Students majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies must complete 45 hours of university core curriculum requirements in addition to 12 hours of general studies core courses, including any prerequisite courses that must be completed prior to taking emphasis area courses.

Students will choose a plan of study deciding between two options:

1. Select two emphasis areas consisting of 18 hours each.
2. Select three emphasis areas of 12 hours each.

*All courses in your emphasis area must be taken at the upper division level (3000-4000 level courses). Please consult with your advisor to ensure emphasis area courses will be approved by the BSIS committee.

* Students must choose emphasis areas from at least two academic colleges in both options above.

Curriculum Guide

Program Acceptance

To ensure consistency in the program, students must construct and explain in writing the rationale for the interdisciplinary studies program's direct relationship to the student's personal and career goals, submit this information for review, and be accepted into the program. Please see below for the steps to complete this process.

Choosing Emphasis Areas and Program Acceptance

1. When students realize they may be interested in the BSIS major, they should sign up for a BSIS Workshop.

2. If students decide to major in BSIS after attending the BSIS Workshop, they must enroll in IDS 2111, Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies. Optimally students will enroll in IDS 2111 their first semester in the major. However, if the course is not available during the first semester, students should work with their advisor to enroll in the course during the second semester in the major.

3. While taking IDS 2111, students will create a plan of study and a written personal statement. Both items will be submitted to the course instructor for feedback.

4. After receiving instructor feedback on the plan of study and personal statement, students will submit revised versions of the documents to the course instructor for final review.  

5. The instructor will submit the final version of the plan of study and personal statement to the Interdisciplinary Studies Committee for review. The committee will meet during the fall, spring and summer semesters.

6. Potential outcomes of BSIS Committee review:

• If approved by the committee, the student has been formally accepted into the BSIS program and may proceed with the curriculum.
• If the student is not approved, the student will receive feedback from the committee on what needs to be adjusted. The student will continue to work with the BSIS director until the student's plan is approved. Reasons a student plan might not be approved (these reasons are not all inclusive, but examples):
  • Student's written rationale does not match their career goals.
  • Student's work is not edited properly and does not meet proper grammatical and spelling standards at the college level.
  • Student has missing courses from plan of study: most students forget to add the additional three alternate courses required in the plan of study.
  • Student's plan of study courses do not match their career goals.