Department
of Natural Sciences: Mission and Goals
The Department of Natural Sciences’ primary mission is to provide quality instruction in the theory and practice common to three major divisions of science (biology, chemistry, and physics) and in selected interdisciplinary areas (biochemistry, earth science, environmental science and studies, and microbiology).
The
Department stresses excellence in teaching and the importance of personal
interaction in its preparation of students for entry into professional or
graduate schools, or into businesses and industries requiring employees skilled
in modern laboratory techniques in the natural sciences. It encourages undergraduate participation in
research in the pure and applied sciences as a means of nurturing student
scientific maturity, of teaching basic research skills, and of generating new
knowledge and developing new processes.
The Department also provides a range of
courses designed to broadly inform the non-scientist. It offers courses
that support degree programs in the Schools of Education, Management, and
Engineering. Faculty members engage in a variety of outreach activities
to elementary and secondary education, business, and industry in southeastern