Department minors provide students with the opportunities to pursue, within a single academic area, a coherent course of study that is more limited (15 hours) than a full major yet more coherent than a random selection of courses.
College/School minors are similar in purpose to department minors but are defined relative to more general areas within a division’s curriculum (e.g., an undergraduate minor in Business) as opposed to that of a particular academic department.
Interdisciplinary minors are, in effect, department or college/school minors where the 15 hours of core course work is contributed by two ore more academic units and the subject area does not constitute a single college/school.
All minors are transcripted, restricted to degree-seeking students and may include course prerequisites or GPA requirements in addition to a 15-hour core of courses within the department. The degree and the minor must be awarded simultaneously.
The process for establishing a minor begins with the department curriculum committee and requires the approval of the division curriculum committee, the dean, the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, and the campus undergraduate curriculum committee, prior to final approval by the Provost. Minors do not require approval beyond the campus.
For information on minor program proposals, consult Academic Program Approval and Change Processes.