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Basic Lab Responsibilities

The following letter was sent to the entire department by Associate Chairperson Gary Blanchard on September 24, 2003. This letter outlines basic department policy regarding the responsibilities of those teaching in laboratories.

 

Dear Faculty, Staff and TAs,

As the semester progresses, I would like to remind everyone who is involved with teaching laboratory courses (especially the TAs) of a few basic requirements. I consider these fundamentals to be chemistry department policy:

  1. Everyone must keep splash-resistant goggles on at all times while in a "wet" teaching lab. So long as one person is working with hazardous chemicals, everyone else must also have their splash-resistant goggles on. NO EXCEPTIONS!
     
  2. Teaching assistants must arrive at their teaching lab at least 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled time. For instance, if one is scheduled to teach at 8:00 AM, they must arrive at the lab no later than 7:40 AM. This allows ample time to check the reagents and other equipment needed for the experiment.
     
  3. Students must be allowed to enter their lab 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled time.
     
  4. The teaching assistants must stay in their teaching labs at all times while the students are performing their experiments. Lab TAs must be the last person to leave the lab.
     
  5. Before leaving, the lab TA must ensure that all water faucets and electrical equipment are turned off. Any instruments that must remain on (such as GC's and SPEC-20's) should be checked to make sure their settings are correct. All chemical bottles should have their caps replaced and tightened and all fume hood sashes should be lowered.

I take these matters very seriously and view it as important that we all follow them.

Sincerely,

Gary Blanchard
Associate Chair for the Graduate Program