Individualized Major, BA or BS

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Individualized Major and Minor - The Process for Developing a Major or Minor

Overview:

If your academic interests and life goals do not fit within an existing program of study at Edgewood College, an Individualized Major or Minor may be the right option for you. The Individualized Major and Minor (IM) Program provides students the opportunity to design a curriculum that meets their interests, commitments, passions, and career and life goals. If you choose to pursue this option, an Edgewood College faculty advisor, or sometimes co-advisors, will work with you to develop a unique academic plan that combines classes, community-based learning, and other related experiences such as off-campus study and internships. Your Individualized Major or Minor will enable you to combine learning, beliefs, and action – the essence of an Edgewood College undergraduate education.

Students with interests in multiple fields of study use the IM Program to develop interdisciplinary majors and minors that combine coursework and other experiences from two or more fields of study, or to add a specialized minor to an existing Edgewood College major. An Individualized Major or Minor is not an appropriate choice when a student does not have a clear sense of purpose, or when a student is approaching graduation without another workable plan. If you are considering an Individualized Major or Minor, you should begin planning as early as possible. Your academic advisor can help you begin this process or can direct you to a member of the faculty who will guide you as you develop your ideas, plan a cohesive program of study, and write a proposal narrative that explains your Individualized Major and Minor and why it is right for you.

While the process may look complex it breaks down into a few simple tasks:

Express interest to your current Academic Advisor.
Get an IM Advisor in your field with the help of your Academic Advisor and the IM Committee Chair.
Work with that advisor to create a plan of study.
Present the plan to the IM Review Committee for approval.

The Process for Developing an Individualized Major or Minor:

STEP ONE: Expressing Interest and Formulating an Idea

A student contemplating an individualized major should start by familiarizing themselves with the IM process and discussing their interest with their Academic Advisor.
Once a student has an idea (or several ideas) for an Individualized Major or Minor, their advisor will refer the student to, or consult with, the Chair of the IM Review Committee who can provide more detailed information about the IM approval process.
If the student’s advisor has not already done so, the Chair of the IM Review Committee will connect the student with an appropriate faculty member or will organize a meeting with multiple members of the faculty to enlist the disciplinary expertise that can best inform the development of the IM.

STEP TWO: Exploring the Feasibility of the Major or Minor

This step is about assembling the student’s team, determining the feasibility of the student’s developing ideas, and identifying the best route to take to meet both the student’s interests and the need for academic integrity. The student should meet with their faculty members to seek guidance as to how this IM might unfold and who would be involved in it’s creation.

The faculty members recommended by the IM Review Committee will meet with the student to guide the direction of the IM and advise on what may or may not be possible.
If the IM will be interdisciplinary, the faculty members recommended by the IM Review Committee will help determine who should serve as the student’s IM advisor.
In cases where the student’s current advisor will be their sole IM advisor, no other faculty need to be involved.
In cases where there is a precedent for an IM in a particular area. The IM Advisor may provide that to the student as a framework for their IM. Submitting this along with an explanation from the IM Advisor can reduce workload substantially.

STEP THREE: Proposal Development

After getting the necessary information from the IM Review Committee Chair, identifying an IM Advisor, and discussing feasibility, the student should meet with their IM advisor(s) to begin working on their proposal. Depending on the proposal, the student and their advisor(s) may need to do some or all the following:
- Review catalogs from institutions that offer a major/minor like the one the student is interested in, to see what kinds of courses might fulfill requirements at the lower and upper levels and what kinds of experiential learning would be relevant
- Determine if courses will need to be taken at another institution, e.g. Madison College or the University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Consider whether some requirements will best be fulfilled through Independent Study
- Propose a plan for fulfilling the COR 3 General Education requirement (Majors only)
- Determine how experiential learning, potentially including off-campus study and an internship(s), will be components of the proposed course of study (Majors only)
- Determine what courses will be taken and when by mapping out a degree plan
- Consider how the Major or Minor will achieve coherence and academic rigor
- Explore if it could be valuable to consult additional faculty members and/or community partners as part of the planning process
In this stage you may benefit from the Course Listings by Discipline and the Course Listings by Semester/Year document to assist in planning. This is not required and will not be part of your finished proposal.
It is recommended for more advanced proposals that students use this step to create a proposal outline for preliminary review. This outline should offer a sketch or a list of ideas following the required format for the IM proposal narrative. (See IM Narrative Guidelines form) When the student and the IM advisor(s) are comfortable with the outline, the student should schedule an initial meeting for feedback from the Chair of the IM Review Committee or someone designated by this individual to share this responsibility.

STEP FOUR: Submission of Proposal

After receiving feedback on their proposal outline (if desired), the student will complete the IM proposal narrative. As the student finalizes their IM proposal, the student must be sure to follow the IM checklist, use the IM forms (available from the IM Review Committee Chair), and adhere to policies in the current College Catalog. A complete proposal will include:

An Application Cover Sheet
An appropriate Narrative following the Narrative Guidelines
The Individualized Degree Course Grid
A letter of approval from the student’s IM Advisor
Unofficial Transcripts

The student should submit the proposal to the IM Review Committee Chair, who will distribute it to members of the IM Review Committee. The IM advisor is expected to send a letter in support of the student’s proposal to the IM Review Committee Chair that addresses the reasoning behind the proposal and how this Individualized Major or Minor supports the student’s learning goals as appropriate to the scale of the proposal (co-advisors may co-author this letter, or the letter may be written by one of the advisors).

STEP FIVE: Review and Presentation of Proposal

After the proposal has been submitted, the IM Review Committee Chair will schedule a meeting of the Review Committee to review the proposal. For Individualized Major proposals, the student and the IM advisor(s) are typically expected to meet with the Review Committee to present and discuss the proposal. Following this discussion, the Review Committee will determine whether the proposal should be approved. For Individualized Minors, the student and IM advisor need not be present unless requested by at least one member of the Review Committee. The Committee Chair will communicate the Review Committee’s feedback to the student and IM advisor(s), typically within a week. Please note: the IM Review Committee consists of the Committee Chair, a faculty representative from the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, an at-large faculty member with interdisciplinary expertise, and the Registrar.

STEP SIX: Acceptance of Proposal and Completion of the Approved Program of Study

The IM Review Committee will either approve, conditionally approve, or not accept the proposal. If the proposal is conditionally approved, revisions need to be made and the proposal resubmitted to the Review Committee. If the proposal is not accepted, the student can choose to meet with the Chair of the Review Committee to get feedback and explore alternatives.
Any changes to the approved IM program of study must be approved by the student’s IM advisor(s) and the IM Review Committee Chair in advance of making these changes. These will be submitted through the Registrar’s office Special Arrangement Form