Student Recruitment tell me that the large majority of students discussing minors with them do so because the list of subjects they wish to study is too long to do them all as majors (depending on the subject even two might be too many!). The discussions is then to encourage the student to identify the subject(s) they want to study more of and those they can live with less of or view as a bonus/added extra.
A few other important messages I learnt from them:
- Others may have heard about creative writing and badly want to study it, without realising that it is only a minor (and entry is restricted based on the submission of written work).
- Some students end up with (or close to) a minor without even knowing it, just by selecting related courses for their electives
- Planning for a minor should start early on, as at least one 300 level course is required. Either that or building on 100 electives to get through in three years.
The rules
Whether or not we include minors in our programme pages it is worth noting the rules:
- Only some degrees allow minors, being BA, BCom, BDI, BSc, and BTM.
- At least 60 points at 200 level or above
- At least 15 points at 300 level
- No 300 course can count for two majors
- Can't have a major and a minor in the same subject in the same degree.
- Minors of participating degrees (see above) may be drawn from all majors in the BA, BCom, BAS, BDI, BSc, aplus additional minors specified for the BA, BCom, BDI and BSc
Subject availability by level
Our current plan is to indicate the level (loosely used to also refer to quantum of courses/points) that a subject is available by the use of tags, with the two main ones being UG and PG and two less common being Pre-degree and Professional degree. We were using Minor only but have removed this based on feedback and labeld these as UG. However they are labelled there are a few questions to answer for these subjects:
- Do we say something different for minor only? If so what?
- Do we link through to the degree page? If so how to we handle that no major has yet been chosen?
In thinking about this I became aware that subjects are available at different levels and at different combinations of levels. The following table attempts to summarise this for the purposes of making decisions on how to handle the content and navigation/flow. Although this started off to cover minors it has widened slightly to cover the other unusual subject-level mappings that will need handling.
| Level(s) | Number of applicable subjects | Subjects | Comments | Decision | essence of content text | CSP Reference Group Feedback | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sub-minor | 2 | Text Technologies Writing (Academic and Professional) | Not quite sure how these two "few course" subjects got listed when others didn't. Will this set a precedent?
| Treat in content | Victoria currently offers a small number of courses in (Subject Name). You will need to select another subject as a major in order to "anchor" this interest subject.The courses available in (Subject Name) are: | Reasons for these two are old history. Fall back on official approval process if it helps (although remember that we have listed some things that are not officially subjects). Agreed with treatment approach and (generally) with wording. "Anchor" might not be quite right for International. |
| 2 | Minor | 2 | Econometrics Science in Context | Treat in content | Victoria currently offers a small number of courses in this (Subject Name), meaning that it is only available as a minor in an undergraduate degree. You will need to select another subject as a major in order to "anchor" the minor in (Subject Name). | Should not take people through to the degree page. Rather, handle on topic side. Agreed with treatment approach and (generally) with wording. | |
| 3 | Minor, Pre-degree | 1 | New Zealand Sign Language | Treat in content | Victoria offers (Subject Name) at two different levels:
| Seems okay, but meet with FHSS to confirm. | |
| 4 | Minor, UG, PG | 4 | Development Studies * Environmental Science * Environmental Studies * Tourism Management | Why were the three science subjects listed as minors (when any science subject can be taken as a minor) in certain degrees? | Treat in content | Victoria offers (Subject Name) at three different levels:
| Meet with Science to discus there subjects, especially as to why these few are highlighted as minor (maybe because when as a listed minor specific courses are required (not just 60 points at 200 level or higher)). Seems okay, but meet with VBS to confirm treatment of Tourism Management. |
| 5 | Minor, PG | 2 | Creative Writing Social Policy | Treat in content | Victoria offers (Subject Name) at two different levels:
| Seems okay, but meet with FHSS to confirm. | |
| 6 | Pre-degree | 1 | English Proficiency Programme | Data driven | Victoria offers (Subject Name) at a pre-degree or entry level Certificate for which University Entrance is not required. | Seems okay, but meet with FHSS to confirm. | |
| 7 | Pre-degree, UG, PG | 1 | Maori Studies | Is also available as a minor, as per any major in prescribing degrees. Does this need a special mention? | Data driven | Victoria offers (Subject Name) at three different levels:
| |
| 8 | Professional degree, UG, PG | 1 | Management (Studies) | Is also available as a minor, as per any major in prescribing degrees. Does this need a special mention? | Data driven | Victoria offers (Subject Name) at three different levels:
| |
| 9 | Total | 14 |
*Listed as a minor in the BSc (with requirements more specific than those for any minor) and as a major in the same degree
^Listed as a minor in the BCom, but also available in a BTM