The University of Oregon is home to 76 majors and 89 minors and concentrations, with majors ranging from accounting to earth science. Each term UO offers more than 3,000 classes for students to take. Only UO faculty can propose new courses, majors and minors, according to the UO Committee on Courses. Proposals then go through a process that includes peer review and faculty oversight. This system leads to new opportunities for students, such as UO’s recently-created science communications, Latinx studies and Black studies minors.
Who creates and approves new majors and minors?
Mike Urbancic, a long standing member of the Undergraduate Council and former member of three other UO bodies that influence major, minor and course development, said the process to create a new course offering, minor or major at UO is made up of three “units.” The first unit involves faculty members within a department. The faculty members are typically on a committee that works together to make a proposal.
Faculty in the department that would house the new course, major or minor get the ball rolling by filing a proposal. The UO Committee on Courses or the Undergraduate/Graduate Councils review proposed courses and proposed majors or minors, respectively.
The proposals summarize the potential course or major, Urbancic said. Major or minor proposals include the number of credits required to complete the program and a full list of faculty members who will teach the required classes.
Urbancic said the proposals include a plan for curriculum, the rationale as to why a course, minor or major is needed and projections about how many students might take these new options. The proposals are in-depth and often revised before being passed by a committee and moved on to the Undergraduate/Graduate Councils or UOCC.
This is the second unit that proposals must go through.
The UOCC is an appointed group of nine voting members and four ex officio members that review proposals for new courses. According to the University of Oregon Senate’s website, UOCC’s roles include “screening all proposals for course changes and reporting its recommendations to the University faculty through the University Senate.” According to the UO Senate, “The UOCC is responsible for all graduate and undergraduate courses (including Law).”
When a major or minor is proposed, the department initiating the new addition goes through either the Undergraduate or Graduate Council, depending on whether the minor or major is undergraduate or graduate level.
According to the UO Senate, The Graduate Council is responsible for graduate programs, degrees, certificates and specializations. The Undergraduate Council is responsible for undergraduate programs, degrees, certificates, majors and minors.
The UO Senate is the third unit in the process of creating courses, majors or minors.
“The Senate doesn’t do a lot of legwork in the specific investigation of the establishment of new programs, whether it is new courses or majors and minors,” Urbancic said. “The Senate will give the final stamp of approval.”
Creating science communication
The newest addition to UO’s list of minors is the Science Communications minor through the School of Journalism and Communication.
Ellen Peters, the director for Science Communication, played an enormous role in making this minor a reality for UO students wanting to go beyond the usual SOJC minors and majors. She helped propose the minor through the usual UO procedure.
According to Peters, UO’s Center for Science Communication played a major role in moving the Science Communications minor forward.
“SCR first developed the minor in collaboration with others at SOJC,” Peters said. “We then worked with faculty in departments around campus to ensure that it would meet the needs of undergraduates in SOJC and in other departments.”
The new minor aims to improve the public’s understanding of science-based information and how it can be used to address some of the world’s most pressing issues, Peters said.
“For interested students, the minor will lead to knowing more about different career paths that rely on science communication and that they might not have considered before,” Peters said.
Black studies and Latinx studies
In 2020, two new minors — Black studies and Latinx studies — were added to the Department of Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies at UO. The Black studies minor followed years of student demands dating back to the 1960s. Both have been available for students to apply to since fall 2021.
Audrey Lucero, the director of the Latinx Studies Program, was a key component in moving the proposal for the Latinx Studies minor forward. As the director, she was part of the committee that initially proposed the new minor.
“While Latinx enrollments at UO continue to grow, the institution can and should do more to serve this population,” the committee of the Latinx Studies proposal said. “With a Latinx Studies minor, we lay the groundwork for sustainable student success and recruitment.”
The Latinx Studies minor is one of two such academic programs in Oregon, with the other being a minor in Chicano and Latino Studies at Portland State University.
