Letter from the Director
Hello students!
Welcome to the College of Chemical and Life Science's Science in the
Evening Program at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Through this program, we hope to help you to
further your post-baccalaureate education. I am Dr. Joelle Presson,
director of Science in the Evening (SIE). Let me tell
you a few things about our program:
Science in the Evening was started in 1996 to serve
the growing interest in life sciences related careers. Many
students who already earned a degree in another field were taking
our daytime courses and many of those asked about evening sections
that would accommodate busy work and family schedules. The College
of Chemical and Life Sciences responded with Science in the Evening,
a set of courses offered at convenient evening times and just
for post-baccalaureate students.
Science in the Evening courses provide the basic
foundational curriculum in biology, chemistry, and physics needed
for any life sciences career, whether medicine, patent
law or graduate study. These evening courses are identical in
content to the high quality courses we offer during the day
as part of our life sciences undergraduate degree programs.
Instructors are carefully screened and regularly evaluated to
maintain quality. Lab sections are identical to those in our
daytime program and taught by our experienced
teaching assistants.
Science in the Evening at the University of Maryland
offers some advantages over more structured post-baccalaureate
programs. Many post-baccalaureate programs are geared only
toward preparing pre-medical students and require students to
take courses in a particular order. SIE offers courses
for a broader audience and is not restricted to a particular
course sequence. You may take whatever courses you have the
prerequisites for, in any order you wish. Also, because our
SIE courses are identical to our daytime courses, it
is straightforward to transition to the daytime program where
a great selection of additional upper level courses is available.
Science in the Evening courses that are restricted
to post-baccalaureate students give several benefits. First,
long after our daytime offerings are filled, there are almost
always seats available in the SIE sections. This gives
you flexibility in when you register and for what you register.
In addition, the SIE sections are much smaller than our
daytime sections. In a daytime course you would find 200 to
300 students in lecture, while in SIE you will find no
more than 50 or 60 students in lecture, often far fewer. So,
your tuition dollars go a long way in SIE.
Science in the Evening is run by an organized, efficient
and helpful support staff. The academic aspects of the program,
including advising described below, are my responsibility, as
Director of the program. My staff and I select and review instructors,
advise students, choose courses and ensure the quality of the
program. Administrative aspects of the program, such as admission,
registration, and billing questions are handled by a special
support staff, called Single Point of Contact or SPOC. Contact
information for my office and the SPOC office can be found on
the SIE homepage.
Science in Evening advising can help students find
their way. Many post-baccalaureate students are eager to
begin preparation for a new career, but are uncertain just what
they need to do or the courses they should take. Perhaps you
had organic chemistry 10 years ago—should you retake it? How
many courses should you take at once, and what are the advantages
of going to school at night, versus quitting your job and attending
full time during the day? How do professional and graduate schools
perceive these programs? These and other advising questions
can be addressed in a personal advising session with me, the
Director of SIE. My office staff and I have years of
professional and advising experience and we are here to help
you in any way we can.
So, welcome to Science in the Evening. We wish
you the best of luck in your courses and your career and hope
to personally hear from each one of you.
Sincerely,
Joelle C. Presson, Ph.D.
Associate Director Undergraduate Academic Programs
College of Chemical and Life Sciences
University of Maryland
College Park, MD
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