BS in Biology Siena Heights University

At Siena Heights, you are part of an extended family that meets regularly inside and outside of the classroom. In addition to hands-on collaborative learning, students also gather regularly for field trips, special lectures, community projects, or simply to study.

Working with faculty mentors, students conduct meaningful field and/or lab research with data analysis. Siena Heights University biology students have won numerous national research awards over the past few years.

SHU biology graduates have a 95 percent acceptance rate into medical, chiropractic, podiatric, veterinary, and graduate school.

The Biology department offers its students unique and distinguishing opportunities:

• As early as freshman year, Siena Heights University students can gain early acceptance into medical, dental, or pharmacy school at the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine.
• In partnership with the Adrian Dominican Sisters, biology students explore a 7-acre field site to learn permaculture (permanent-agriculture), an ethical design system for land use that emphasizes sustainability, integration, and cooperation with natural systems.
• First-year students can join faculty-led research teams, such as our Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System (STARS) group research project.

Where your educational journey leads you depends in part on where you start. In the Biology department, our approach to education, which combines a supportive community learning environment with a broad spectrum of challenging courses, in-depth lab, and field experiences, and intensive research projects, has successfully prepared our graduates for their future careers.

Fast Fact

Successful high school graduates entering SHU who satisfy Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine’s admission criteria will be offered a provisional acceptance to LECOM’s Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, or School of Pharmacy program. After graduation from SHU, the student will then matriculate to LECOM.

Program Distinctions

• The biology curriculum includes innovative and engaging coursework, including ecological kayaking trips on Cedar Lake and hikes through 400-year-old Gall Woods Old Growth Forest, and is led by outstanding professors such as three-time Rice Outstanding Teaching Award-winner Dr. Carl Kaster.
• The biology program offers its majors select opportunities through its affiliated partners, including early acceptance into Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine’s medical, dental, or pharmacy schools. Finally, majors can study sustainable agricultural practices at the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ permaculture site.
• Working with faculty mentors, students can conduct scientific research and data analysis. SHU biology students include 29 TriBeta regional award winners and two national research champions.

Course Requirements for Major

Program Requirements: 35-36 Credit Hours

• BIO 141 Basic Concepts Of The Cell 4 credit hours
• BIO 241 Animal Biology 4 credit hours
• BIO 242 Plant Biology 4 credit hours
• BIO 342 Genetics 4 credit hours
• BIO Approved Electives 15-16 credit hours
• BIO 395 Junior Seminar I 1 credit hours
• BIO 396 Junior Seminar II 1 credit hours
• BIO 495 Senior Seminar I 1 credit hours
• BIO 496 Senior Seminar II 1 credit hours

Cognate Requirements: 37 credit hours

• CHE 141 General Chemistry I 4 credit hours
• CHE 142 General Chemistry II 4 credit hours
• CHE 241 Organic Chemistry I 4 credit hours
• CHE 242 Organic Chemistry II 4 credit hours
• MAT 159 Precalculus 4 credit hours

or

• MAT 181 Calculus With Analytic Geometry I 4 credit hours
• MAT 174 Data Analysis And Statistics 3 credit hours
• MAT 244 Statistical Analysis And Design 3 credit hours
• PHY 141 General Physics I (Non-Calculus Based) 4 credit hours

or

• PHY 161 Physics I (Calculus Based) 4 credit hours
• PHY 142 General Physics II (Non-Calculus Based) 4 credit hours

or

• PHY 162 Physics II (Calculus Based) 4 credit hours
• TSD 101 Fundamentals Of Speech Communication 3 credit hours

Total for Major: 72-73 Credit Hours

Liberal Arts: 28 Credit Hours

General Electives: 19-20 Credit Hours

Total for Degree: 120 Credit Hours

Other Requirements

1. Students majoring in Biology must maintain a 2.1 g.p.a. in all required courses (excluding cognate requirements) in the major.
2. Biology majors must complete a 16-hour residency at Siena Heights, 12 credit hours of Siena Heights biology courses at the 300-level or higher, and the Junior and Senior Seminar series (BIO 395/BIO 396/BIO 495/BIO 496).
3. Students who are seeking teacher certification must take BIO 441 or BIO 443 as one of the four required Biology electives.
4. Students seeking teacher certification must also complete the appropriate science methods course: NSC 373 Science Methods from the Professional Education Sequence.
5. Students seeking secondary certification in teaching must also take NSC 110 Earth Science.

Internships

Siena Heights University biology students are eligible for hundreds of paid research internships supported by the National Science Foundation. These summer research opportunities allow small groups of students to work in research programs at various host institutions.

Siena Heights University biology majors have interned at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Colorado State University, and Indiana University, for instance. Students are granted stipends and, in many cases, assistance with housing and travel. Local internships and co-ops are also possible.

Former SHU biology students Maria Butler and Joseph Lemanski were awarded summer research internships. Butler conducted her research in Turkey studying the responses of the European honeybees to different odors, including alcohol. Lemanski spent his summer in Texas examining the effects of the 2010 British Petroleum oil spill on the deep-water organisms in the Gulf of Mexico.

Career Opportunities

Careers related to biology include: