Rochester INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Minor Program proposal form 

College of Liberal Arts

Department of Political Science

Name of Minor: American Politics

Brief description of the minor to be used in university publications 
The purpose of the American politics minor is to study the basic principles and institutions of the American political order and their implications for current political practice. The strengths and limitations of American constitutionalism will be emphasized throughout and contemporary political and policy questions facing the country will be examined. This minor is closed to students enrolled in the political science program.	

1.0 Minor Program Approvals	
	Approval request date:	Approval granted date:	
Academic Unit Curriculum Committee			
College Curriculum Committee	2/10/12	2/10/12	
Inter-College Curriculum Committee			

2.0 Rationale: 
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 

How is this set of academic courses related?
The courses are related by their focus upon the principles and institutions of the American political order and their implications for current political practice.	

3.0 Multidisciplinary involvement:

If this is a multidisciplinary minor spanning two or more academic units, list the units and their role in offering and managing this minor. 
N/A	

4.0 Students ineligible to pursue this minor:
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.  

Please list below any home programs whose students will not be allowed to pursue this minor, provide the reasoning, and indicate if this exclusion has been discussed with the affected programs:
Political Science majors are excluded from this minor.	

5.0 Minor Program Structure, Sequence and Course Offering Schedule:
Describe the structure of the proposed minor and list all courses, their anticipated offering schedule, and any prerequisites.  
•	All minors must contain at least fifteen semester credit hours;  
•	Minors may be discipline-based or interdisciplinary; 
•	In most cases, minors shall consist of a minimum of two upper division courses (300 or above) to provide reasonable breadth and depth within the minor;   
•	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;
•	Provide a program mask showing how students will complete the minor.

Narrative of Minor Program Structure:
The American Politics Minor is designed to explore the principles and institutions of the American political order. The minor requires POLS 110 American Politics and four additional courses from the list below, including two upper division courses (300 or above).	

Course Number & Title	SCH	Required	Optional	Fall	Spring	Annual/Biennial	Prerequisites	
POLS 110 American Politics	3	X		X	X	A		
POLS 200 Law & Society	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 250 State & Local Politics	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 290 Politics & the Life Sciences	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 295 Cyberpolitics	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 305 Political Parties & Voting	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 310 The Congress	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 315 The American Presidency	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 320 American Foreign Policy	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 345 Politics & Public Policy	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 355 Political Leadership	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 415 Evolution & Law	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 420 Primate Politics	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 425 Constitutional Law	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POL 430 Constitutional Rights & Liberties	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 435 American Political Thought	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 460 Classical Constitutionalism, Liberty & Equality	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 465 Modern Constitutionalism, Liberty & Equality	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 480 Women in Politics	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 485 Politics Through Fiction	3		X		X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 490 Politics Through Film	3		X	X		B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	
POLS 525 Special Topics in Political Science	3		X	X	X	B	POLS 110, 120, or equivalent	

Total credit hours:	15	

Minor Course Conversion Table:  Quarter Calendar and Semester Calendar Comparison

Directions: The tables on this page will be used by the registrar’s office to aid student’s transitioning from the quarter calendar to the semester calendar. 

 If this minor existed in the quarter calendar and is being converted to the semester calendar please complete the following tables. 

 If this is a new minor that did not exist under the quarter calendar do not complete the following tables.

Use the following tables to show minor course comparison in quarter and semester calendar formats.  Use courses in the (2011-12) minor mask for this table. Display all required and elective minor courses.  If necessary clarify how course sequences in the quarter calendar convert to semesters by either bracketing or using some other notation.

Name of Minor in Semester Calendar:	American Politics	
Name of Minor in Quarter Calendar:	American Politics	
Name of Certifying Academic Unit:	Political Science	

QUARTER:  Current Minor Courses	SEMESTER:  Converted Minor Courses		
Course #	Course Title	QCH	Course  #	Course Title	SCH	Comments	
0513-211	American Politics	4	POLS 110	American Politics	3		
0513-325	Arts of Expression: Politics Through Film	4	POLS 490	Politics through Film	3		
0513-425	Politics & the Life Sciences	4	POLS 290	Politics & the Life Sciences	3		
0513-295	Cyberpolitics	4	POLS 295	Cyberpolitics	3		
0513-428	Evolution & the Law	4	POLS 415	Evolution & the Law	3		
0513-429	Primate Politics	4	POLS 420	Primate Politics			
0513-449	Special Topics in Political Science	4	POLS 525	Special Topics in Political Science	3		
0513-450	State & Local Politics	4	POLS 250	State & Local Politics	3		
0513-451	The Congress	4	POLS 310	The Congress	3		
0513-452	The American Presidency	4	POLS 315	The American Presidency	3		
0513-453	American Foreign Policy	4	POLS 320	American Foreign Policy	3		
0513-454	Political Parties & Voting	4	POLS 305	Political Parties & Voting	3		
0513-455	Politics & Public Policy	4	POLS 345	Politics & Public Policy	3		
0513-457	Constitutional Law	4	POLS 425	Constitutional Law	3		
0513-458	American Political Thought 	4	POLS 435	American Political Thought	3		
0513-460	Constitutional Rights & Liberties	4	POLS 430	Constitutional Rights & Liberties	3		
0513-464	Law & Society	4	POLS 200	Law & Society	3		
0513-465	Modern Constitutionalism, Liberty & Equality	4	POLS 465	Modern Constitutionalism, Liberty & Equality	3		
0513-466	Political Leadership	4	POLS 355	Political Leadership	3		
0513-481	Women in Politics	4	POLS 480	Women in Politics	3		
0513-485	Politics Through Fiction	4	POLS 485	Politics Through Fiction	3		
0513-514	Political Theory	4	POLS 460	Classical Constitutionalism, Virtue & Law	3	Course name and focus changed	

Policy Name: D1.1 MINORS POLICY
 1. Definition
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.   
2. Institutional parameters 
a)	Minors may be discipline-based or interdisciplinary; 
b)	Only matriculated students may enroll in a minor;
c)	At least nine semester credit hours of the minor must consist of courses not required by the student's home program; 
d)	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;
e)	The residency requirement for a minor is a minimum of nine semester credit hours consisting of RIT courses (excluding "X" graded courses); 
f)	Posting of the minor on the student's academic transcript requires a minimum GPA of 2.0 in each of the minor courses; 
g)	Minors may not be added to the student's academic record after the granting of the bachelor's degree. 

3. Development/approval/administration processes 
a.	Minors may be developed by faculty at the departmental, inter-departmental, college, or inter-college level. As part of the minor development process: 
i.	students ineligible for the proposed minor will be identified; 
ii.	prerequisites, if any, will be identified; 
b.	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.
c.	The academic unit offering the minor (in the case of interdisciplinary minors, the designated college/department) is responsible for the following: 
i.	enrolling students in the minor (as space permits); 
ii.	monitoring students progress toward completion of the minor; 
iii.	authorizing the recording of the minor's completion on student's academic records; 
iv.	granting of transfer credit, credit by exam, credit by experience, course substitutions, and advanced placement; 
v.	responding to student requests for removal from the minor.

d.	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. 
4. Procedures for Minor revision
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 in the focus of the minor 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.