There are three divisional majors. The divisional major consists of 50 semester hours. Thirty of the hours must be in junior-senior courses, and 18 of the 50 must be in one department. Of these 18, 12 must be at the 300 or 400 level.
When formally declaring a major, the student must file a declaration of major form with the Office of the Registrar. In addition, there must be an academic contract which consists of a statement by the student of objectives for choosing the divisional approach and a tentative program of courses to be undertaken. Contracts may be effected between students and their faculty advisers who shall be members of the appropriate division, and the contract will be subject to initial approval by the relevant division. The declaration must be filed initially at least three semesters before graduation, summer not counting as a semester. The contract is renegotiable at any time at the student's request, and will be reviewed by the division at times of modifications.
It should be carefully noted that the categorization of disciplines by divisional majors below is strictly for this purpose and should not be extended to other applications. The following list indicates these areas of study and the specific requirements for each of the three divisional majors:
Humanities
Art/Art History, Classics, Communications, English, French, German, History, Journalism, Music, Philosophy, Religious Studies, Spanish, Theatre
A humanities divisional major includes at least 40 hours of course work from departments within the humanities division (history is included), 30 hours of which must be at the 300 or 400 level. The courses, selected in close consultation with a faculty adviser from the division, demonstrate an intellectual coherence and clear focus, such as a specific historical period or particular intellectual movement. Students wishing to graduate with a divisional major in humanities will formulate a contract which clearly articulates this focus and lists the proposed 40 hours of course work to support the plan of study. Of the courses selected, one should be designated as satisfying the College's requirement of oral communication proficiency and another designated as satisfying the requirement for computer literacy. The student will submit the contract for approval by the division at least three semesters before graduation, summer not counting as a semester. Students must have a grade point average no lower than 2.5 in order to submit a contract, and the grade point average based on grades earned in the courses that are part of the humanities major contract must be no lower than 2.5 at the time of graduation.
Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Mathematics, Physics
A major in the Natural Sciences and Mathematics Division will be designed by the student and a professor in the division. The specifically designed program must be approved by all members of the division.
Social Sciences
Education, Geography, Health and Human Services, History, Management, Business and Economics, Political Science, Psychology, Recreation and Leisure Studies, Sociology and Criminal Justice
In addition to the requirements for the area of concentration as set by
the academic disciplines involved, a social science divisional major shall
include at least six semester hours in 300- or 400-level course work from
each of three other departments within the division. These 18 hours of upper-level
work must be in a department other than the one selected as the area of
concentration. Due to the limited availability of electives in Criminal
Justice, the area of concentration may not be in that department.
Social science divisional majors must also indicate in their academic contracts which courses (whether or not they count toward the major) will be taken to fulfill the College's requirements for oral communication proficiency and computer literacy, and explain in writing specifically how the indicated courses will fulfill these requirements.
A student planning to use Health and Human Services as the department of concentration must take HHS 201, HHS 302, POLS 343, PSY/HHS 337, HHS 338 and either HHS 401 or HHS 450 (based on consultation with adviser.)
A student planning to use Management, Business and Economics as the department of concentration must have MBE 301, MBE 316, MBE 322, MBE 400 and MBE 405. A minimum of nine upper-level credits of MBE must be taken in residence at Virginia Wesleyan College.
A student may take Education as the area of concentration but this course of study will not permit certification by the State of Virginia to teach in the public schools. Students seeking certification should confer with a faculty member of the Education Department when selecting an appropriate major.