NEW MAJOR/PROGRAM PROPOSAL
__________________________________________________________________________
The LSA major requirement provides an opportunity to pursue a thorough investigation of a subject or problem.
If education is to be a connected, developmental experience, then fundamental skills, abilities, and knowledge
must be used continuously. Majors organize students' work in such a way that later experiences relate to and
extend earlier ones. Students normally declare a major during the second term of the sophomore year, although
some students make a decision earlier. Proposals must meet the criteria in the Policies for LSA Majors (see
attached) and be approved by the LSA Curriculum Committee.
Department/Academic Unit:
Title of Major:
Number of Credits: Prerequisites (will not count toward major)
Requirements minimum ______
Approval by Chair/Director:
Date:
Attach a memo on departmental letterhead addressing the following issues:
1. Rationale for creating this new major
2. Overall goals and objectives and plans for assessing whether or not they are being met
3. Intended audience
4. Prerequisites and requirements for the major
5. How each requirement contributes to the educational goals, structure, and coherence of the major
6. Staff responsible for advising students in planning and completing this major
7. Majors in other departments or schools that significantly overlap in terms of content and courses
8. Additional resources that would be needed by the department
Signatures of approval are required from all other departments/units offering courses included in this
major (attach extra sheet if necessary). Before submitting this proposal to the Curricular Committee, list the
name of each unit and its chair/director. Then email the proposal to each unit asking for approval. Please note:
Signatures of the Chair/Director implies a commitment that the department 1) plans to offer the course on a
routine basis, and 2) additional enrollment will not have a negative impact on their own students.
Academic Unit
Chair/Director
Approval Date
____________________________
___________________________________________
_____________
____________________________
___________________________________________
_____________
____________________________
____________________________________________ _____________
____________________________
___________________________________________
_____________
Email cover sheet, proposal, departmental memo to JoAnn Peraino (jperaino@umich.edu).
Upon approval, suggested text for the Academic Requirements and Policies should be sent directly to Rick
Jones (rickey@umich.edu).
NEW MAJOR/PROGRAM PROPOSAL
Department
Name of Major
Effective Term
Date Submitted
Complete all applicable fields.
Prerequisites
Requirements
Subplans/tracks
(optional)
Electives
Cognates
(optional)
Advising
Exclusions
Dept. Honors
(optional)
Other
LSA ACADEMIC POLICIES FOR MAJORS
Effective Winter ‘13
Academic Policies
1. Each A.B. or B.S. student must develop a major plan in consultation with a major advisor, who must also approve it.
2. Course requirements for the various majors range from 24 to 48 credits at the 200-level and above.
3. No more than 60 credits in a major (including courses in one department and the required cognates) may be counted
toward the 120 for the degree. When an academic department has two or more SUBJECTs (e.g., Anthropology, Romance
Languages and Literatures), a student may count a total of 60 credits from that department, not from each SUBJECT.
4. No more than 60 credits in one language (other than English) may be counted in the 120 required for a degree. However,
the 60 credit limit on courses elected in one major may be exceeded when the excess credits have been used to meet the
language requirement.
5. Students electing an area, interdepartmental, or special major may count no more than 60 credits in any one department.
6. Students may not elect courses in a major, including required cognates, using the Pass/Fail grading option.
7. A department or program may include Experiential or Directed Reading/Independent Study courses that are graded on a
Credit/No Credit basis in its major, but all other courses in the major must be taken for a grade.
8. A maximum of one course may be shared between the requirements of a minor and a major.
9. No course may be shared between the requirements a major and a supplemental studies program.
10. No course from the department of a major or a required course in a major may be part of a distribution plan (see, however,
"Double Concentration" below).
11. A student must earn an overall GPA of at least 2.0 in courses taken in the major. This includes all courses taken in the
department of the major (prerequisites, required courses, and electives) and any required cognates. Exceptions for specific
majors are listed in the Academics and Requirements section of the LSA website.
12. Courses that are part of the student's major may also meet the Upper-Level Writing Requirement, the Race & Ethnicity
Requirement, or the Quantitative Reasoning Requirement.
13. Effective in Fall 2004, students graduating with an Honors major are required to earn an overall GPA of 3.4. Individual
departments may have higher GPA requirements for courses in their majors. Check Honors major guidelines in individual
departments listed in the Academics and Requirements section of the LSA website.
3/12/13