Chemistry Handbook

After a request from a student, I have decided that we will allow CHM 325 to serve as an elective for the BIC major.  This class brings very valuable skills for those who wish to enter industry.  I have also decided not to pursue the inclusion of this course in the list of electives in the catalog, but it makes sense to do so in the future if there are other changes being made. (DAL 2/2026)

As a general rule, the Chemistry Department administration feels that in-person hands-on laboratory learning is superior than online laboratory training.  The department has worked to minimize the likelihood of students transferring online lab credits to GVSU, mainly by eliminating blanket transfer equivalencies from schools that heavily utilize such approaches.  There are some nuances to consider:

• It is important to note that our concern with online pedagogy is limited to labs--we have no objection to online lecture content.
• It is not possible to eliminate all online lab transfers.  Many schools have a small number of online lab sections listed amongst a large number of in-person labs.  Almost all schools use the same designation for online sections and in-person sections, so it is not typically possible to even know when a course is online.  Unfortunately, our administration has not acknowledged our concern--our own Registrar has said that "it is best practice...that courses should be counted as equivalent regardless of the modality of the course".  
• We are much more protective of majors-level course labs (ie. 115/116/241/242/462 etc) than we are Allied Health courses.  For these classes, we have gone so far as to fully eliminate equivalencies when online labs are discovered--for instance, we revoked CHM 241/242 equivalency for two-semester organic courses from Western Michigan University once we found out that their summer organic labs were fully online.  The registrar approved this with the understanding that we would accept labs from WMU if the student could demonstrate that they were in-person (which of course, we would).
• For Allied Health courses, we have a more relaxed attitude.  Programs that use these courses as pre-reqs (OSH, KCON etc) were informally surveyed, and most were surprisingly ambivalent about lab modality.  We still try to tamp down heavy use of online labs, but the rationale in this case is to make sure students are not coming into our classes unprepared for hands-on work.    (DAL 6/2024)

As noted in the "Credit by Exam" webpage, the university will grant credit for scores of 3, 4, or 5 on the AP tests. In order to receive credit, the student must request that the College Board send score reports to the university. When Grand Valley receives the AP scores (usually in early July), students who have earned the appropriate score will be awarded credit. Each student who earns credit will receive an evaluation indicating the credit awarded.

The following shows the current score/credit relationship for AP Chemistry:

• An IB score of 4 without a successful lab notebook review receives 8 credits of general CHM
• An IB score of 4 with a successful lab notebook review receives 9 credits of  CHM 115/116

Please note the following:

• For many years, Blair Miller reviewed the IB notebooks to determine if students could receive full 116 credit, but he sometimes had help from Julie Henderleiter and others.  Blair used to say he was looking for a) data b) grades c) teacher's comments.  He especially liked to see some lab-work related to buffers.   IB courses seemed to be a little harder to review than AP courses.  This was a serious review, and I would estimate that only 50-60% of submissions were successful.  In ambiguous cases, or when the lab notebook was electronic, he sometimes contacted the high school teacher to discuss the work and/or the student.  Blair never stated his overall philosophy, but I think it makes sense that students don't necessarily need to have covered everything we cover in CHM 116, but rather that we make a judgment that they will be able to successfully move on into CHM 221, CHM 245/246 etc.  
• I don't remember it ever coming up, but a score of 4 without a lab notebook should probably get CHM 115 credit even though that is not in the credit-by-exam website.
• If a student has a score of 4, but does not pass the notebook review, we have typically allowed them to take a CHM 180 1 credit lab-only version of CHM 116 lab.  We allow such students to proceed to organic before they have completed this class, but would require them to successfully complete it before allowing them to register for CHM 221.  
• While I don't remember a case of it happening, students with an IB score of 4, might rather get credit for CHM 109.  This is particularly relevant for Allied Health students whose program requires CHM 109.  In such cases, it is acceptable to contact the registrar and request that the IB score count as CHM 109 rather than the major's courses.   (DAL 6/2024)

As noted in the "Credit by Exam" webpage, the university will grant credit for scores of 3, 4, or 5 on the AP tests. In order to receive credit, the student must request that the College Board send score reports to the university. When Grand Valley receives the AP scores (usually in early July), students who have earned the appropriate score will be awarded credit. Each student who earns credit will receive an evaluation indicating the credit awarded.

The following shows the current score/credit relationship for AP Chemistry:

• AP score of 3 receives CHM 109 credit
• AP score of 4 receives CHM 115 credit
• AP score of 5 receives CHM 115 & 116 credit (with review of lab notebook)

Please note the following:

• For many years, Blair Miller reviewed the AP notebooks to determine if students could received full 116 credit, but he sometimes had help from Julie Henderleiter and others.  Blair used to say he was looking for a) data b) grades c) teacher's comments.  He especially liked to see some lab-work related to buffers.   This was a serious review, and I would estimate that only 50-60% of submissions were successful.  In ambiguous cases, or when the lab notebook was electronic, he sometimes contacted the high school teacher to discuss the work and/or the student.  Blair never stated his overall philosophy, but I think it makes that students don't necessarily need to have covered everything we cover in CHM 116, but rather that we make a judgment that they will be able to successfully move on into CHM 221, CHM 245/246 etc.  
• If a student has a score of 5, but does not pass the notebook review, we have typically allowed them to take a CHM 180 1 credit lab-only version of CHM 116 lab.  We allow such students to proceed into organic before they have completed this class, but would require them to successfully complete it before allowing them to register for CHM 221.  
• In some cases, students have an AP score of 4 or 5, but would rather rather credit for CHM 109.  This is particularly relevant for Allied Health students whose program requires CHM 109.  In such cases, it is acceptable to contact the registrar and request that the higher AP score count as CHM 109 rather than the major's courses.  

Students often request notebook reviews in summer before they have arrived on campus. It is recommended to never give a pre-req waiver until the notebook review is complete. If the student wants the waiver, they can send the notebook by mail.(DAL 6/2024)

Julie Henderleiter has taken over the review now that Blair has retired.  From conversations with her, it is clear that the main consideration is whether students have enough experience with real glassware and other lab equipment to jump right into CHM 221 and CHM 246.  Therefore, if a student does not receive lab credit, they should take CHM 128 in the Fall and pick up CHM 241 in Winter or better, CHM 245/246 the following year. (DAL 7/2025)

As noted in the "Credit by Exam" webpage, the university will grant credit for successful completion of College Level Examination Program (CLEP) exams. In order to receive credit, the student must request that the score report be sent to the university.  Each student who earns credit will receive an evaluation indicating the credit awarded.

The following shows the current score/credit relationship for AP Chemistry:

• CLEP score of 55 receives CHM 109 credit
• CLEP score of 60 receives CHM 115 credit
• CLEP score of 65 receives CHM 115 & 116 credit (with review of lab notebook)

Please note the following:

• These scores represent hard cut-offs, with no exceptions.
• In cases of CLEP waivers, it is not likely that students will have a high school notebook for review, and if they do, it is not likely to be of similar quality to that produced from an AP or IB program.  In such cases, we have typically allowed them to take a CHM 180 1 credit lab-only version of CHM 116 lab.  We allow such students to proceed into organic before they have completed this class, but would require them to successfully complete it before allowing them to register for CHM 221.  
• In some cases, students have an CLEP score of 60 or higher, but would rather rather credit for CHM 109.  This is particularly relevant for Allied Health students whose program requires CHM 109.  In such cases, it is acceptable to contact the registrar and request that the higher CLEP score count as CHM 109 rather than the major's courses.   (DAL 6/2024)

Before our lecture/lab split (CHM 115 to CHM 125/CHM 126 and CHM 116 to CHM 127/CHM128), the old combined course (CHM 116) had a prerequisite of CHM 115 (instead of CHM 125 and CHM 126).  There are still a large number of students who took CHM 115 (before the split) and now wish to take CHM 127/128.  This is particularly prevalent for students who wish to wish to take CHM 127/128 as a repeat of CHM 116 (sometimes years later).  Because they took CHM 115, they need a pre-requisite waiver.  The professional advisors have asked is we could have CHM 115 added to the pre-requisite for CHM 127 and CHM 128, something like this: 

CHM 127:  Prerequisites: (CHM 125, CHM 126) or CHM 115, (MTH 122 or MTH 124 or MTH 125 or equivalent by placement or exam), and CHM 128 (may be taken concurrently).

CHM 128:  Prerequisites: (CHM 125, CHM 126) or CHM 115, and CHM 127 (CHM 127 may be taken concurrently).

I looked into this and discovered that any change in pre-reqs requires a curriculum change proposal.  This is not worth the effort, as the number of legacy students who took CHM 115 over the coming years will drop rapidly.

(DAL 7/2026)

Can a BIC major get a minor in CHM?  Yes, in fact all BIC majors automatically qualify for a CHM minor because all of the CHM minor requirements are required for the BIC major.  While the requirements are automatically met, the minor is not automatically given--students must apply for it.  Opinions differ as to the meaningfulness of such an addition, but the Biochemistry faculty voted to allow students to do this.  Best practice is probably to not advertise or encourage this, but if a student insists, you can note that it is allowed.  (DAL 6/2024) 

Can BMS 250/251 serve in place of BMS 290/291 for the BIC major?  Biochemists decided: "No, this course has minimal CHM pre-reqs and does not count for the BMS major".  (DAL 6/2024)

Can students use of CHM electives in the Environmental and Sustainability Studies (ENS) minor?  This question was posed to Prof. Amy McFarland, director of the ENS program.  She replied "...happy to sub this course in for your Chem Major/ENS minor if needed". (DAL 7/2024)

Current University policy states:

"Repeating a course more than once is allowed only with the approval of the student's academic advisor. In cases when the course is not in the student's academic advisor's unit, approval to repeat the course must be approved by the appropriate unit head of the department where the course is offered."

The Associate Chair of Student Affairs currently handles these requests when departmental approval is required.  Students often request a permit through MyBanner, but this cannot be handled through the permit system.  The student is directed to the Registration Repeat Limit Approval Form and once they have filled it out, they send it to the ACSA.  These are almost always approved, but we usually request a quick conversation to find out why the student struggled in the first two attempts, and to point them toward tutoring resources.  Once the ACSA signs it, it can be forwarded to the Registrar by email.   (DAL 6/2024)

Debbie Herrington and George McBane had this policy about transfer equivalencies for General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry: Two semester sequences that are taken by Chemistry majors (or perhaps engineering/pre-med etc) at a reputable U.S. institution and that have a lab are generally going to be good for transfer credit. (DAL 6/2024)

Double majors are much easier to achieve than most advisors understand.  Many are confused by the requirement that "Dual majors may be awarded as long as there is a minimum of 60 credits across both majors."  The old language that there needed to be at least 30 non-overlapping credits in each major was especially confusing.  Ultimately, the requirement can be met if the following conditions exist:

• a student meets all of the requirements for both majors.
• the students required coursework can be divided into two lists, one for each major, and the two lists add up to 60 credits
• for courses that overlap (ie. are required for both majors), they simply have to be put on one or the other lists.  For instance, CHM 115 is required for BIC and BMS.  That class can be used for the one list or the other, but not both. 
• Because the CHM and BIC degrees are so credit heavy, it is almost impossible to not meet the "60 total credits in both majors" rule, assuming all requirements for both majors are met.
• [It is not clear if the "30 unduplicated credits in each major" requirement is still operational, but that type of language is still used for minors, so this is still a useful way to think about it]  (DAL 6/2024)

General Chemistry (125/126/127/128) Drop policies

(Adopted by the General Chemistry Instructors November 2025)

Generally, we try to be as loose as we can with pre-reqs, but we don't typically allow CHM 242 without CHM 241.  The concern here is that there are very important skills and concepts that are covered in CHM 241 lab that would not be covered in CHM 231.  This becomes a safety issue if a student were to enter into CHM 242 without the proper training.  For the same reason, we generally turn down students who request to take CHM 241 and 242 concurrently.  (DAL 12/2024)

If you give someone an pre-requisite override, they won't be warned or dropped later.  Students get the warning/drop when they don't finish (or fail) a pre-requisite.  Therefore, students need to get official transcripts from their other school only if they need it for their program. (Jennifer Glaab 7/20/18)

In Fall 2025, we decided that if students take CHM 234 after having previously taken CHM 232 or CHM 230, the CHM 234 grade (and credit) will replace the older classes.  Advisors asked if it would be possible to keep the older courses if a student requested it (for instance if they needed the credit to graduate).  We asked the CHM 234 instructors to put the following statement on their syllabi:

If a student previously took CHM 230 or CHM 232 and completes CHM 234, the CHM 234 grade will automatically replace the grade from the earlier course (CHM 230 or CHM 232).  As with normal course repeats, the credit will only be awarded for the repeat class (CHM 234).  In some cases, a student may wish to retain credit (and the grade) for both classesfor instance, if they need the credit to graduate.  In such cases, the student can petition the Chemistry Department by contacting Prof. Dave Leonard [email protected]

We inquired about how this would be implemented, and Bill Widmaier responded on 12/17:

Were planning to replace the 230 and 232 grades with the 234 grades automatically&actually manually, but it will be automatic as far as the student is concerned.  Regarding the retaining of credit for both classes, that is an unusual circumstance when courses are considered repeats, but not unheard of.  Those requests would go through Cathy Buyarski in the Provosts Office for approval

In the case of a course from another university that is a good match content-wise for a GVSU course, but has more credits than the GVSU course:  the student gets credit for the GVSU class, and additional CHM General credits.

In the case of a course from another university that is a good match content-wise for a GVSU course, but has fewer credits than the GVSU course:  the student gets credit for the GVSU class on their transcript, but the class is listed with the lower number of credits.  Example.  A general chemistry class from Purdue (3 credits) was determined to be a good fit for CHM 116 (5 credits).  The students transcript would list CHM 116 (3 credits).

In the past we have awarded BIC elective credit for students who have completed BMS 310, as long as they have also passed BMS 250/251.  (Dave Leonard, 7/2025)

In the UK, high school students can take a 2-year course covering General Chemistry and some Organic.  This course-work includes extensive lab work.  It is generally considered to be more difficult than AP Chemistry in the US.  At the end of the 2 years, students take an exam, and earn a grade of A, B, C, D or NA (or F).  After review of the materials and consultation with Prof. Derrick Thomas (BMS; went high school in Wales), Blair Miller and Dave Leonard determined that a grade of A, B, or C would be granted CHM 115 and CHM 116 at GVSUno lab notebook check required. This has only happened once since 2018(DAL 6/2024)

MTH 123 is not an acceptable pre-requisite for CHM 116 (Debbie Herrington 8/2/2021)