Last year, the university said it wanted to curb the uncontrolled growth in individual minors. Apparently they were confusing for employers and it was not clear whether the chosen set of subjects met the quality requirements. So only the standard minors were allowed the ‘minor’ label. The Student Council objected because the free-choice minors are a way for students to stand out from the rest in the job market later on. What is more, not all the approved minors fit the needs of students.
‘We underestimated how important that minor label is for students,’ said the Educational Institute director, Tiny van Boekel. ‘We are confident that the examining boards make a proper assessment as to whether the chosen courses have enough depth and cohesion.’ Incidentally, ten standard minors will be taken off the list as they do not attract enough students. But it is not possible at the moment to add popular individual minors to the list of standard minors as the Educational Institute does not have that information. Van Boekel: ‘That proposal would have to come from the chair groups and/or programme committees.’