Daily Trojan Editorial

Minors are good idea, now they've less confusion

When minors were introduced this fall, offering students a myriad of new ways to complement their education, it initially seemed like a good idea.
When it took effect, however, students and administrators realized there were a few problems with the minor program.
Specifically, students had to change their year of admittance to meet the university's policy that requires a student's degree to come under one catalog year.
For instance, if a junior wanted to pick up one of the new minors, they would have to reclassify themselves as just having entered the university this year.
Not only that, if the requirements for their majors had changed, they automatically had to conform to the new requirements. Students could have taken classes they didn't need, or have suddenly found themselves behind in their academic course work. And all because they wanted to complement their majors. Better planning could have helped avoid any confusion.
The university has now implemented a transitional plan to alleviate the confusion caused by the new minors.
In the future, when the university makes alterations to its curriculum such as these new minors, it should have the foresight to implement a transitional plan before problems arise.
The university has successfully done this before. When the general education requirements were changed last year, it was clear who was required to conform to which set of regulations.
Advisors were well-prepared to inform students of the changes and information explaining the new policy was handed out. Also, the university allowed a reasonable amount of time for the transition to occur smoothly. As a result, there were little complaints or confusion on the change.
The same plan would have been practical in dealing with the new minors.
But at least the university realized there was a problem and was able to address and rectify the problem within a few weeks.
It should be made easy to add a new minor. Students should be rewarded for enhancing their curriculum, not confused.
Minors are a valuable way to broaden your education without adding an entirely new major.
The new minors, which include subjects such as law and public policy, interactive multimedia, and gerontology, complement a variety of majors, add to a rsum and give students the opportunity to dabble in a subject without completely immersing themselves in it. And some students do not have the extra units to take up a full major.
Having a minor is the solution to all these dilemmas. When red tape and headaches are added to a decision, students' desires to broaden themselves are discouraged.
The university now knows what works and what does not, and should be able to avoid any future curriculum confusion.