The Committee on Instruction unanimously passed a proposal yesterday to allow students to minor in two academic disciplines at the same time, the committee chair said last night.
The proposal -- drafted last year by the Student Assembly -- still needs to pass the Committee on Organization and Policy, which could review the proposal within three weeks. If passed, students could add additional minors to their transcripts as soon as Winter term.
Under the so-called "Three-M" proposal, students would be allowed to choose between a single major, a major and a minor, a major and two minors or a double major and a minor. Students who already have completed the requirements for a second minor would receive credit under this proposal.
The Class of 1998 will be able to take advantage of the plan if it is passed and implemented by winter, said David Gacioch '00, a leading proponent of the plan.
The proposal, drafted by Gacioch and the Assembly's Committee on Academic Affairs, stems from a resolution passed last spring by the Assembly. After polling 1,774 Dartmouth undergraduate students, the assembly found that 74 percent supported a policy change to allow for multiple minors and 46 percent would consider pursuing multiple minors.
The Committee on Instruction, chaired by psychology professor Catherine Cramer, amended the original proposal to limit the number of minors to two. Cramer sees this as a "sensible compromise" because it "increases the flexibility of the curriculum" while preserving the depth off study.
There had been concern that allowing students to pursue multiple minors would lead to "transcript inflation" -- students attempting to get many minors to bolster their credentials, Gacioch said.
This policy will encourage students to follow a comprehensive course of study outside their major rather than just taking a few classes, he said.
Dartmouth was the first institution in the Ivy League to recognize academic minors.
