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.

“For me, there is a difference between a concentration and a minor,” said Denise Fisher, a CCE student. “I’ve looked at other schools and they don’t seem to require the same amount of work in their minors as the concentrations here. I think it could affect Guilford-ness”

The members of the Educational Policy Committee agreed by consensus last fall that changing concentrations back to minors would simplify things for everyone involved. The committee – which consists of five faculty members who are department heads, five non-head faculty members, one traditional student, and one CCE student – felt the decision would help future students and how the faculty works with them. However, there was much consideration and lengthy discussions as many committee members expressed concern.

“We like to think everything we do is better for the students,” Whitnell said. “There were concerns; concentrations were very ‘Guilford-y’ and special.”

The original proposal was to change disciplinary concentrations to minors and keep interdisciplinary concentrations the same. Many faculty members thought multiple names would create more confusion; student advising would become more complex and the difference between minors and concentrations would be even harder to explain to students.

“We were concerned that we were watering down the value of the concentration,” Davis said.

Eventually, the faculty approved changing the names of all concentrations to minors. Whitnell added that students who are still concerned about the change and its effects can talk to their faculty advisors.