Biotechnology B.A.

Information and Policies

Introduction

The Bachelor of Arts in Biotechnology is intended for students who plan to be involved in the biotechnology industry as writers, artists, ethicists, executives, sales force, regulators, lawyers, politicians, and other roles that require an understanding of the technology, but not the intensive training needed for technicians, research scientists, engineers, and bioinformaticians. (For those more technical roles, the biomolecular engineering and bioinformatics major or the molecular, cell, and developmental biology major is recommended.)

The major is deliberately designed to be suitable as a double major for students in the humanities or social sciences.

Academic Advising for the Program

The Baskin School of Engineering (BSOE) Undergraduate Advising office offers general advising for prospective and declared undergraduates majoring in School of Engineering programs. The office handles major declarations, transfer credits, course substitutions, articulations, and degree certifications. Undergraduate students obtain and submit all paperwork requiring departmental approval to the undergraduate advising office. Transfer students should also refer to the Transfer Information and Policy section.

Baskin Engineering Building, Room 225
bsoeadvising@ucsc.edu
(831) 459-5840

Getting Started in the Major

Students applying for admission as first-year students proposing to take biotechnology should have completed high-school biology. Any UC-eligible student with a strong interest in biotechnlogy is welcome in the program.

Program Learning Outcomes

A biotechnology student completing the program should:

• have familiarity with several different biotechnologies;
• be able to find and use information from a variety of sources, including books, journal articles, and online encyclopedias;
• be able to write programs in Python;
• be able to communicate clearly in writing, orally, and as posters; and
• be able to apply ethical reasoning to make decisions about biotechnology in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.

Major Qualification Policy and Declaration Process

Major Qualification

Transfer students should refer to the Transfer Information and Policy section.

To qualify for the biotechnology major, students must have completed four of the following lower-division courses:

Appeal Process

Students who are informed that they are not eligible to declare may appeal this decision by submitting a letter to the BSOE Undergraduate Advising Office. Within 15 days of receipt of the appeal, the Undergraduate Advising office will notify the student, the college, and the Office of the Registrar of the decision.

If you have further questions concerning the appeal process, please contact the Undergraduate Advising office at (831) 459-5840 or email bsoeadvising@ucsc.edu.

More information regarding the appeal process can be found on the BSOE Undergraduate Affairs website.

How to Declare a Major

Instructions for declaring a major in the Baskin School of Engineering are on the BSOE Undergraduate Affairs website.

Students should submit a petition to declare as soon as they complete the
major qualification requirements or reach their declaration deadline
quarter (whichever comes first).

Students petitioning when the campus declaration deadline is imminent (i.e.,
in their sixth quarter, for students admitted as frosh), will either be
approved, denied, or provided with conditions (e.g., completion of some
courses with certain grades) that will be resolved within at most one more
enrolled quarter, even if they have not completed major qualification
courses.

Transfer Information and Policy

Transfer Admission Screening Policy

Transfer students need to have completed the following three courses:

Both these courses

And

Either this course

Or these courses

Students with a different introductory programming course can still be accepted. Any course with C-ID COMP 112 or C-ID COMP 122 is acceptable. A course teaching Python is preferred even if it does not match either of these C-IDs.

For students intending to migrate from the Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology Department (MCDB), the program will consider appropriate MCDB courses to substitute for specific biotechnology electives.

Getting Started at UCSC as a Transfer Student

Transfer students should declare their major in their first quarter at UCSC. Instructions for declaring a major in the Baskin School of Engineering are the BSOE Undergraduate Affairs website.

Letter Grade Policy

The Baskin School of Engineering requires letter grades for all courses in a major.  

Course Substitution Policy

Please refer to the Undergraduate Affairs course substitution website for Baskin School of Engineering policies about taking courses at other institutions after enrolling at UCSC.

Double Majors and Major/Minor Combinations Policy

Double majoring with humanities or social science majors is encouraged. Double majoring with other biology-related majors is permitted, except for the Biomolecular Engineering and Bioinformatics major, which has too high an overlap in courses.

Honors

Students with a GPA of 3.3 or higher in the major courses will receive Honors in the Major, unless they have been found guilty of academic misconduct.

Requirements and Planners

Course Requirements

Lower-Division Courses

Statistics: either both of these courses

Biotechnology and Society

Either

And

Upper-Division Courses

Electives

Three of the following courses, at least two of which are from the Biomolecular Engineering Department:

Students may petition to have one upper-division biology course count as an elective, but most such courses have prerequisites that are not required for the major.

Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement

Comprehensive Requirement

The comprehensive requirement is covered by the project in the entrepreneurship course:

Exit Requirements

Students are required to submit a portfolio and exit survey, and they must attend an exit interview.

The portfolios must be turned in electronically as PDF files by the last day of the quarter of graduation, and will be reviewed quarterly by the undergraduate director.

Portfolios must contain the following:

• A substantial written report on a project. This is typically satisfied by the capstone project report.
• Slides from a substantial verbal presentation.
• A poster. This is typically satisfied by a capstone design project poster, presented at the undergraduate poster symposium.

The three parts of the portfolio should represent at least two different projects. At least one of the submissions must be from the capstone course.

Exit interviews are scheduled during the last week of the quarter by the Baskin School of Engineering (BSOE) advising office, generally as small group interviews.

Planners

Sample Plan for Incoming Frosh

*These are elective courses. Other elective courses may have prerequisites.

General education requirements: 

C is not met by courses in the program, but is a prerequisite for the required BME 185 course.
CC, ER, and IM are not met by any courses in the program.
SR and PE are met by required courses.
SI can be met by BME 18.
TA can be met by several electives: BME 122H, BME 132, BME 177, or BME 178.

Sample Plan for Transfer Students

*These are elective courses. Other elective courses may have prerequisites.