The Microbiology Program has adopted a core of courses recommended by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) in the 2003-2005 Microbiology POS. We will continue to use the professional and technical recommendations of the ASM for the curriculum. Microbiology graduates should have the professional and technical abilities represented by these recommendations.

The Microbiology Program uses the Collegiate Assessment of Academic Proficiency (CAAP) exam (portion 4, Science Reasoning) developed by American College Testing Inc. The portion on Science Reasoning or problem-solving/critical thinking is given in Micro 110 and again given in Micro 450 (or Micro 451 begining in Fall 2005). The combination of these two objective tests gives a measure of the learning achieved by Microbiology Graduates in their ability to work effectively on complex biological problems requiring holistic problem-solving approaches. The examinations allow us to compare the progress of our students to national norms and to compile information for faculty to use in analysis and improvement of the Microbiology Program curriculum.