Four new majors have been approved for the Bryan College academic catalog starting Fall 2014, according to the academics office. Dr. Kevin L. Clauson, interim academic vice president, said, “The new majors are in keeping with the ‘spirit’ of the liberal arts at Bryan College, and with our desire to offer students flexibility to acquire a more well-rounded education, since these majors allow for the addition of other majors, minors, or options.”
The first of these will provide students with the opportunity to receive a Bachelor of Arts in music, which is a more general major when compared to the current and more professional-oriented B.S. track. This new major will enable students “to pursue a music focus (especially as a second major),” according to the proposal. It further states that it “provides more possibilities for students in other majors to also pursue a concentration (major) in music.”
In addition, the business department will see the addition of three new majors: economics/finance, management, and marketing. According to Social Science Division Chair Dr. William Lay, these majors offer students “a much wider range of elective credits than possible with the Bachelor of Science with a major in business administration.”
These majors are designed to complement other B.A. majors, enabling students to add an economics/finance, management, or marketing component to their degrees. For example, students with a degree in politics and government will be able to add an economics major to round out their politics degree; those majoring in history can add a management major to enable them to manage a historical museum.
Dr. Lay states that while these majors are not intended to take the place of a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration, it does provide greater marketability for students who love and want to major in another discipline.
These new majors have no additional cost beyond their addition to the academic catalog. They have been approved to be offered in the upcoming Fall 2014 semester.