Establishing or Modifying Campus-Wide Undergraduate Minors

A unit intending to propose a minor should prepare requirements in accord with these guidelines, obtain appropriate approvals, and forward the “Proposal to the Senate Committee on Educational Policy to Establish or Modify an Undergraduate Minor”, through the Provost’s Office, to the Senate Educational Policy Committee, the Senate and the Board of Trustees for review and approval. Additional support should be provided for proposed minors that are out of the ordinary.  Examples would be those (a) from more than one unit; (b) from units that are not academic departments; (c) established to meet external requirements such as teacher certification; (d) that require interdisciplinary course work that focuses on a single theme, e.g., women’s studies, American Indian Studies, etc.; or (e) which do not meet specific guidelines such as the minimum or maximum hours.

  1. A minor should constitute a coherent program of study requiring some depth in the subject, but not as extensive a program as the major.  Most minors will be either (a) comprehensive study in a single discipline, or (b) interdisciplinary study focusing on a single theme.   
  2. In general, the minor should consist of at least 16 and no more than 21 hours of course work in the sponsoring unit.  Except for clearly remedial offerings, prerequisite courses within the sponsoring unit count toward this total; prerequisite courses outside the sponsoring unit ordinarily do not count toward this total. 
  3. At least 6 hours of the minor must be advanced (300 or 400 ) level courses.  
  4. The unit sponsoring the minor, and that unit’s college, may set educationally necessary prerequisites for eligibility for the minor within the constraints of  item 2 above. 

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