Changes have been made to the business minor, making it easier for undergraduate students at the University to enter the program.

“The Gies College of Business has modified the minor to eliminate the application process and offer open enrollment of business minor courses to undergraduate non-business majors. Non-business students need not to pursue the business minor credential to enroll in business minor courses,” said the Gies College of Business in an email. 

Jeff Headtke, academic coordinator and student adviser in Business, said the changes were initiated because the minor had been fairly restrictive and difficult to achieve in the past.

“Dean (Jeffrey) Brown wants our college to have a minor that would be available and accessible to any student who believes in the value of a business education,” Headtke said. “With the new changes, students will be able to earn the business minor with more access to the courses.”

Headtke said the minor courses are now available not only to students who are intending to earn a business minor but also to any student on campus who is simply interested in management and marketing.

One significant change is that students pursuing the business minor are no longer required to take CS 105: Introduction to Computing, STAT 100: Statistics and MATH 234: Calculus for Business I or their equivalents as prerequisites; they are instead listed as recommended courses.

However, students must still take prerequisite courses for specific classes such as FIN 221: Corporate Finance. The change simply gets rid of the prerequisites for applying to the minor as a whole.

“Students must continue to meet the prerequisites required of the course for which they register,” the email said.

Another issue Headtke said made the business minor less attainable was the college’s lack of physical resources.

For example, if a course for both business majors and minors had 50 seats available, most of the spots would go to business majors instead of minors. This made it difficult for students to register for the classes necessary for the minor.

The Gies College of Business currently has a number of online graduate degree programs. Using this as a model, Brown has transformed the system of undergraduate courses as well to have more online classes available for students.

“Business minor students may enroll in online sections because, with online sections, we’re not confined by the physical dimensions of a classroom,” Headtke said.

Further, non-Business major students must sign up for online sections instead of in-person ones if online sections are offered in the course. Although class capacity is not unlimited, it provides more opportunities for interested students.

With the new changes, students will also not be required to submit an application. In the past, students were not guaranteed a business minor; prerequisites, academic standing, completed credit hours and GPA were all taken into consideration.

Now, students will submit a Statement of Intent to Pursue a Campus-Approved Minor. All students who submit a statement are eligible to earn the minor.

Sonia John, sophomore in LAS, is minoring in business. John said although she appreciates the increased accessibility to the minor, eliminating the prerequisite requirement may make it difficult for students to build a strong foundation before learning about the subject.

“It is important to have this foundation to completely understand the ins and outs of business courses,” John said.

John believes it may become harder for business minors to be closely involved with the culture of the business school because the minor is larger and less personalized. Regardless, she said students will benefit from the courses.

“Ultimately, while these changes will be a shift in the dynamic, each student can take advantage of the opportunities and make the minor experience be what they want it to be,” John said.

Headtke said he believes there will be an increased interest in the minor, even if it means just signing up for one or two business classes. Once students have had an opportunity to experience what the minor is like, Headtke said they may realize they want to pursue it.

“Business is such a relevant topic across all fields of study that, in a way, it is good that there are more openings for anyone who wants to become educated,” John said.

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