Illinois Wesleyan is hoping an expanded menu of minors will attract more college-bound students to the private university.
Starting in the fall, Wesleyan will offer six new minors: actuarial science, statistics, film studies, French and Francophone studies, Italian studies and religious diversity.
Provost and Dean of Faculty Mark Brodl said students and faculty all expressed interest in adding these new programs. He sees a dual benefit.
“Both a greater pool of students and then also we would just see an overall increase in enrollment,” Brodl said, adding the university hasn’t set specific targets.
Brodl said these new minors are about more than just learning new subject material; they are intended to foster understanding of underlying principles.
“(The minors will) help students start to make sense of the world around them, so when they encounter something new, they have a way of mapping things out and be able to understand ‘even though I have never seen this before, I can make sense of this.’”
IWU is also revising its American Studies major and minor by adding three concentrations: African-American studies, Latinx studies and Native-American studies.
Brodl said current faculty will be able to handle the additional course load, but the university could bring in adjunct faculty for some classes.
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