerequisites and you should consult the catalog and your advisor to make sure that your plan takes this into account. Courses are designated as:

• Required – biology majors are required to take this course
• Alternate – biology majors are required to take one of these (Plant or Animal Physiology), you may take both
• Elective – biology majors choose three biology electives

Biology majors must complete three electives to meet degree requirements and the biology program is trying to offer eight different elective courses in a four semester rotation that has two electives offered each semester. Since these courses are "elective" and not required they must have sufficient enrollment (12 students) to be offered. Our analysis of future enrollment suggests that we should have enough students to fill two electives a semester, but the data used in this analysis is a little fuzzy and we may have overestimated the demand for electives. Some of these electives are required courses in other programs (for example Biochemistry) and students in these programs will be competing for seats in these courses. These factors have the following practical implications.

• Electives will be put on the schedule with enrollment set at 12
• Electives that do not enroll at least 12 students will be canceled (with the possible exception of courses that are required by other programs, e.g. Biochemistry).
• No biology majors will be added to a closed class until both electives in a given semester have 12 students.
• It is unlikely that we will increase the seats in either elective in a given semester because doing so jeopardizes enrollment in electives in subsequent semesters. (A possible exception is seniors who will graduate that semester.)
• If you want to take a particular elective, don’t procrastinate, register early. If you don’t you may not have a "choice" in which class you take. Please recognize that even if you do this, there may not be sufficient interest in a particular class to offer it (hint: talk your friends into taking the class with you).
• Don’t count on two electives being offered in any given semester. This is our goal, but it will be driven by enrollment.
• This list is subject to change, to find the latest and most accurate information check the Biology Program web page.

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