Minors at the University of Connecticut

The following text is taken from Minors at the University of Connecticut: Policy for Approval and Listing on the Transcript, Chancellor's Office, May 1996.

Beginning in Fall, 1997, undergraduate, degree-seeking students may pursue a minor, which will be listed on their transcripts once their transcripts have been audited and they are approved for graduation with baccalaureaute degrees from the University.  A minor is not required for graduation and minors are available only to matriculated students currently pursuing baccalaureaute degrees.

Faculty may establish minors, which can focus on their particular discipline or be interdisciplinary in nature.

Such minors shall be reviewed on a regular basis, concurrent with the regularly scheduled review (program assessment) of the sponsoring academic unit to assure that the minor is being supervised and that enrollment justifies continued availability.

A minor at the University of Connecticut will include 12 to 18 credits of 200-level  coursework; only courses with a 2.0 or better can be counted toward the minor.

The maximum limit of 18 credits is set by a general policy of the Board of Governors of Higher Education for Connecticut, which must approve any degree program which exceeds 18 credits.  Both the UConn Board of Trustees and  the Department of Higher Education will be informed about newly created minors, but will not review or approve them.
Maximum of 3 credits toward the minor may be transfer credits of courses equivalent to UConn courses.  Substitutions are not possible for required courses in a minor.

Faculty establish the requirements for a minor, either within their particular discipline or from an interdisciplinary selection of courses.

Eligibility for minors is established by the faculty overseeing the minor.  In general minors would be designed to add breadth to students' programs; therefore, students ordinarily may not earn minors within their own major disciplines.

The Curricula and Courses Committee and the faculty of the School or College within which the minor is offered must approve the minor.

For interdisciplinary minors which include courses from several school or colleges, each associated C&C Committee will be asked to make a recommendation to the Vice Chancellor concerning the minor, and the Provost will approve/disapprove the minor.  If the minor includes required courses, the School or College offering those courses must approve the minor, regardless of its interdisciplinary nature. 

Proposals for minors should include the following:

1.  Catalog copy should be prepared to clearly describe the requirements of the minor.
2.  Relevant restrictions on eligibility and on use of courses to meet multiple requirements should be detailed.  Restrictions on use of courses to meet multiple requirements is a faculty perogative.
3.  A minor plan of study should be created detailing the requirements.  Signature should be one of the folllowing:

• department head of department offering minor, or faculty designee
• director of interdisciplinary program, as stated in University Catalog's description of minor

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has a specific policy which may be viewed through this link:

Minors in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Last updated 1/21/08