Minors tangible results of student innovation

By Staff Editorial     1/29/09 6:00pm

Once upon a time, the Thresher expressed displeasure that the Faculty Senate had chosen to lay the groundwork for Rice to introduce minors to the undergraduate curriculum ("Minors programs call for proper treatment," May 19, 2006). The editorial staff expressed concern that a wave of new minors could possibly overtax already-stressed students and cheapen major curriculum by stretching department resources. However, we of the current editorial board must say that so far, the spate of introduced minors has not given us any cause for concern, and most, including the newly proposed neuroscience minor, have left us impressed (see story, page 1). We applaud the initiative and motivation shown by those students who in recent months and years have worked to introduce new interdisciplinary studies in the form of minors. Far from stretching resources, these minors - business, sociology and the recently approved Jewish studies - have opened doors for students to take advantage of the best in multiple departments, not the worst.

But we also encourage administrators and faculty members to assist in the search for new ways to combine university resources in the form of minors. Administrators and faculty members have valuable advice to give on the combination and utilization of university resources, and we fully hope they will share it with students looking to enrich their educations.

---

---

---