Minors

In this section:

• General Statement
• Requirements
• Procedures for Declaring and Completing a Minor

General Statement

Each academic unit in the University may, at its discretion, offer formal academic minors. The University does not require that an academic program unit offer a minor or that its students take a minor. Minors will be described in the catalog and identified on the student’s transcript in the same manner that majors are identified. If a department requires a concentration of courses in a secondary area and that concentration is not a formal minor, then the department should refer to this group of courses as an ‘area of emphasis’ rather than a ‘minor’ in order to avoid confusion.

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Requirements

Requirements for a minor are set by the academic unit offering the minor. Substitutions may not be made without written approval of the minor department.  Minors must include at least fifteen hours of course work, with a minimum of nine hours at the upper division level (course numbers 300 or above). Units offering a minor may require specific courses and/or may require a minimum performance standard for courses taken to fulfill minor requirements (e.g., "a GPA of 2.0 across courses counted toward the minor is required" or "a grade of ‘C’ or higher must be earned in all courses counted toward the minor"). Courses in the minor may not be taken pass/fail.

Students may not earn a minor in the same field as their major. Courses required for completion of the student’s major may be applied to the completion of a minor, so long as that minor is not in the same field (i.e., offered by the same academic unit) as the major. Each minor must have a minimum of 9 unique credit hours distinct from any other academic credential.

For rules concerning minors that are part of the multidisciplinary studies degree, see the Programs for Multidisciplinary and Interdisciplinary Studies website.

The declaration of academic minors does not change or supersede specific college requirements or policies.  

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Procedures for Declaring and Completing a Minor

Students declare minors once they enter their major fields of study. A student interested in completing a minor (or minors) works with the major advisor to incorporate minor requirements into schedule planning. Students are welcome to consult with advisors in the minor department. Students who wish to complete a minor in music, women’s studies, leadership studies, or ROTC must work directly with advisors for those programs.

The following steps must be followed to assure that completion of a minor is appropriately recognized and posted to the student’s transcript:

1. Complete an Academic Status Update (ASU) Form with their advisor.
2. Indicate minor(s) on the Application for Graduation. Failure to declare a minor on the Application for Graduation will result in the minor not appearing on the transcript, regardless of declaration on the ASU form.
3. Review the minor requirements are completed with the major advisor.  The student’s major advisor/major college advisement office certifies that all minor requirements have been completed.

Note: Minors are only awarded at the time of the conferral of a baccalaureate degree and for dual degree students will only appear once on a transcript.

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