Chemistry

A. Company Name 
    The laboratories of the Departments of Chemistry  Biochemistry and Biology at Delaware Valley College (DVC).

B. Company Address
    700 East Butler Avenue, Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901.

C. Approximate Number of Employees
    The Department of Chemistry  Biochemistry employs about eight faculty members.

D. Organization or Management Scheme of Company (describe briefly, particularly with respect to your position in the hierarchy)
    The faculty members at the Department of Chemistry  Biochemistry include Dr. Karen McPherson, Department Chair of the Departments of Chemistry  Biochemistry and Mathematics  Physics Dr. William Stevens, who teaches organic chemistry Dr. Kenneth Dedeian, who teaches inorganic chemistry Mr. Ronald Petruso, who also teaches organic chemistry Dr. Blake, who teaches instrumental and analytical chemistry Dr. Henry Luftman, who teaches physical chemistry Dr. Benjamin Rusiloski, Dean of Business, Education, Arts and Science, responsible for overseeing all academic-related matters, including program development, evaluation, faculty development, strategic planning and budgeting and Dr. Yun Li, who teaches biochemistry.

E. Name, Title, and Telephone Number of Your Supervisor
    Ms. Katherine Rollison, Campus Employment Supervisor for Chemistry at DVC, telephone number (215) 345-1500 ext. 4929.

F. Description of the Type and Purpose of the Company
    DVC is a private four-year college with roots in agriculture, offering agriculture-related majors such as crop science as well as business administration and chemistry.

II.    Your Position
A. Title
    Student assistant, tasked with coordinating laboratory set-ups for laboratory activities in general chemistry, biochemistry, and organic chemistry, as well as sundry other tasks, under the supervision of Mr. Petruso and then Ms. Rollins. I also spent some of my time volunteering around the campus under the encouragement of Mr. Petruso.

B. Training NeededReceived (skills acquired)
    I was trained in the proper protocol established by the college for reporting broken and damaged equipment. I was also drilled on the safety procedures for emergency situations and injuries in the laboratory, and I was acquainted as to the location and use of laboratory equipment, safety equipment and supplies.

C. Your Responsibilities and Role in the Company
    As a student assistant, I had several responsibilities in the laboratories at DVC. Foremost of those responsibilities was ensuring the safety of the students in the laboratory, viz. I made sure alongside the instructor that the students wear safety goggles whenever they perform their activities in the laboratory and I saw to it that only the necessary chemicals and equipment were made available to students, to minimize the risk of improper or dangerous mixing of chemicals, and that all chemicals were placed under fume hoods. As a student assistant, it was also my responsibility to make sure that the laboratories run smoothly and efficiently. In this role, I check and replace damaged, worn-out and broken equipment made sure that the laboratory drawers to be used in a particular session were well-stocked with the necessary equipment and unlocked, while also making sure that drawers not in use were kept closed put away unnecessary equipment conducted spot checks before, during and after the course of an activity to see to it that reagents were put back in place in the fume hood in an orderly manner, and that the benchtops were clean and the de-ionized water jugs were kept full at the end of each activity calibrated the balances before and after a laboratory session and seeing to it that the balance area was kept clean kept all experiments for General Chemistry I and II well organized and labeled all items used in an experiment in accordance to the guidelines set by the American Chemical Society (ACS) saw to it that the maintenance staff refill and make available paper towels, hand soap and detergent in the laboratory facilitated the tearing down of one lab after the completion of the activity and the subsequent set-up of the next lab and lastly familiarized myself with the experiments to be performed on a particular day and made myself available to the instructors and students for assistance. My other tasks in the laboratory include helping Dr. Dedeian test ideas and fix and tweak experiment procedures for General Chemistry Laboratory experiments and moving equipment, old, new and slightly used, around due to renovations in the facility. From June 13th onward, I worked with Dr. Dedeian and Mr. Petruso to set up all the scheduled labs for the summer. Because of this, I was involved in the setting up of two General Chemistry I and II labs and Organic Chemistry I and II labs that were used by about 100 students.

D. Evaluation of Skills Utilized
i. Administrative
    Being a simple student assistant, I exerted no administrative position on my colleagues in the laboratory, but I did enforce some administrative skill when dealing with supplies and maintenance in the laboratory. I estimate that I spent 5 per cent of my time honing this skill.

ii. Leadership
    I also did not exert any leadership position on my colleagues in the laboratory, but I had acted in the manner of a leader when volunteering myself to be of good service to the instructors and students when they needed help in finding equipment and supplies and carrying out procedures and instructions. I estimate that I also spent 5 per cent of my time honing this skill.

iii. Interpersonal
    As in a real work setting, I consider interpersonal skills to be an integral part of my job experience, since as a student assistant I function in the laboratory to assist other people to do their work in the laboratory safely and efficiently. The interpersonal kills I employed in the laboratory took a good amount of my time. This was exercised all the more because I struggle with interpersonal relationships, as I am a very quiet person and I do not socialize easily. I am by nature unsure of what to say and what are the right things to day. The exercise (or the improvement of) my interpersonal and communication skills together for the purposes of working well in the laboratory took probably around 50 per cent of the total hours I spent in the program.

iv. Communication
     My exercise of communication skills is largely intertwined with the exercise of my interpersonal skills. I am quiet by nature, and I get very nervous addressing large groups of people, but this had to be overcome for me to function well in the laboratory. The exercise (or the improvement of) my interpersonal and communication skills together for the purposes of working well in the laboratory took probably around 50 per cent of the total hours I spent in the program.

v. Self-management
    My self-management skills were also put to good use in the program. It took a good amount of discipline and mental alertness to fulfill my obligations as a student assistant, and I had to tap into a lot of my willpower to do all that was required and expected of me as a helper. I estimate 25 per cent of my time was utilized honing and using this skill.

vi. Communication (verbal and written)
    I also took care of some verbal and written formal communication in doing my work, like contacting the maintenance staff, for instance, although the most important as well as most of the communications were handled by the employed staff of the laboratory, as theyve handled these for far longer than I had and for other obvious reasons. I believe 5 per cent of my time was devoted to this skill.

vii. Organizational Knowledge
    My organizational knowledge of DVC strengthened in the period of time I worked in the laboratory, as I now have a more detailed understanding of the roles and functions of the people making up the Departments of Chemistry  Biochemistry. I believe 2 per cent of my time was allotted in this.

viii. Organizational StrategyTime Management
    Finally, my time management skills were put to the test in my job experience. For the duration of my work, I had learned how to parcel out my time to do my duties as quickly and efficiently as possible, while still leaving room for me to take care of my other businesses, a skill I believe I have cultivated quite successfully. I spent 8 per cent of my time working on my time management skills.

III.    Employment Environment
A. Wet Chemistry
i. What type of chemistry was taking place in the employment setting   
    The laboratories in DVC are teaching laboratories, and so the chemistry involved in my work were fairly basic and illustrative in purpose. The types of chemistry I encountered in my work setting were taken from laboratory topics in general chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry, and so include neutralization reactions, calorimetry, the qualitative analysis of ions, chromatography, and the chemistry and reactions of organic compounds.

ii. What types of chemicals did you utilize
    As a student assistant, I utilized most of the common reagent chemicals used in a teaching laboratory, including the strong acids (hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, nitric acid, etc.) and strong bases (sodium hydroxide), as well as many other reagents, such as solutions of transition metal compounds (copper (II) sulfate, potassium dichromate, etc.), organic solvents (cyclohexane, toluene, acetone, etc.), biological compounds (sugars, agar, proteins, etc.) and many more.

iii. What types of safety protocols and procedures were you utilizing  
    When working, I followed the usual safety protocols and appropriate behaviors in the laboratory that is taught to any beginner student in chemistry. Chief among these rules is the rule to Dress Appropriately to dress not in accordance to fashion or the weather but rather to protect oneself from chemicals, burns and other harm that may be encountered in the laboratory. Thus, when reporting to work I did not wear sandals, as well as contact lenses, short pants and skirts. I also tied my hair back and put on safety goggles and a lab coat. Another important rule I kept in mind throughout the employment program is to Read the Chemical Safety Information, and to make note of its recommendations for safe use and disposal of a particular chemical I was using. I also made sure I was acquainted with the Safety Equipment, Where They Are Placed and How to Use Them. Another important rule that is in line with our goal to make the laboratories greener is Never Casually Dispose of Chemicals Down the Drain, as these could pollute as well as cause accidents due to the unexpected reaction of chemical leftovers previously disposed in this manner. Some of the other protocols and procedures, such as Do Not Pipette by Mouth, Don t Taste or Sniff Chemicals, Don t Eat or Drink in the Lab and Don t Haphazardly Mix Chemicals, came as second nature to me due to the nature of my job in the laboratories but are nonetheless important, and so I took care to follow these rules.

iv. Did any of your DVC education (lecturelaboratory) assist you in carrying out your duties
    My education in DVC helped greatly in the performance of my duties, although most of my initial knowledge about proper behavior in the laboratory, as well as how to prepare stock chemical solutions by calculation and from given molecular formulas, labeling and weighing using an analytical balance, came from another school I previously attended where I took my General Chemistry subject.

B. Instrumental Analysis   
i. What type of equipment did you utilize in the performance of your job duties  What was its purpose
    I used basic equipment in my work as a student assistant in the laboratories at DVC I used analytical balances to accurately weigh reagents, volumetric flasks to accurately mix and dilute chemicals, and a fume hood to keep fumes from the chemicals from spreading around and beyond the classroom and so do harm to those who inhale it. I also wore safety goggles to protect my eyes from splashed liquids and fumes. The chemistry laboratories in DVC have sophisticated machines for instrumentation techniques like NMR, IR, and HPLC, but I did not use these, as these were individually set-up by instructors for their classes.

ii. How did the company maintain and ensure quality controlquality assurance of their equipment
    As mentioned earlier in this report, the laboratories in DVC are teaching laboratories, and so the concept of quality assurance as applied in an industrial setting is quite irrelevant to my work experience. What we did focus on was the risk management. We tried to strike a balance between simulating real events with real risks in the laboratory, in order to arm students with the information necessary for them to overcome these risks should they face it later on in their career, and assuring that unnecessary and injurious risks are avoided. Of my superiors, Mr. Petruso in particular felt strongly about risk, as he helped in establishing the safety protocols to be followed inside the laboratory. In his scheme, all the equipment in the DVC laboratories are tested first by the teachers and then by a professional company to conclusively ensure that no defective equipment is made available to students and are removed or replaced. In addition to this protocol, we made sure to anticipate and tackle the two types of risks the so-called static risk and dynamic risk. We countered static risks, which are easily spotted and are well-established to occur in a given situation, by referring to our own personal experiences as well as checking and refreshing our knowledge of policies, laboratory procedures and manuals, reference books, and federal, state and local standards, regulations, and laws. We tackled dynamic risks, which are harder to spot beforehand and may unexpectedly arise, by exercising a variety of engineering and administrative controls, such as increasing the space between people and hazardous equipment, using the least hazardous alternatives to equipment and chemicals used in an activity, posting signs and labels in the classroom, giving quizzes on laboratory safety to ensure that students know how to keep themselves safe within the laboratory, and developing and enforcing the safety rules to be followed by all persons within the laboratory. We also review the performed experiments on their safety and pedagogic effectiveness, and we made alterations to the experiment as needed to improve these two considerations. We do reviews on a periodic basis, to ensure that our existing controls and safety protocols are effective and to find out whether any modifications to these need to be done. The frequency of review depends on the frequency of changes being done to the experiment, changes in standards or government regulations, the age of existing apparatus, and the availability of better apparatus and instructional techniques.

iii. Did any of your DVC education (lecturelaboratory) assist you in carrying out your duties
    As stated in another part of this paper, my education and experience at DVC has contributed a great deal to the performance of my duties, though my initial knowledge on laboratory work came from a previous school.

C. Problems Encountered   

i. Were there any technical problems associated with your position
    Overall, I would assess my employment environment as being good and beneficial to my development as a graduating chemistry student. I did not encounter any technical problems associated with my position as a student assistant, as the technical problems that developed in my time working in the laboratory were effectively addressed by the professors, the maintenance staff, computer support, andor an outside company.

ii. Were there any personnelinterpersonal problems associated with your position (e.g. managerial or teamwork)
    The only problem I encountered in my position is interpersonal in nature, regarding my relationship with Ms. Rollison. Ms. Rollison set out to do so much in the laboratories. She was very organized, and she aimed to catalogue all the chemicals in the inventory and to make sure that all safety protocols were followed. As a boss, Ms. Rollison knew what she wanted and wanted it done in the way she wanted it to, tending at times to be very demanding and very hard to please. Two months prior to her arrival in the DVC laboratory set-up team in early August 2008, I was under the supervision of Dr. Dedeian and Mr. Petruso and had quite a lot of control over the laboratories, a position I enjoyed very much. However, when Ms. Rollison took over as my supervisor, I was to relinquish my former role and responsibilities and report directly to her. Her attitude toward me was distinctly unfriendly and our personalities clashed, which, along with my loss of patience and love for the job, served only to hinder me from accepting my revised position in the system. This led to my resigning from the laboratories in October 2008.

iii. Were there any philosophical problems associated with your position (e.g. ethics)
    I did not encounter ethical and other philosophical problems in my work, as my work did not involve animal testing or any other ethically challenged laboratory practices.

iv. How would you address the aforementioned problems (if present)
    Perhaps, given a second chance to address my problem with my former supervisor, I would have immediately left the job and not stay on for the Fall term. Perhaps I would have fared better had I chose this course of action.

IV.    Summary
A. What did you like best about the employment experience
    Perhaps the best thing about my working experience as a student assistant in the laboratories of DVC was the time when I worked in conjunction with Dr. Dedeian and Mr. Petruso to make sure that all scheduled laboratories for the remainder of the summer, June 13th onward, were properly set up. By my efforts, I helped ensure that all student laboratories were organized, structured and conducted according to college guidelines, something I believe would not have succeeded as much as it did without my assistance. Also, I made their work in the laboratory more convenient and less frustrating by making sure that all the materials they needed were available to them. I consider the setting up of the General Chemistry I and II laboratories as well as the Organic Chemistry I and II laboratories as highlights in my career in DVC.

B. What did you like least about the employment experience
    The least likeable aspect of my working experience was my interaction with Ms. Rollison, as elaborated in the last paragraph of Part III of this report. But as with all things, this bad experience taught me one valuable thing and that is the fact that I am fit to do more challenging work than setting up laboratories as I did in this employment experience.

C. Would you consider this type of work as your career  How applicable was the position to your anticipated career path  Did the position affect the goals you had set for yourself
    Much as I enjoyed my time working in the laboratories in DVC in the position I held, I believe that my anticipated career path is very different from this kind of laboratory work, and that ultimately my position at DVC is not at all applicable to the kind of job I want. Of course, my position served me well, teaching me to work in a laboratory environment, honing my ability in preparing chemicals, and instilling in me a greater sense of self-confidence. The position also affected the goals I had set for myself tremendously before I worked as a student assistant in DVC I planned to intern at a local hospital and then proceed to medical school after I graduated, but after taking this position, and particularly after the good and edifying interactions I have had with Mr. Petruso, my career goals have changed, and my visions for my career path are now very different. Because of this position, I will be taking an MSE in Biomedical Engineering in Purdue University this September, as well as an MBA in Indiana University via an online program.

D. Was this a successful companybusiness
    I consider DVC to be very successful. DVC is a school founded on the core values, with its staff fully embracing the College Mission of encouraging students to reach their full potential via quality education that emphasizes hands-on training, holistic development, and relevant education activities that foster citizenship, leadership and a sense of community. The success of DVC is widely acknowledged as it steadily climbs the U.S. News and World Report rankings of competitive schools.


E. Provide suggestions for the improvement of the companybusiness that you have not already provided in Section III.
    In the vein of further improving DVC for students, I propose that the nature of peer groups be improved, as well as the quality and quantity of interactions of students with faculty outside the realm of the classroom. I also propose more opportunities for challenging coursework be made more applicable and relevant in the students  lives. Improvements must be made in the university to further sharpen students  academic skills. All these, I believe, can be done by doing more and better undergraduate research, as well as by developing research skills. Doing this, I am sure, will put the college at an even better stead, both in the views of outsiders and the students who entrust their education and their future to it.

F. Evaluate your overall experience and where you are headed.
    I ll have to say that from my overall experience both in the classrooms and at work in the laboratories of DVC that I got a well-rounded education. I benefited greatly from working with Dr. Dedeian and Mr. Petruso, two individuals that I am very much indebted to for the knowledge and industry experience they have so generously shared with me they have taught me everything that I need to know to run a lab properly, efficiently and safely. My overall experience in DVC was positive and I m leaving with a wealth of knowledge. With this knowledge I plan to follow my new career path, starting with my plans to take an MSE in Biomedical Engineering in Purdue University this September, as well as an MBA in Indiana University via an online program.
i. How did this position fit in with your personal development plan

    Even though I would have preferred a research-oriented employment experience, my position in the laboratory at DVC has more than filled my expectations in my personal development plan. Any type of experience in the laboratory to exercise what I have learned in the classroom in a setting that is as close to actual work conditions as I could have in my present state as an inexperienced student is valuable. Due to my job experience, I found in me a need to build on my newly founded knowledge and gear it towards quality assurance and drug development fields.

ii. Analyze your current skills, looking at both what you learned at DVC and on the job.  Are they adequate to support your choice of career pathway

    As of my graduation I have learned how to use many sophisticated techniques and instrumentation methods, including NMR, IR, UV-Vis, Polarimetry, AA, GC, MS, and HPLC, from my previous courses. I think that with these skills I am more than adequately prepared in treading my choice of career pathway in quality assurance and drug development I have the technical skills that are required in order to run samples, and I already picked up the necessary job-related skills in my job training program, so I have a distinct competitive advantage over other applicants in a job I would want in the future.

iii. Critique both your strengths and your weaknesses.
    From my experience as a student assistant, I affirmed to myself that I am very thorough and a hard worker I don t stop until the job is done. I fix things that get broken with limited resources. I know how to get the job done fast and efficiently. My greatest limitation is perhaps my difficulty in expressing myself verbally. I also struggle at managing my workload, so that I usually end up taking on more work than I can handle. As a result I get easily stressed, and get less sleep than is good for me. My immune system is weak, thus presenting another obstacle in the performance of my work. In the period of my work, my job performance was uneven I performed very well from May through August and then my performance deteriorated significantly from September through October. I am slightly unhappy with my job performance, and the fact that I couldn t give the job my utmost attention due to personal problems only adds to my dissatisfaction.
iv. Based upon your job performance, indicate how you will increase your strengths and improve upon your weaknesses.

    From this experience, I will try in the future not to stress myself over the small things and I will try to get over my nervousness when speaking in front of groups of people. As for my strengths, which I think are very strong already, I suppose they can be improved by consistent attention to detail and by working as hard as I can push myself higher and further.

v. What is the primary benefit you see in the entire Employment Program experience
    The primary benefit that I see in the entire Employment Program experience is, of course, the simulated real-world experience it provides. It is not an actual workplace, yet all the same the student gets to practice what he or she is taught in class, allowing the student to apply the skills he or she learned and gain confidence and experience while doing so. Also, the Employment Program pushes the student to learn outside of the classroom and rely on his or her self to do things, as well as partake in the knowledge of other, more learned individuals in a manner different from learning things in textbooks.

vi. What one facet of the Employment Program experience would you like to see changed or improved

    To end this paper, one facet of the Employment Program experience I would like to see changed or improved upon is the quantity of hours needed to accomplish the Employment Program. I think that the required number of hours for the completion of the program should be increased back up to 960 hours, as 460 hours can be completed in just one summer, while it takes about two summers to properly pursue research in chemistry and biochemistry. The more knowledge the student obtains as an undergraduate the more marketable he or she is after graduation, I believe.