Welcome to the program syllabus and informational guide for USF Chemistry Labs Advancing STEM Seeds (USF-CLASS). Hosted in teaching laboratories on the USF Tampa campus; USF-CLASS is an intensive, hands-on summer program crafted specifically for high-achieving high school students with a strong passion for the sciences.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship and partnership of the David C. Anchin Center for the Advancement of Teaching, this program is completely free of charge for all participating students and accompanying teachers, covering all specialized instrument consumables, recognition materials, and daily lunches.

Alignment with USF Goals

The USF-CLASS program directly aligns with the University of South Florida's core strategic goals of fostering community engagement, driving student success, and expanding access to higher education. By inviting high-achieving students from local high schools into our university teaching laboratories, USF-CLASS fulfills USF’s civic mission to strengthen educational equity in the Tampa Bay region, providing talented youth from diverse backgrounds with direct access to professional-grade scientific resources that their individual schools cannot otherwise offer.

Furthermore, the program serves as a powerful, high-impact recruitment and retention pipeline that supports USF's enrollment objectives. By combining hands-on instrumentation modules with integrated academic advising, covering admissions pathways, financial aid, and university life, USF-CLASS bridges the critical transition gap between secondary education and university enrollment. It positions USF as a welcoming, transparent, and supportive destination of choice for top-tier local prospective students, ultimately inspiring them to commit to STEM degree paths right here at our university.

The USF-CLASS program actively advances the department's core missions by:

1. Expanding regional community engagement and educational equity partnerships.
   
   
2. Showcasing our teaching infrastructure and instrumentation suites.
   
   
3. Building a reliable, direct recruitment pipeline for prospective STEM majors.
   
   
4. Promoting modern, efficient pedagogical standards that prioritize instrument operation and data analysis over excessive chemical waste.

1. Hands-On Instrumentation: Operate professional, research-grade analytical and chemical equipment, prioritizing digital data acquisition and spectral interpretation over high-volume reagent consumption.
   
   
2. Core Chemistry Integration: Explore foundational and applied concepts spanning general sustainability, organic separation, analytical trace detection, industry analytical processes.
   
   
3. Critical Thinking and Scientific Rigor: Translate experimental procedures into benchtop workflows, critically analyze analytical data, and evaluate real-world scientific problems.
   
   
4. Higher Education Guidance: Engage directly with academic advisors to understand university admission criteria, prerequisite requirements, and financial aid pathways.
   
   
5. Career Pathway Alignment: Connect practical university laboratory training to high-demand regional STEM careers, research opportunities, and professional development.

Dates: June 14th to June 18th 

Time Frame: Daily from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM (5 hours total per day).

Capacity: Maximum 20 students (5 science-inclined students from each of 4 partner high schools) accompanied by 1 high school science teacher per school.

 

Daily Routine

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM: Theoretical Lecture & Safety Briefing (Led by Dr. Jhon J. Figueroa and guest speakers).

9:30 AM – 12:00 PM: Hands-On Laboratory / Instrumentation Module (Equipment-focused analysis and data collection).

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM | Working Lunch & Academic Advising Session: Catered lunch paired with targeted advisory sessions covering USF admissions, financial aid, and university STEM pathways.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM: Guided Campus Walking Tour and Instrumentation Facility Walkthroughs.

Day 1: Intermolecular forces (contact angle) 

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM | Lecture: Safety discussion, safety agreement. Introduction to intermolecular forces, wettability, hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity. 

9:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Laboratory Focus: Wettability of surfaces and relationship with intermolecular forces.

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM | Advising Session: Navigating Admissions and Major Selections – Meeting with a USF Science Academic Adviser to discuss entry requirements, science degrees at USF, and academic pathways.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Lunch and Campus Tour: Catered lunch (Juniper will preferred) followed by a walking tour of the USF science complex and general chemistry stockrooms.

Day 2: Finding an unknown Concentration from a calibration curve (spectrophotometer)

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM | Lecture: Solutions, concentrations, units, calibration curves Beer’s law.

9:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Laboratory Focus: Finding the unknown concentration of a colorant from a commercial drink.

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM | Advising Session: Financing Your Education – A financial aid officer or senior advisor outlines scholarships, federal aid, and budgeting for college.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Lunch and Facility Tour: Catered lunch (Juniper will preferred) followed by a tour of the organic chemistry teaching and research instrumentation spaces.

Day 3: Identification of organic compounds (Mini-GC)

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM | Lecture: Principles of gas chromatography, adjustment of parameters, calibration curves, and environmental compliance testing.

9:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Laboratory Focus: Identify organic compounds by retention times, use of GC parameters to get the best spectra possible. 

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM | Advising Session: Student Support Systems and Campus Life – Exploring tutoring resources, undergraduate research opportunities (URI), and living-learning communities at USF.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Lunch and Lab Tour: Catered lunch (Juniper will preferred) followed by a guided walkthrough of the analytical instrument rooms and spectroscopy suites.

Day 4: Extracting limonene from orange peels (Liquid CO2 Extraction) 

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM | Lecture: Principles of chromatography (Thin Layer chromatography- TLC)

9:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Laboratory Focus: Analyze several analgesics by TLC and identify the composition of an unknown tablet.

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM | Advising Session: Career Preparedness and Industry Connections – Discussing internships with regional employers and how a chemistry degree translates to high-paying industry careers.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Lunch and Facility Tour: Catered lunch and a tour of USF health-adjacent science facilities.

Day 5: Analysis of different compounds (IR and NMR spectroscopy)

9:00 AM – 9:30 AM | Lecture: Introduction to IR and NMR spectroscopy

9:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Laboratory Focus: The lab has two parts IR and NMR spectroscopy. Analyze and interpret IR and NMR spectra of a variety of compounds.

12:30 PM – 1:00 PM | Closing Ceremony and Q&A: Panel discussion with USF faculty and current undergraduate mentors, certificate presentation, and final Q&A.

1:00 PM – 2:00 PM | Celebration Lunch and Farewell: Final group lunch and formal conclusion of the program.

Note on Laboratory Modules: Please be advised that the specific laboratory experiments, equipment configurations, and daily schedules outlined in this program are subject to change based on logistical coordination, material availability, and facility requirements. Any necessary adjustments will maintain the core educational objectives and hands-on instrumentation focus of the institute.

Throughout the week, participants will tour key research and teaching support facilities across the USF campus, gaining firsthand exposure to:

• General Chemistry Stockrooms and safety compliance frameworks.
• Organic Chemistry Teaching & Research Instrumentation Suites.
• Advanced Analytical Spectroscopy Laboratories (ATR-FTIR, AAS, and Raman suites).
• University Core Research and Characterization Facilities.

For questions regarding the curriculum, safety protocols, or program logistics, please reach out to:

Jhon J. Figueroa, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Laboratories

Department of Chemistry, University of South Florida
4202 E. Fowler Ave, NES 120, Tampa, FL 33620

Email: jhonfigueroa@usf.edu