Future students at UW-Eau Claire might not need a minor after the Academic Policy Commission voted 5-1 to eliminate the requirement on Feb. 5. Student Senate gave their approval to the commission’s decision the following Monday. They said eliminating minor requirements could help improve four-year graduation rates for
Eau Claire students.

Removing the need for a minor would allow students to save money on their education. It would allow them to take only the classes they need and to graduate in four years or less. Students are not made out of money and by reducing the number of credits needing to graduate, it would allow them to graduate with less debt.
In the chance that a minor won’t be required anymore, that does not mean a student could not choose to have a minor. There’s no reason for the minor to disappear altogether. If a student wants a minor, they still can have one.

By not being required to have a minor, students who major in areas such as education would have more time to get into the classes they need to advance to the next stage in their major. Because some of their classes are consistently full, their graduation rate is pushed back because they have to wait a semester or more to get into the class. By not requiring a minor, students would get the extra time they need to get into these important classes.

However, not being required to have a minor would also mean less experience in diverse areas or study, which in the future might help in the job hunt. Having a minor is also a good way to explore your opportunities and to expand your knowledge in what you might want to do when you graduate.
Not having a minor also diminishes a student’s education because they are not having the opportunity to branch out into different fields of study. It gives students the chance to be an expert in many different areas and that is what the job market is looking for. The job market is looking for well-rounded students who have taken the time to get a thorough education.

It is also concerning to hear the minor might not be required because this is unheard of at
other schools.
Not many other schools are following suit and this is a concern. Eau Claire would not be keeping form with the other schools in the area and that would make our school seem less professional and less challenging.
A way to keep both the major and minor requirements would be to know what you wanted to do when you came into college.

The problem is, many students do not know what they want to do right away when they come to college. A way to fix this would be to have the minor be just as important as the major.

Sometimes academic advisors do not put as much attention on the minor as they should. Academic advisors put far more attention on declaring a major than they do declaring a minor. This leads to students declaring a minor much later on in college, which could be a cause of the delayed graduation rates.

The elimination of the minor requirement has its pros and cons but it is a consensus that, if eliminated, having a minor should still remain optional for those who choose to have one.