2008 Woodie Awards
Concentrations changed back to minors
Jamie Metrick
Issue date: 2/16/08 Section: News
For incoming first-years, the term concentration will only apply to exams and term papers. Last month, faculty members approved the decision to change concentrations back into minors.
The new college catalog due out this summer will contain the first official use of the name. However, the change will not affect the requirements of current students.
"It's a change in name only," said Norma Middleton, the college registrar. "It's one of the smooth moves we're making at Guilford."
Guilford originally used the term minor to describe any four related disciplinary or interdisciplinary classes outside of a major. But in 1997-98, the faculty began to debate the usefulness of the term.
"At the time, 'minor' didn't have the same meaning as it does today," said Vernie Davis, director of the peace and conflict studies department, about the change. Davis, who is on the Education Policy Committee which finalized the decision, added that minors at most colleges consisted of four courses that did not necessarily fit together.
The point of concentrations was to create programs that tied together four related courses in a meaningful and coherent manner. Concentrations were unique to Guilford and helped create a higher standard for academics.
"(The concentrations) highlighted what was special about these programs," said Rob Whitnell, associate professor of chemistry. Subsequently, other institutions started to reshape their minor requirements to match the standards of Guilford's concentrations.
Now, other small liberal arts schools in North Carolina, like Davidson College located outside Charlotte, have required disciplinary minors and optional interdisciplinary concentrations. Meanwhile, Greensboro College has interdisciplinary minors that are not housed in any one academic department while Warren Wilson College in Asheville has both interdisciplinary and disciplinary minors.
Lately, both students and parents have expressed confusion over the term concentration because it has little meaning outside the Guilford community.
The new college catalog due out this summer will contain the first official use of the name. However, the change will not affect the requirements of current students.
"It's a change in name only," said Norma Middleton, the college registrar. "It's one of the smooth moves we're making at Guilford."
Guilford originally used the term minor to describe any four related disciplinary or interdisciplinary classes outside of a major. But in 1997-98, the faculty began to debate the usefulness of the term.
"At the time, 'minor' didn't have the same meaning as it does today," said Vernie Davis, director of the peace and conflict studies department, about the change. Davis, who is on the Education Policy Committee which finalized the decision, added that minors at most colleges consisted of four courses that did not necessarily fit together.
The point of concentrations was to create programs that tied together four related courses in a meaningful and coherent manner. Concentrations were unique to Guilford and helped create a higher standard for academics.
"(The concentrations) highlighted what was special about these programs," said Rob Whitnell, associate professor of chemistry. Subsequently, other institutions started to reshape their minor requirements to match the standards of Guilford's concentrations.
Now, other small liberal arts schools in North Carolina, like Davidson College located outside Charlotte, have required disciplinary minors and optional interdisciplinary concentrations. Meanwhile, Greensboro College has interdisciplinary minors that are not housed in any one academic department while Warren Wilson College in Asheville has both interdisciplinary and disciplinary minors.
Lately, both students and parents have expressed confusion over the term concentration because it has little meaning outside the Guilford community.
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