Minors: Becoming quite a major problem

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 And subsequent Faculty 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. 28/10: Both faculties agree with this approach.
3	Minor, Pre-degree	1	New Zealand Sign Language		Treat in content	Victoria offers (Subject Name) at two different levels: Professional degree or Certificate level for which University Entrance is not required; and As a minor in an undergraduate degree, meaning that there are a small number of courses available. If you wish to study (Subject Name) as a minor you will need to select another subject as a major in order to "anchor" the minor in (Subject Name).	Seems okay, but meet with FHSS to confirm. 28/10: Agreed with FHSS to make this Professional not pre-degree, as it is Level 5 on the NZQF, on par with an UG degree.
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?	Data driven	Three Science subjects will be labelled UG and PG, mapping through to the main degrees. We will stay silent on the minor aspects. As a minor in an undergraduate degree, meaning that you can study a smaller number of courses in (Subject Name) to support another subject that you study as at a major level; As a major in an undergraduate degree; and As a major focus of study at a post-graduate level.	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. 28/10: Both faculties agree that for these four subjects we will label them as UG and PG, link through to the main degrees/programmes and stay silent on the minor label. Changed decision column to data driven.
5	Minor, PG	2	Creative Writing Social Policy		Treat in content	Victoria offers (Subject Name) at two different levels: As a minor in an undergraduate degree, meaning that you can study a smaller number of courses in (Subject Name) to support another subject that you study as at a major level; and As a major focus of study at a post-graduate level.	Seems okay, but meet with FHSS to confirm. 28/10: FHSS agree with this approach.
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. 28/10: FHSS agree with this approach.
7	Pre-degree, UG, PG	1	Māori 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: Pre-degree or entry level Certificate for which University Entrance is not required; As a major in an undergraduate degree; and As a major focus of study at a post-graduate level.	Maybe not quite right (could be different "subjects"), so discuss in meeting with FHSS. 28/10: Agreed with FHSS to split this in to two subjects: Tohu Māoritanga: Pre-degree diploma, does't require UE but leads to it and can be credited towards a BA Māori Studies: UG (mapping to BA) and PG (mapping to BA(Hons), GDipArts, PGDipArts, and MA
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: Professional degree or Certificate level where prior work experience is a requirement for admission; As a major in an undergraduate degree; and As a major focus of study at a post-graduate level.	Seems okay, but meet with FHSS to confirm. Related to how we link to the MBA, so maybe end Business Administration as a subject and map from Management to these degrees/programmes? 28/10: VBS wish Business Administration to stay as a subject, with a mapping to the MBA. Will have to figure out how to show the CertMS as nested/leading to it.
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