D01.1 Minors Policy

A minor at RIT is a related set of academic courses consisting of no fewer than 15 semester credit hours leading to a formal designation on a student's baccalaureate transcript.

The purpose of the minor is both to broaden a student's college education and deepen it in an area outside the student’s major program. A minor may be related to and complement a student’s major, or it may be in a completely different academic/professional area. It is the responsibility of the academic unit proposing a minor and the unit’s curriculum committee to indicate any home programs for which the minor is not a broadening experience. 

In most cases, minors shall consist of a minimum of two upper division courses to provide reasonable breadth and depth within the minor.

1. Minors may be discipline-based or interdisciplinary;

2. Only matriculated students may enroll in a minor;

3. At least nine semester credit hours of the minor must consist of specific courses not required by the student's degree program.  Courses such as free electives, immersion courses, general education electives, courses within program options and tracks are not considered required courses;

4. Students may pursue multiple minors.  A minimum of nine semester credit hours must be designated towards each minor; these courses may not be counted towards other minors;

5. The residency requirement for a minor is a minimum of nine semester credit hours consisting of RIT courses (excluding "X" graded courses);

6. Posting of the minor on the student's academic transcript requires a minimum GPA of 2.0 in the minor;

7. Minors may not be added to the student's academic record after the granting of the bachelor's degree.

1. Minors may be developed by faculty at the departmental, inter-departmental, college, or inter-college level. As part of the minor development process:

   1. prerequisites, if any, will be identified.

   2. students ineligible for the proposed minor will be identified;

2. Minor proposals must be approved by the appropriate academic unit(s) curriculum committee, and college curriculum committee(s) before being sent to the Inter-College Curriculum Committee (ICC) for final consideration and approval.  For any course listed in the minor that is from an academic unit(s) other than the unit offering the minor, the proposer of the minor shall obtain documented approval for the inclusion of the course in the minor.

3. The academic unit offering the minor (in the case of interdisciplinary minors, the designated college/department) is responsible for the following: 

   1. enrolling students in the minor (as space permits);

   2. monitoring students' progress toward completion of the minor;

   3. authorizing the recording of the minor's completion on student's academic records; 

   4. granting of transfer credit, credit by exam, credit by experience, course substitutions, and advanced placement;

   5. responding to student requests for removal from the minor.

4. As per New York State requirements, courses within the minor must be offered with sufficient frequency to allow students to complete the minor within the same time frame allowed for the completion of the baccalaureate degree.

It is the duty of the college curriculum committee(s) involved with a minor to maintain the program’s structure and coherence.  Once a minor is approved by the ICC, changes to the minor that do not have a significant effect on its focus may be completed with the approval of the involved academic unit(s) and the college curriculum committee(s).  Significant changes to the focus of the minor (core requirements that affect the structure – e.g., number of courses required, sequence of courses, decreased access to the minor – and/or changes that affect a student’s ability to complete the minor within the timeframe allowed for completion of the baccalaureate degree) must be approved by the appropriate academic unit(s) curriculum committee(s), the college curriculum committee(s) and be resubmitted to the ICC for final consideration and approval.

Responsible Office:  Faculty Senate. 

Inquiries may be directed to:
Faculty Senate Office
2106 Eastman Hall
fsenate@rit.edu
(585)475-2016

Effective Date:
Approved February 17, 2000

Policy History:
Edited August 2010 
Revised October 20, 2011
February 7, 2013
Revised February 21, 2019, section II.C
Revised May 13, 2021, section III.B

Revisions approved April 18, 2024 - Section IV