Develop a Minor

Minors are groupings of courses that are related by theme or discipline. They require a minimum of 15 credit hours and appear on a student’s transcript. No more than two courses in a minor may also fulfill program requirements.

The new minor must be prepared using the Minor Proposal Form.

The procedures for developing a new minor, including institutional parameters and required approvals, are defined in the following RIT policies:

• RIT Policy D01.0 (Policies for Curriculum Development), Section III (Minors)
• RIT Policy D01.1 (Minors)

In addition to the above policies, the following guidance applies to minors:

• Students can take the minor courses anytime (if they meet the pre/co-requisites) and declare the minor later, provided that they are not enrolled in an excluded major.
• Courses in a minor do not need to be specifically associated with one major.

Once the required approvals are secured, the minor proposal must be sent to the current Chairperson of ICC by the college’s ICC representative. View the contact information for the current ICC Chairperson and college representatives.

After review and approval by ICC, the Chair of ICC will forward the minor proposal electronically to the Office of the Vice Provost, who will coordinate the Provost’s review and approval.

If the Provost approves the proposal:

• The Office of the Vice Provost will request a plan code from the Registrar's Office.
• The Office of the Vice Provost will send an Official Campus Notification, and the proposal, to the Registrar’s Office, Marketing and Communications, and the applicable Dean and Associate Dean.
• The minor will be added to the undergraduate bulletin and RIT Programs of Study website during the annual bulletin process.
• After a proposed minor is approved and implemented, it will appear on RIT's List of Approved Minors where students can click on a minor to view an overview and curriculum.
• The proposal form will be archived by the Office of the Vice Provost.

 If the Provost recommends changes to the proposal:

• The proposal will be returned to the ICC by the Office of the Vice Provost.
• The ICC will return the proposal to the initiator for edits.
• After the edits are made, the proposal will be returned to the ICC for review and approval.
• The Chair of ICC will forward the updated minor proposal electronically to the Office of the Vice Provost.
• The Office of the Vice Provost will coordinate the Provost's review/approval and then follow the steps above (if approved) or below (if not approved).

If the Provost does not approve the proposal, the process will be concluded.

• The Office of the Vice Provost will notify the Chair of the ICC, the proposing college Dean, and Associate Dean that the proposal was not approved.