PROGRAM MODIFICATION FORM
(4/15)
Please attach/ submit additional documents as needed to fully complete each section of the form.
I. DEPARTMENT / PROGRAM
English
II. SUMMARY
We are proposing to modify our existing Minor in English to reduce the credits from 27 to 18, in line
with other Minors on campus in the humanities, and reducing the barriers at the lower-division that
keep non-majors from enrolling in our upper-division electives.
III. ENDORSEMENTS AND APPROVALS
Requestor: Ashby Kinch
xxxPhone / Email:
Program Chair:
Signature _______________________ Date____________
x4462 / ashby.kinch@umontana.edu
Beverly Chin
Signature _______________________ Date____________
*Other Affected Programs: N/A
Signature _______________________ Date____________
Signature _______________________ Date____________
Dean: Jenny McNulty, Interim H&S Dean
Signature _______________________ Date____________
* Are affected because: (a) required courses incl. prerequisites or corequisites, (b) perceived overlap in content
areas, or (c) cross-listing of coursework
IV. TYPE OF PROGRAM MODIFICATION
Major
X
Minor
Other, Please describe:
Option
Teaching major / minor
V. CATALOG LANGUAGE
CURRENT CATALOGUE LANGUAGE
Degree Specific Credits: 27; Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0
Note: English minors must earn at least 27 credits within the English Department (excluding WRIT 101).
Foundational courses
Rule: Complete four courses (12 credits).
Note: English minors are expected to have completed 9 credits in lower-division English courses and earned a
grade of C or better in those courses prior to enrolling in LIT 300-level courses.
Foundational courses (upper-division)
Rule: Complete two courses (6 credits).
Note: English minors may substitute FILM 320 Shakespeare and Film for LIT 327.
Focus courses
Rule: Complete three upper-division English elective courses (9 credits).
Note: Students must complete three upper-division English elective courses. Any 300+level courses with the
prefixes LIT, ENIR , FILM, CRWR, and LING qualify. Most of these upper-division courses carry pre-requisites.
Students wishing to enroll in 300- or 400-level CRWR workshops (CRWR 310/311/312/410/411/412) must
complete the 200-level CRWR pre-requisite. CRWR 410/411/412 also require a writing submission for consent of
instructor
Minimum Required Grade: C- ; 9 Total Credits Required
PROPOSED CATALOGUE LANGUAGE
Degree Specific Credits: 18; Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0
Note: English minors must earn at least 18 credits within the English Department (excluding WRIT courses).
Foundational courses
Rule: Complete any two 200-level courses with LIT or CRWR prefixes (6 credits).
Focus courses
Rule: Complete any four upper-division English elective courses (12 credits).
Note: Students must complete four upper-division English elective courses. Any 300+level courses with the
prefixes LIT, IRSH, FILM, and CRWR qualify. Some of these upper-division courses carry pre-requisites, so students
should select lower- and upper-division courses carefully to ensure meeting those pre-requisites.
Students wishing to enroll in 300- or 400-level CRWR workshops (CRWR 310/311/312/410/411/412) must
complete the 200-level CRWR pre-requisite. CRWR 410/411/412 also require a writing submission for consent of
instructor; guidelines for this process are available in the Main English Office.
Students wishing to enroll in upper-division LIT courses need to take 6 credits of LIT at the 200-level, LIT 300,
and/or receive consent of instructor.
Minimum Required Grade: C-; 9 Total Credits Required
VI. JUSTIFICATION
The English Minor has great potential to provide a complementary educational focus for a wide range of majors on
campus. In its current form, the number of lower-division credits, and the rigid structure of the upper-division
credits, inhibit students with an interest in upper-division coursework in the major from taking those courses while
also pursuing their major. With the availability of several independent options within the Major, the English
Department can offer clusters of thematic courses of great interest to students around campus: Creative Writing,
Literature, and the new Literature and the Environment Program all offer attractions to students who may not
wish to fulfill all of the requirements for the Major. The original Minor was designed toward the end of placing
students in a common track whether they were minors or majors. We now feel that we will serve the campus
much better with a more loosely-structured Minor that allows students to develop their critical reading, thinking,
and writing skills, all of which are cultivated well within existing English Department courses.
This proposal requires no new resources, and will dovetail with future proposed changes in the Literature Major
option.
It also puts our Department more closely in line with other minors in the humanities that require only 6 courses for
completion, including Philosophy (18 credits) and History (20 credits, two of which are 4-credit courses). Even
Liberal Studies, which requires 23 credits, requires only 4 upper-division courses, with the 11 other credits being
structured requirements at the 100-level tied to the Humanities sequence taught in their department.
We have also taken the opportunity of changing the old prefix ENIR to the new one IRSH.
VII. SUBMISSION
After all signatures have been obtained, submit original, and an electronic file to the Faculty Senate Office, UH 221.
An electronic copy of the original signed form is acceptable.