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Majors and Minors in Bachelor Degrees Policy

This is not a current document. It has been repealed and is no longer in force.

Section 1 - Background and Purpose

(1) Bachelor degree courses offered by the University provide students the opportunity to concentrate their studies in one or more discipline areas by taking an appropriate number of credit points from specific individual areas.

(2) Concentrations may take the form of Majors or Minors.

(3) The purpose of this Policy is to establish standard terminology for significant groupings of subjects and to prescribe the requirements for Majors and Minors in Bachelor degrees.

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Section 2 - Scope

(4) This Policy applies to all generalist Bachelor Degree courses.

(5) Professional and specialist courses are exempt from this Policy.

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Section 3 - Policy Statement

(6) Majors and Minors within each course must be defined and approved as part of the University course approval process.

(7) Every generalist Bachelor degree course must have at least one Major.

(8) A Major is a suite of subjects that form a coherent grouping of learning outcomes comprising of 120 credit points.

(9) Majors must:

  1. Include 45 or more credit points at third-year level;
  2. Satisfy any relevant design requirements prescribed by the Education Committee and the Coursework Committee.

(10) Subjects in majors are not necessarily all drawn from a single discipline area.

(11) Where one or more subjects are shared by multiple majors or minors, sufficient alternate subjects must be made available to enable students to complete the required credit points at the appropriate level. Alternate subjects should demonstrably be within a cognate area to the course in question.

(12) A Minor is a suite of subjects that form a coherent grouping of learning outcomes comprising 60 credit points.

(13) A student may include two Majors and/or a combination of Major and Minors within a degree.

Nomenclature for Other Subject Sequences

(14) The University does not recognise subject grouping nomenclature other than majors and minors. Examples of nomenclature that are not recognised include sequences, sub-majors, streams, sub-minors.

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Section 4 - Procedure

Establishment of Majors and Minors

(15) The establishment of Majors and Minors is part of the process of creating a new course. Any specific Majors and Minors should be included in the New Course Approval documentation.

Later Addition, Withdrawal or Amendment of Majors or Minors

(16) Majors or Minors may be added to, or withdrawn from, a course by way of the Course and Subject Management Procedure - Revisions, Suspensions and Closures (To be removed 24 August 2020). The Course and Subject Management Procedure - Revisions, Suspensions and Closures (To be removed 24 August 2020) also apply to the restructure of Majors or Minors.

Confirmation of Completion of Majors and/or Minors

(17) At the time of identifying a student as a potential qualifier, the relevant course officer must identify what Majors and/or Minors the student will be entitled to on completion of the course.

Inclusion of Majors on Transcripts and Testamurs

(18) The Qualifications Issuance Policy provides for the inclusion of approved Majors on academic testamurs and transcripts. This will happen automatically, upon confirmation from the College that the Major(s) has been completed successfully.

(19) Minors are not named on transcripts.

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Section 5 - Definitions

(20) For the purpose of this Policy and Procedure:

  1. Generalist Bachelor degree: a program of study enabling students to undertake a broad educational experience in a field with options to concentrate some studies in particular discipline area (eg Bachelor of Business).
  2. Professional Courses: Those courses that are subject to external professional requirements.
  3. Specialist Course: A program of study leading to an award within a specialised area or discipline (eg Bachelor of International relations).
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Section 6 - Stakeholders

Responsibility for implementation – College Pro Vice-Chancellors; College General Managers; Heads of School; Course Coordinators.
Responsibility for monitoring implementation and compliance – Coursework Committee; Education Committee.