Individualized Major Overview

Many students will imagine complexes of courses that transcend the College’s usual majors and cater to students’ particular interests. In order to encourage such inventive thinking, Centenary offers its students the opportunity to construct an Individualized Major.

Students who wish to pursue this option work with an advisor of their choosing to develop a proposal that explains which courses they want to take, how these are related, and how they will integrate their work in a final project.

Courses taken within the Individualized Major may also be used to fulfill Core requirements.

 

Outline of the procedure for the Individualized Major:

The individualized major will draw courses from at least two departments and will not exceed 45 hours, 18 of which must be at the 300 level or above. Students pursuing individualized majors must complete the usual Core requirements and any other requirements specific to the degree (BA/BS) they are pursuing.

a. The student identifies a faculty advisor in an appropriate area who is prepared to supervise the individualized major.

b. Together, the student and advisor develop a proposal that

• names and describes the major the student wants to pursue;
• identifies the courses and experiences (internships, study abroad, etc.) that will make up the major;
• explains how these courses and experiences are integrated;
• describes a summary project taken as an independent study (GED 491-493) and supervised by the sponsoring advisor that integrates the various aspects of the major.

c. The student obtains the signatures of the chairs of all departments contributing to the major, confirming that they endorse the proposal.

d. The student submits the proposal along with a completed degree plan to the Director of Re-Enrollment, who will review both to ensure that they meet College requirements.

e. The Director of Re-Enrollment sends the Proposal along with his or her endorsement to the Academic Policy Committee, who reviews it to ensure that the proposed degree is consistent with the academic goals and mission of the College.

f. At the request of the Director of Re-Enrollment or the CRPC, the proposal and degree plan will be reviewed by the Provost

 

Contact your advisor if you are interested in an individualized major.