OT: Does Rutgers still have the major/minor/mini structure required to graduate?

[RutgersRaRa]

Back in the 80's and 90's we had to pick a major in one of the three categories--humanities, sciences, and something else that I don't remember (social sciences?). The major required in the neighborhood of 36-42 credits. After our major was satisfied we had to minor in one of the remaining two categories, which required around 18 credits. The remaining category was for our mini requirement, which required something like two classes. The theory was that this produced a reasonably well-rounded education. Out of curiosity, are these major/minor/mini requirements still in place?

 

[HPNJRUfan]

There is now a "core curriculum" which must be fulfilled, plus any additional classes to fulfill your major:
https://sasundergrad.rutgers.edu/degree-requirements/core

I was an SAS/EJB dual-enrollee (Urban Planning major / Architectural Studies minor) so not sure how it works in SEBS, SOE, etc but probably similar.

 

[megadrone]

Back in the 80's and 90's we had to pick a major in one of the three categories--humanities, sciences, and something else that I don't remember (social sciences?). The major required in the neighborhood of 36-42 credits. After our major was satisfied we had to minor in one of the remaining two categories, which required around 18 credits. The remaining category was for our mini requirement, which required something like two classes. The theory was that this produced a reasonably well-rounded education. Out of curiosity, are these major/minor/mini requirements still in place?

that varied by college, and what you described sounds like what i had as a Rutgers College undergrad. They were all different requirements from what I recall.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

that varied by college, and what you described sounds like what i had as a Rutgers College undergrad. They were all different requirements from what I recall.

I was Rutgers College as well (IIRC "School 12"). I double majored, one in Philosophy (humanities) and the other in Administration of Justice (social sciences?), and my mini was in physics. @RUScrew85 and I had equally illustrious careers in said physics, which evidently contributed to his ongoing million-year shower project. He has become the living embodiment of Twain's quote, Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

 

[DJ Spanky]

I remember back in the day engineering literally just had the major along with requirements for X amount of humanity credits. But humanities were broadly defined, so classes like Money & Banking were considered humanities.

 

[Good-Knight]

Nightmare 40 years later: Crap! Can I graduate on Saturday? A Chemical Analysis of the Cave Drawing of Early Man is that Math & Science, Social Science, or Art& Humanities?

 

[mildone]

@RUScrew85 and I had equally illustrious careers in said physics, which evidently contributed to his ongoing million-year shower project. He has become the living embodiment of Twain's quote, Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.

I had this great idea to get rich making t-shirts centered around funny procrastination themes. But someone beat me to it.

 

[RutgersRaRa]

I had this great idea to get rich making t-shirts centered around funny procrastination themes. But someone beat me to it.

That person was most evidently not in your league.

 

[RC1991]

Back in the 80's and 90's we had to pick a major in one of the three categories--humanities, sciences, and something else that I don't remember (social sciences?). The major required in the neighborhood of 36-42 credits. After our major was satisfied we had to minor in one of the remaining two categories, which required around 18 credits. The remaining category was for our mini requirement, which required something like two classes. The theory was that this produced a reasonably well-rounded education. Out of curiosity, are these major/minor/mini requirements still in place?

That was Rutgers College. Cook, Douglass, and Livingston had a choose a major and take GE classes in different areas. I liked the RC system and was able to do a second major in what started out as a minor.

 

[Mr Magoo]

Back in 1985, I chose Physics as my “mini” because two semesters of Astronomy qualified. I thought we would be looking through telescopes at stars and they would be “gut” courses (that’s what us old fogeys called them at the time). I was mistaken, and I remember having to master quite a bit of actual physics to get through them. Who would have thought..lol?

 

[RutgersRaRa]

Back in 1985, I chose Physics as my “mini” because two semesters of Astronomy qualified. I thought we would be looking through telescopes at stars and they would be “gut” courses (that’s what us old fogeys called them at the time). I was mistaken, and I remember having to master quite a bit of actual physics to get through them. Who would have thought..lol?

@Mr Magoo I did the same thing and had the same experience. Turns out there was a reason it was listed in the Physics Department. Ha!

 

[NotInRHouse]

When I graduated it was 2 classes each in Writing, Math, Science, Social Science, Humanities and one in non Western Civ

Looks pretty similar now based on the link, just different names.

Also most people outside of the professional schools (business, engineering, pharma) double majored. If you didn't it seemed lazy lol.

 

[BeantownKnight]

Back in 1985, I chose Physics as my “mini” because two semesters of Astronomy qualified. I thought we would be looking through telescopes at stars and they would be “gut” courses (that’s what us old fogeys called them at the time). I was mistaken, and I remember having to master quite a bit of actual physics to get through them. Who would have thought..lol?

I did the same thing -- although, I graduated a few years you. My brother (maybe you're him?) told me to do my Mini in Astronomy for this exact reason. And, I - like you - had the same experience you did. Although, I do remember standing on the rooftop of the Physics building on the Busch campus looking at Mars through an 8" telescope. Pretty cool stuff. And, cold. Very cold evenings there.

 

[Mr Magoo]

I did the same thing -- although, I graduated a few years you. My brother (maybe you're him?) told me to do my Mini in Astronomy for this exact reason. And, I - like you - had the same experience you did. Although, I do remember standing on the rooftop of the Physics building on the Busch campus looking at Mars through an 8" telescope. Pretty cool stuff. And, cold. Very cold evenings there.

I still did find my share of “gut” courses..The Italian Cinema, Your Community in History, and The Comic come to mind during my 4 years on College Ave. I remember that one semester a B+ in Your Community in History kept me off the Dean’s List. (I needed an A). I called the professor to claim I deserved an A (the first and only time I ever did that), and she said “fine” and changed it..lol..Great memories.

 

[AntiG]

Never heard of a mini, I graduated in 04

 

[motorb54]

IIRC back in the mid seventies all courses were in one of six categories.
You needed to take two courses in four of the six.
This was Rutgers College.

 

[m1ipabrams]

I remember back in the day engineering literally just had the major along with requirements for X amount of humanity credits. But humanities were broadly defined, so classes like Money & Banking were considered humanities.

Yup, it was that way back in the late 80's and pretty much the same today. My son had to take 4 Hum/Soc electives for engineering. Pretty much all of them he got AP credit for so doesn't have to take them. Down side it results in a pretty dense technical schedule so he is taking a couple of "fun" classes just for the variety.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

Back in the 80's and 90's we had to pick a major in one of the three categories--humanities, sciences, and something else that I don't remember (social sciences?). The major required in the neighborhood of 36-42 credits. After our major was satisfied we had to minor in one of the remaining two categories, which required around 18 credits. The remaining category was for our mini requirement, which required something like two classes. The theory was that this produced a reasonably well-rounded education. Out of curiosity, are these major/minor/mini requirements still in place?

This was all gone by 1994-98. By then, you had to have a major and a minor (or a double major), but they could be of any discipline. There were a handful of "core" subjects (english, math, science, history, etc) where you had to have two classes in each of them as a graduation requirement.

 

[Scarlet16E]

I really enjoyed my mini in American Studies.

 

[RUtom]

I graduated in '91 from RC and did my mini in religion.. useless but interesting.

 

[mildone]

I graduated in '91 from RC and did my mini in religion.. useless but interesting.

Amen.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

that varied by college, and what you described sounds like what i had as a Rutgers College undergrad. They were all different requirements from what I recall.

True.. Rutgers college had major - minor - mini spread across disciplines.. math/science - humanities - fine arts.. business.. beer? like OP I forget.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

This was all gone by 1994-98. By then, you had to have a major and a minor (or a double major), but they could be of any discipline. There were a handful of "core" subjects (english, math, science, history, etc) where you had to have two classes in each of them as a graduation requirement.

That's a shame. The whole idea of the requirement was to produce well-rounded grads. If you didn't want that, Livingston Cook Douglas and University College were available.

 

[RU848789]

That's a shame. The whole idea of the requirement was to produce well-rounded grads. If you didn't want that, Livingston Cook Douglas and University College were available.

Don't forget engineering. We barely took any humanities courses, which always annoyed me and certainly didn't produce well-rounded grads, although with the very high credit load of math, science and eng'g courses, I understood it. Many of my favorite courses were my electives.

 

[robcac26]

That's a shame. The whole idea of the requirement was to produce well-rounded grads. If you didn't want that, Livingston Cook Douglas and University College were available.

I was in the last Livingston College graduation. We weren't required to do a minor, but we were required to take classes from a handful of different categories. From the classes I chose for those categories, I ended up doing two minors even though I didn't need any because I was only one or two classes short of each one. Really though, I don't think the university does this to produce well-rounded grads, it's to force you to take more classes. This is why it's so much more difficult to finish college in four years now. Nobody has ever cared about what I minored in.

 

[Scarlet16E]

I was in the last Livingston College graduation. We weren't required to do a minor, but we were required to take classes from a handful of different categories. From the classes I chose for those categories, I ended up doing two minors even though I didn't need any because I was only one or two classes short of each one. Really though, I don't think the university does this to produce well-rounded grads, it's to force you to take more classes. This is why it's so much more difficult to finish college in four years now. Nobody has ever cared about what I minored in.

Opposite for me.
My minor ended up being my career path.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

.. I don't think the university does this to produce well-rounded grads, it's to force you to take more classes. This is why it's so much more difficult to finish college in four years now. Nobody has ever cared about what I minored in.

What I am about to say might be viewed as political, but it is really on-topic re: this idea you expressed.

Here's the immediately related part of the idea. I think the people who chartered Queens College had concrete educational goals. They would have created a curriculum and requirements that matched those educational goals within the limits of what was possible and practical at that time. But for the better part of 200 years, I'd imagine the Queens and Rutgers trustees and Presidents and Deans were well-focused on educational goals.. producing well-educated, well-rounded "Rutgers Men".

(this is where the generalization will occur in an attempt to expound on your theory about requiring students to take more classes...)

HOWEVER... over time, and possibly related to agreeing to become The State University of New Jersey, I think all successful organizations take on parasitic entities. These parasites do not focus on the core concrete educational goals. They focus on what's best for them.

Some might say sports falls into this description. But that doesn't really affect individual students' education much.. other than athletes, possibly. Others might point in other directions.. as you say, perhaps the administration just wants students to stay longer, and pay more for that degree. Perhaps some universities force students to take specific social engineering classes (propagandize them). I don't know if this is a real case, but I have read stories where people argue for stuff like requiring students to take classes in equity, etc. Perhaps it could be argued that such required classes produce well-rounded graduates... but that is a fatally flawed argument.

Those examples and more would be signs of parasites capturing an institution and I think that happens everywhere. Let's look at Disney as an example. A man with a vision built a successful corporation. It became so successful, go on to buy ABC and ESPN, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Fox. Now there is a CEO and board of directors who seem to serve themselves and not the vision of the institution and the whole institution/corporation suffers.

In Olde Queens Tavern I recall seeing a plaque behind the bar or on a wall with a Founding Father-era quote that was something like "if you are successful, expect to be attacked". That is all this is, this thing that I am trying to describe. People doing what's best for them by seeking out successful host organizations. Sometimes it is good for the host organization when goals align.. sometimes it is not.

 

[robcac26]

Opposite for me.
My minor ended up being my career path.

Interesting, I don't know your age but I wonder if minors used to be more meaningful than they are now. I remember being surprised when I saw that all I needed was I think six classes to complete a minor. I never even heard of a mini until seeing this thread. Did you begin your career related to your minor right out of college, or did you build up some employment history and then change careers? I'm imagining if I were hiring a recent grad, for any good candidate who minored in the relevant field, I could probably find another good candidate who majored in it.

 

[hoquat63]

Back in the dark ages of the 1960’s when I was in school, Rutgers College was male only, there was no Livingston and Busch Campus was still University Heights, the requirements included 2 years each in Math/Science, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Foreign Languages. After that you needed a bunch of classes in your major (some required and some elective) plus whatever electives you needed to fill up 120 credits. Two years of Phys. Ed also reauired

 

[Scarlet16E]

Interesting, I don't know your age but I wonder if minors used to be more meaningful than they are now. I remember being surprised when I saw that all I needed was I think six classes to complete a minor. I never even heard of a mini until seeing this thread. Did you begin your career related to your minor right out of college, or did you build up some employment history and then change careers? I'm imagining if I were hiring a recent grad, for any good candidate who minored in the relevant field, I could probably find another good candidate who majored in it.

graduated in 88.
Majored in Econ. Minored in comp Sci.
Spent 7 years in finance and accounting at large IT company.
Then moved in to work as an implementation consultant for a small software company. Have done that ever since but now work independently.
The IT field has loads of people who didn’t major in Comp Sci.

 

[RCBeta79]

Back in the 80's and 90's we had to pick a major in one of the three categories--humanities, sciences, and something else that I don't remember (social sciences?). The major required in the neighborhood of 36-42 credits. After our major was satisfied we had to minor in one of the remaining two categories, which required around 18 credits. The remaining category was for our mini requirement, which required something like two classes. The theory was that this produced a reasonably well-rounded education. Out of curiosity, are these major/minor/mini requirements still in place?

This was also in place during the late 1970's.