Major consistency

Stu’s interest in a major generally begins with an introductory course. Next fall, there is one course Stu can take to be on track for a COS major: COS 126: General Computer Science, a course that is a requirement to enter the department but not counted as one of the eight departmentals. There are six ANT courses open to students with no anthropological background, offered at a variety of times in a variety of formats, all of which count as one of the eight required ANT departmentals. ANT 201: Introduction to Anthropology is the department’s official introductory course, but it is not a prerequisite for other courses in the anthropology department. Because it is a requirement, ANT majors frequently take it after taking other courses in the department, undermining its introductory nature.

Stu chooses a major in the spring of sophomore year. To enter the ANT department, he must have taken one anthropology course (or none, with permission). To enter the COS department, Stu must have taken COS 126, 217, and 226 and MAT up to 200/202. COS 126 is a prerequisite for the other two COS courses, and 217 and 226 are generally offered together during the same semester, requiring Stu to both schedule carefully and hope for favor from the registrar.

Stu must meet departmental requirements. As an ANT major he must take a total of eight departmentals, write one junior paper and write a senior thesis. As a COS major, he must take the three introductory courses, math up through linear algebra, eight departmentals, write two JPs and write a senior thesis. Using the rough calculation that one semester of independent work equals one course, ANT requires 11 courses while COS requires at least 15 courses and up to 18 depending on prior math experience.

Stu must also fulfill his distribution requirements. With deliberate course selection, as an ANT major without language credit (although it would affect both equally) and with credit for math 103 and 104, Stu must take at least 17 courses to meet the requirements for graduation, while as a COS major he would take 24. Also there are two STX courses offered in the ANT department and none listed with COS as the home department. How an upper-level COS course on operating systems is not deemed fit to be called “Science and Technology” is the subject for another column.

I compared these two departments, not to support one’s requirements or bash another’s, but to show the disparity that exists and show that it needs to be addressed.

First, we must abandon the notion that students have until sophomore spring to choose their major. While they do not submit the form until then, they must eliminate many majors along the way, but certainly not all of them equally. A student choosing courses their freshman fall, placed in a writing seminar, advised to take a freshman seminar or start fulfilling their language requirement, and told (incorrectly, as I was) that they are only allowed to take four courses, must essentially eliminate physics, chemistry, or music as a major, as each has a year-long introductory sequence, though it is possible, but difficult, to start sophomore year. Students should be made aware of these majors and advisers should advise accordingly.

Second, any discussion of why certain majors are more popular than others must include these disparities. The University often bemoans the fact that some large percentage of the student population is in only the five most popular majors. The disparity in entry requirements makes it much more difficult (or perhaps impossible) to declare as a physics major after an interesting course or two than to do the same as a religion major. Less-stringent entry requirements can only increase the size of the department, so they must be taken into consideration when looking at the distribution of majors.

Third, out of a basic desire for equality, and with the knowledge that every student graduates with more to learn about their major, there ought to be a University-wide standard for what it means to major in a subject. I acknowledge that majors are different, and it does not surprise me that departments decide on different numbers of required courses. But given that it takes a lifetime of study to fully understand a subject, the university should be able to find a number of courses that every department finds reasonable. While not much can be done to have EM courses in the COS department, there are still five more required course-units to be a COS major than to be an ANT major, disregarding distribution requirements. The five extra courses can amount to a certificate or becoming conversant in another language, and it seems unreasonable that the selection of a major should have such a significant impact on the rest of a student’s course selection and academic experience.