Alfred University is taking steps to make interdisciplinary studies more available to as many courses of study possible. Over the past few years, the Interdisciplinary Programs Project, an on-campus project headed by Dr. Jean Cardinale of the biology department, has been working to promote interdisciplinary study by focusing on obstacles in the way of interdisciplinary double majors and minors.
Already, the Interdisciplinary Programs Project has made it so students double majoring in two schools no longer have to complete two totally separate degrees, including each of their general education requirements. Instead, while double majoring, students focus on their primary degree; the electives that they take and that are required can be used to fulfill the requirements for their double major. “The second major has few enough credits in it so that you can add it on to your regular degree program without adding a significant amount of time, “ said Provost Beth Ann Dobie. “It also means you can take disciplines that you see as having connections between them and bring them together in your study, which I think is really exciting.” Next, Dr. Cardinale is working on sample Degree Maps, which are recommended plans for different primary major / double major combinations. Not all majors are automatically double majors – over time, the faculty in different academic divisions propose and approve each double major. As of now, there are 25 official double major options available (with some restrictions depending on the school), with more to come in future semesters.
The Interdisciplinary Programs Project sees its work as highly important because of the career and personal opportunities interdisciplinary studies provide. Dr. Cardinale stressed interdisciplinary studies’ importance and claimed in an interview that it was a source of different perspectives, an important thing in the real world. “The problems society will face down the road are complex problems, which will need people with different perspectives to help solve them,” she said. According to the “Intersections and The Interdisciplinary Programs Project” proposal, available online at my.alfred.edu, The American Association of Colleges and Universities did a survey where they found that more than half of employers saw “both breadth [interdisciplinary knowledge] and depth of learning” as highly important for their employee’s careers. Taking a double major also shows employers work ethic and time management skills, though one wouldn’t need a double major for all of the benefits— even just having a few interdisciplinary courses on one’s transcript can go a distance.
The Project is carrying Alfred University’s vision of encouraging interdisciplinary study and students studying what they’re passionate about / what interests them by identifying and tackling obstacles between students and interdisciplinary study. As Provost Beth Ann Dobie explained: “Intersections has really been a central part in what we’re trying to do. And one of the big things is that with intersections we have to make it possible for students to pursue more than one thing. So the interdisciplinary intersections are great when they can occur, but the double major policy is going to make that so much feasible for students.” All in all, everyone seems to support the Project. As the Provost shared in her interview, it was unanimously passed in the faculty meeting. Though some boundaries are immovable, such as the limited number of class sections offered because of Alfred University’s size, others, like limited guidelines on how to combine majors, can be relieved with work and time. Improvements to come include more double major options and organized tracks, and updates made to both Bannerweb and Degree Works to better help interdisciplinary students. The Interdisciplinary Program Project is working to make it so as many students as possible have the opportunity to explore and connect subjects they want to.
For more info, check out the “Intersections and The Interdisciplinary Programs Project” PDF on my.alfred.edu.