By Lorena NavaSenior Staff Writer
You may or may not have noticed, but three minors have beenremoved.
Earlier this month, the University Senate approved cancellation ofthe physical education minor in the Department of Exercise andNutritional Sciences, the media management minor in the School ofCommunication and the American studies minor in the College of Artsand Letters.
According to Patricia Dintrone, chair of the University Senate’sundergraduate curriculum committee, each department initiates thedeletion of its minor. After department approval, college-wideapproval must be met for the process to continue on to the universitylevel.
“At the university level, the proposal is sent to the deans of allthe colleges for their comment, then it must be approved by threeSenate committees: Undergraduate Curriculum, Academic Resources andPlanning, and Academic Policy and Planning,” Dintrone said. “It thenis reviewed by the Senate Executive Committee and voted on by theSenate.”
The process usually takes about one-and-a-half to two semestersfor the paperwork to work its way through all the committeesrequired, Dintrone said.
The Department of Exercise and Nutritional Sciences decided to endthe physical education minor after recognizing there was littlestudent interest and budget cuts were imminent from the state,exercise and nutritional sciences undergraduate advisor Lorna Francissaid.
“In the last two years, I’ve probably had three or four studentswho wanted to do it,” Francis said. “There’s not too great of ademand now.”
The department started the process last Spring semester and thechange will appear in the 2004-05 General Catalog, Dintrone said.
In the School of Communication, different issues initiated theelimination of the media management minor, School of CommunicationAssociate Director and communication professor Susan Hellweg, said.The media management major, as well as the minor, has been phased outbecause retirements and an administrative promotion left no full-timemedia management faculty in the school, Hellweg said.
“If you don’t have professors, it’s hard to keep a program,”Hellweg said.
According to Hellweg, students left in the major and minor canstill take courses to finish their programs.
“In making decisions about the deletion of minors, our firstconcern is what provision have been made for students who are alreadyin the minor,” Dintrone said. “If there are any, the department needsto explain how the students currently in the minor will be able tocomplete the requirements.”
Hellweg, Francis and Dintrone said they haven’t heard anycomplaints from students about the deletion of the minors. Hellwegsaid it doesn’t mean students haven’t complained, though.
“In general, these are minors with very few students,” Dintronesaid. “Sometimes a minor is deleted because the associated major isdeleted.”
This was the case for two of the minors deleted, includingAmerican studies and media management, which is an emphasis ofcommunication, according to University Senate minutes.
“The needs of departments change,” Dintrone said. “Faculty retireand are replaced by new faculty, academic fields of study grow anddevelop, student interests change – clearly the curriculum needs tobe able to change with them.
“With finite resources, departments need to make decisions aboutwhere they want to go in the future and where they can best servestudents.”
Courses will not be deleted in any of the minors until thecurrently enrolled students have completed the requirements.
