Minors

Definition:

A Minor is a thematically-related set of academic activities leading to a degree designation in addition to but separate from that granted by the Major. A Minor should be available to students of any Major, with the exception of a Minor which overlaps with a Major area to such an extent that it is not sufficiently distinct from that Major. The Committee on Academic Operations (CAO) is responsible for the review of proposed Minor Programs and decisions regarding allowed Major/Minor combinations.

Rules:

  1. A Minor requires completion of two or more units of thematically related activity. The concluding 1/3 unit of the Minor must be a capstone experience that marks completion of the Minor.
  2. It is expected that Minor requirements will be structured so that all acceptable Major/Minor combinations can be accommodated within a normal 16 term framework.
  3. A Minor may include any portion of the academic program, excluding the MQP and the final Type 5 IS/P of the Sufficiency. Academic activities used in satisfying the regular degree requirements may be doublecounted toward meeting all but one unit of the Minor requirements, subject to the following restrictions:
    1. The first unit of double-counted work may include at most 1/3 unit of the IQP, 3/3 units of the Sufficiency (excluding the final Type 5 IS/P), or a combination thereof.
    2. At least one unit of the Minor, including the capstone activity, must be free elective choices.
  4. The Program Review Committee for a Minor area will consist of faculty members designated by the sponsoring faculty members.
  5. A Minor area must be proposed by a sponsoring group of faculty and must be defined by the purpose of achieving an educational goal beyond those apparent or implicit in the regular degree requirements. Studentinitiated Minor Programs must be developed with the approval of a sponsoring group of faculty advisors. Each Minor Program must be reviewed by CAO for its individual merit.
  6. Concentrations and minors are additional degree designations. Any credit earned for an additional degree designation must not overlap with credit earned for another additional degree designation by more than one unit. Also, no credit-bearing activity may be triple-counted towards degree designations or degree requirements.

Minors are described in the “Program Description” section of this catalog. Minors sponsored by a department are described following the department. Others are listed alphabetically by title. As of the printing of this catalog, the following Minors have been approved:

Computer Science; Entrepreneurship; Foreign Language; International Studies; Law and Technology; Management; Management Information Systems; Manufacturing Engineering; Materials; Music; Organizational Leadership; Physics; Social Science; Economics; Political Science and Law; Psychology; Sociology; System Dynamics; Statistics; Writing & Rhetoric.

Interdisciplinary or Individually Designed (ID) minors are approved by the Committee on Academic Operations (CAO).

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Last modified: June 18, 2007 11:14:34