As I walked into the main conference room in our chemistry building, I felt a knot form in my stomach. I was the last one to arrive, and I quickly took my seat at a boat-shaped table beside four other undergrads. Across from us, a group of professors chatted amongst themselves. It had taken nearly a month to schedule this meeting, and I was determined to make the most of their time. I reviewed the agenda for the fifth time, focusing on the bold heading at the top of my notes: "We want to build a university course from the bottom up."
Our goal was simple yet groundbreaking: to create a course that better prepared students for work in a research lab. We believed that the current introductory chemistry curriculum was insufficient, but we worried that the professors would dismiss our ideas as naive. Who were we to suggest that the curriculum needed improvement?
As a second-year undergraduate student, I had already been involved in research on campus for several years. I had volunteered as a research assistant during my last two years of high school and had gone on to study biology and chemical engineering at the university. I observed that many of my peers struggled with their lack of research experience, even after joining a lab. I wanted to find a way to help them.
So, I gathered a group of like-minded students who shared my interest in chemistry research. We proposed a new course that would provide students with a range of research skills, beyond the few lab techniques covered in the current curriculum. We didn't expect the professors to teach the course; instead, we suggested that experienced undergraduate students could serve as instructors.
To our surprise, the professors were receptive to our idea. One senior professor even gave me a knowing wink before he left the meeting early. A younger professor offered to provide faculty oversight, and we began discussing funding and departmental resources.
Our proposed course was added to the official catalog for the following semester and quickly exceeded its maximum enrollment capacity of 80 students. We designed the course ourselves and hired two undergraduate students as instructors. At the end of the semester, both students and professors were pleased with the outcome, and the course has continued to be offered in subsequent years.
It's unfortunate that many undergraduate students have little input in shaping their education. I'm grateful that our department's professors were willing to listen and help us take the curriculum in a new direction. However, I suspect that this level of openness is not common. Students should be empowered to advocate for their education, and universities should welcome this ambition with open arms.