The Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology (B.A.) is ideal for students who wish to teach biology at the secondary level. Students pursuing a degree in secondary education also complete a variety of courses within the School of Education and Professional Studies and are assigned an adviser from that School. This degree option is also best for students who wish to combine a major in biology with another major offered by the College.

Program Student Learning Outcomes:

Biology B.A. students will be able to:

   • demonstrate basic knowledge of history, theories, concepts, and methods in the fields of cell and molecular biology, ecology, evolution, and genetics.
   • write effectively about biological phenomena.
   • speak effectively about biological phenomena.
   • evaluate information from scholarly peer-reviewed literature.

Special Notes for Biology Majors (B.A. and B.S.)

With approval of adviser and Department of Biology chair, no more than four credit hours from the combination of BIOL 475 , BIOL 485 , and biologically-based internships may be used as part of the departmental-semester-hour requirement. This restriction is not intended to discourage students from taking any of these courses, but to ensure adequate diversity and breadth in pursuit of the biology major.

Students must earn at least a 2.0/S grade for all courses to be counted for the biology major. This does not assume a 2.0 average, but a 2.0 in each course.

No student may enroll more than two times in any course offered by the Department of Biology without written permission of the instructor, the Department Chair and the Dean.

Students may elect to take the laboratory component of only one of the two following required courses: BIOL 300 - Ecology  or BIOL 311 - Genetics .

At least six credit hours of the elective (B.A.) or concentration (B.S.) courses must contain a laboratory (minimum of two courses).

Consult with a departmental adviser for recommended coursework outside the major.