Biochemistry Program

Advising

Discovery Hall STEM Complex University of Vermont

The undergraduate biochemistry program enrolls students from the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). Although the core courses required for the major are identical independent of which college a student is enrolled in, the different colleges have different distribution requirements. To ensure students receive the best advising possible, only a faculty member from a student's chosen college will serve as the student's academic advisor.

The biochemistry program strives to make academic advising readily available to our majors from day one. In fact, first-year undergraduates are assigned professional advisors before they arrive on campus, and students who change their major to biochemistry are assigned a biochemistry advisor immediately.

Core courses of the curriculum are taught by faculty from CAS, CALS and LCOM and many biochemistry majors undertake undergraduate research with faculty members from these colleges. The fact that students and faculty from different colleges interact is a strength of our program as it provides additional opportunities for students to receive informal career advising from a broad pool of faculty with expertise in diverse areas. With that in mind we offer several different ways for our students to receive academic advising. See more information below.

One-on-one Advising

First-year students are typically assigned professional advisors. These advisors have an excellent grasp of the breadth of majors and minors at UVM, and help students settle into their program. Following their first year, students are assigned faculty advisors who will remain with the student for the remainder of their academic career unless the student requests otherwise. If a faculty member is on sabbatical, a temporary adviser will be assigned and the student will be notified by email of this change. Advisors usually send an e-mail reminder to their entire academic advising list close to the registration period with information about office hours and how to set up an appointment for one-on-one advising. In addition, students frequently receive academic advising from other sources, for example from their research advisor (who is usually different from their academic advisor), from their instructors, and from their peers.

Mentoring through Research

Most biochemistry majors work in a research laboratory, whether for research or College Honors credit, as paid research fellowships over the summer, or both. In this environment, undergraduates work directly with graduate students, post-doctoral associates, and technicians. In a sense, this is some of the best career advising that can take place; that is, undergraduates can observe the roles played in the laboratory by others. They participate in research group meetings, and they ask their lab-mates what they think of their jobs. As part of a research team, undergraduates are supported in their scientific career choices, and become more at home within the department.