The new restrictions imposed on government majors represent an overall laudable step by faculty members to ensure that students sincerely pursuing the major can get into the classes they need. The new mandatory minimum GPA for double majors, however, is a draconian measure that fails to specifically target students using government as a strategic major and holds the possibility of hurting someone trying to double-major and take challenging courses.
Perhaps the real fix to the problem of students using the major only for course access is the introduction of minors. Minors will give those strategic majors an outlet to pursue upper-level government electives and fulfill their commitments to the department. Students choosing to minor would get the edge over other students in course access that they want while still coming second to true majors. Balancing the priority claims of majors, minors and other students should not be difficult if the new course registration algorithm is to be adopted.
Minors may not be appropriate for all departments, but they certainly fit squarely with the liberal arts mission of the University by encouraging students to pursue a wide range of academic interests with some degree of depth. This way, rather than imposing limitations that may discourage honest double majors, the policy would promote inter-disciplinary study.
This would certainly be a significant step for the University, but it is an advance that best serves the interest of a liberal arts education. Concentrations, which only exist as sub-fields within majors, do not fill the role that a minor would in providing the same kind of comprehensive study in a department.
Of course, both the rules changes and the introduction of minors would need to be accompanied by the hiring of additional faculty in departments of highest demand. This is already a part of the Strategic Plan and must be acted upon immediately to alleviate the course-crunch that already exists for majors, particularly in the government department.
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