Senate Proposal 14-99

Proposed Catalog Copy (*)

The student will normally meet graduation requirements for a degree in one of the major curricula.

A single MTU bachelor's degree with a double major is granted when the student satisfies all curricular requirements for two MTU degree programs, but does not qualify for a second degree or dual degree (as defined in the catalog).

Students planning to earn a double major should declare both majors and begin planning their course work as early as possible. Advisors must be identified in the departments of both majors in order to assure that the degree requirements of both are met.

A student pursuing a double major will designate one as the primary major for administrative purposes but is expected to maintain normal progress in fulfilling the requirements in both. The department of the primary major is responsible for ensuring that the University degree requirements are met. Students in curricula with few elective hours, and where completing the requirements for a double major will require earning more than 32 additional credit hours, should consider a dual degree program.

A student who completes a double major earns one degree. Students must select a first-named major and a second-named major at the time degree audits are filed. The diploma shall record the fact that the student has completed a double major, and shall identify the student’s fields of study in keeping with the Registrar’s regular procedures governing diploma language. Completion of both majors will be noted on the final transcript and the commencement program for all students.

If a single department offers two distinct degrees, then it is possible for a student to complete a double major within that department by fulfilling the requirements for both degrees. However, a double major will not be granted for completing two different options in a single degree program.

In the event that both majors require a senior project, a student may petition both departments to accept one project for both majors. Approval of the single project is at the discretion of the departments involved, and must be obtained prior to the date of commencing the senior project.

Students who have previously been awarded a degree cannot have the double major designation added to their transcript.

Rationale (**)

The intent of this proposal is to ensure that students fulfilling the requirements of two different major programs receive recognition of this fact on their diploma. At present, a student that satisfies all the major requirements of two departments (say, electrical engineering and computer science) must select only one of these to declare as a major. It is inappropriate to force the student to make an arbitrary decision between two areas in which they have been educated.

Under current University policy, a student must obtain a second or dual degree to be recognized for completing two majors. The second degree requires completion of 25% of the credit hours required for the degree, approximately 50 quarter hours, in addition to the hours required for the first degree.

The “double major” is distinctly different from the “dual or second degree” currently offered at MTU in that it does not require additional credit hours beyond departmental requirements and only a single degree is granted.

We do not anticipate that a large number of students will complete a double major, although the number is likely to be appreciably larger than the number currently pursuing dual degrees. Students who do complete the double major will, in many cases, take some course work beyond the minimum number of hours required for a single major and pay the appropriate tuition. Overall, the introduction of double majors at MTU is not likely to have a large net financial impact in terms of tuition revenues.

A double major is not unusual; of our seven peer institutions, five of them (***) recognize the equivalent of a double major (as distinct from a dual degree).

(*) Borrowing heavily from Cal Poly's catalog.

(**) Borrowing heavily from Steve Seidel's memo of 2/19/98.

(***) Cal Poly, RPI, Lehigh, CMU (Carnegie Mellon), and Clarkson

Adopted by Senate: 8 Mar 2000
Approved by Administration: 26 May 2000
Became Senate Policy 402.1