Curriculum Administration

• The Associate Dean for Academic & Faculty Affairs works with faculty committees and key staff to ensure that policies and requirements for Liberal Arts degrees continue to meet the College's commitment to academic and intellectual excellence.

• Academic Affairs is responsible for the interpretation and enforcement of current degree requirements, as listed in the Undergraduate Catalog.

• The Office of Academic & Faculty Affairs also oversees the development and implementation of new degree programs, majors and minors, concentrations, certificate programs, and general curriculum and degree-related criteria. 

About Degrees and Majors

Degrees

The College of Liberal Arts offers the Bachelor of Arts, Plan I; the Bachelor of Arts, Plan II; the Bachelor of Science in Behavioral and Social Data Science; the Bachelor of Science in Economics; the Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science; and the Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Bachelor of Arts, Plan I

The requirements for the Bachelor of Arts degree include courses in the natural sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and the humanities. The degree is designed to give each student flexibility in the selection of courses to meet individual goals and interests by allowing non-prescribed electives in virtually every program offered in the college. Students must select a major and, in most cases, a minor, in any of the departments of the College of Liberal Arts. A current list of majors offered through the College of Liberal Arts is available on the website. For more information, see the section on Majors below.

Bachelor of Arts, Plan II

The Plan II Honors Program is designed to provide a broad, liberal, and challenging education for a limited number of students whose high school class standing and admission test scores indicate strong academic potential and motivation. The Plan II Honors Program includes the basic coursework required of Plan I students, but much of this work is done in small sections that are restricted to Plan II students and taught by professors selected for their excellent teaching records. Additional required courses explore the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences and provide considerable opportunity for individual research, writing, and speaking. The remainder of the student’s program is made up of approved electives. 

Bachelor of Science in Behavioral and Social Data Science

The Bachelor of Science in Behavioral and Social Data Science is designed for students interested in understanding, classifying, and predicting human behavior, emotions, and intentions. This major offers interdisciplinary training at the intersection of data analytics and human behavior. Students will think creatively and critically about the prediction of human behavior and how to work with a variety of data types, such as physiology, neuroimaging, language, and/or health-related outcomes. Students are also trained in experimental design and ethics, enabling them to evaluate new research findings and communicate their findings in written and oral presentations. What distinguishes this major from related majors is that it provides significant training in the analysis and understanding of human behavior – at the level of the individual, social group and society.  Students who successfully complete this program will develop a technical toolkit to tackle the most ambitious problems involving human behavior and help create the next-generation data science workforce. Training will be offered in the curation, visualization, analysis, and ethical treatment of real-world data using programming languages including R and python. The program is designed to prepare graduates primarily for entry level data science careers in industry, although positions in other settings, such as government, nonprofit agencies, universities and other research settings, may also be appropriate. The degree is offered by the College of Liberal Arts. 

Bachelor of Science in Economics

The Bachelor of Science in Economics is an alternative to the Bachelor of Arts, designed to include a more extensive natural science curriculum that better prepares students for employment in technical and research jobs, and for graduate study in economics and related disciplines.  Students interested in areas of economics that heavily utilize mathematics, statistics, data science, and computation have the opportunity to develop breadth and depth in fields that complement their areas of interest within economics.  To accomplish this goal, the curriculum for the Bachelor of Science in Economics incorporates substantial emphasis on mathematics, statistics, and computer science courses.

Bachelor of Science In Environmental Science

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree program is designed for students interested in an interdisciplinary scientific perspective on environmental and sustainability issues, analysis, and management. The degree program provides the broad foundation in physical, life, and social sciences needed for a career or graduate study in environmental science and related fields such as climate change, ecology, and conservation. Students who complete the program successfully will be able to assess environmental issues critically from multiple perspectives; to perform field, laboratory, and computer analyses; and to conduct original research. The program is designed to prepare graduates for careers in local, state, and federal government laboratories and nonprofit agencies, environmental consulting firms, environmental education and out-reach agencies, and universities and other research settings. The degree is offered by the College of Liberal Arts with a major in geographical sciences, by the College of Natural Sciences with a major in biological sciences, and by the Jackson School of Geosciences with a major in geological sciences. The degree programs share common prescribed work, but each major has its own specific requirements. Students may earn only one Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science degree from the University.

Bachelor of Science in Psychology

As an alternative to the Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Psychology, the Bachelor of Science in Psychology is designed to offer students a more extensive scientific program that may better prepare them for graduate study or employment in research fields. Students interested in mathematics-based or physiology-based areas of psychology have the opportunity to develop more breadth and depth in the fields that complement their area of interest within psychology. To accomplish this goal, the curriculum for the Bachelor of Science in Psychology puts more emphasis on natural sciences.

College Requirements

All degrees in Liberal Arts require two upper-division, writing-intensive courses, chosen from the following:

Degree-Related Restrictions

• University requirements state that 1) a student may not receive the same degree title twice, and 2) no second bachelor's level degree will be conferred until the candidate has completed at least twenty-four semester hours in addition to those counted toward the bachelor's degree that requires the higher number of hours of credit.

• A student may not earn more than one Bachelor of Arts degree from the University. Therefore, a student who completes the Bachelor of Arts, Plan II and the Bachelor of Arts Plan I requirements for another major offered through the College of Liberal Arts or the College of Natural Sciences earns only one degree. 

• A student may not earn both the Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology and the Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

• A student may not earn both the Bachelor of Arts with an intercollege major in kinesiology and health and the Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology.

• For the Bachelor of Arts degree, the major subject is not shown on the diploma. This includes Plan II graduates who have completed a second major.

Majors

• The Bachelor of Arts, Plan I, requires the completion of all requirements for one major offered through the college.

• If the major requires a concentration or specialization, a student may officially complete only one within the major.

• The number of semester hours required in the major varies with the field selected.

• All students pursuing a major under the BA Plan I, with the exception of International Relations and Global Studies majors, must complete a minor.

• At least nine of the hours required for the minor must include coursework not used to satisfy the requirements of the student's major.

• A current list of majors offered through the College of Liberal Arts is available on the website.