Student-Initiated Interdepartmental Major (SIIM), B.A.

Contact Person: Robin Collen, Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences, Dunn 103, (315) 267-2230

The SIIM Program offers each student the opportunity to complete a college degree by working with a personal advisor to construct an individualized major that fits her or his intellectual interests and career objectives.

The program is designed specifically for highly motivated, independent students, including those who have accumulated college credits but have not completed a college degree.

How to Create a SIIM:

Each student creates a highly individualized and unique program of study in consultation with the Associate Dean. They first work together to identify and clarify the student’s topic of interest. They then identify any already-earned college credits and/or prior learning credit-bearing experiences that could be included in the student’s degree plan. Next, they craft a personalized SIIM curriculum that meets the criteria specified herein and adds up to a coherent interdisciplinary program of study in the area of the student’s interest. They will specify at least three student learning outcomes that the SIIM curriculum is designed to achieve. The Associate Dean will then consult with two members of the faculty, one from of each of the academic disciplines central to that program of study, to get their feedback on the quality of the student’s individualized curriculum and adjust that curriculum if called for. Finally, an official Personalized Degree Contract (PDC) is created.

The Personalized Degree Contract (PDC)

Each PDC must:

List the courses to be included in the proposed interdisciplinary SIIM major.
Include a list of all the other courses that must be completed for the student to complete a B.A. degree, including courses that meet General Education requirements, college-wide requirements. College-wide requirements include the upper-division credit hour requirement (45 credits or more of 300 or 400 level coursework) and the liberal arts requirement (at least 90 credits of the total coursework in the degree must carry liberal arts credit).
Include at least 30 credits of coursework in the proposed interdisciplinary major.
Include at least 15 credit hours of upper-division (300 and 400 level) courses from at least two academic departments or disciplines in the proposed interdisciplinary major.
Include an upper division seminar or specially directed tutorial study of at least three credit hours in the proposed curriculum.
Provide a title for the SIIM.
Include a statement of at least 300 words written by the student justifying the proposed program of study.
Include a current college transcript.
Be signed by, and include a letter of support from, the Associate Dean and each of the two faculty members with whom the Associate Dean has consulted.
Specify, and be signed by, a SIIM advisor who is either the Associate Dean of Arts and Sciences or a faculty member recruited by the student and in one of the student’s primary areas of study.
Specify at least three SIIM-specific learning outcomes.

Note(s)

All courses included in the Degree Contract must be completed with a minimum grade of 2.0 or “S,” including any previously completed coursework.
Required cognate courses are not included in the 30-42 required credit hours.
No more than two courses taken with the S/U grade option can count toward the SIIM degree, and for a course to be so counted a grade of “S” must be earned.
All cognate courses for the SIIM must be specified in the program of study and cannot exceed 16 credit hours. All cognate courses must be completed with a grade of 2.0 or better.
If a class substitution is desired in an already approved SIIM program of study, the student should submit a written explanation and justification of the substitution; the proposed substitution must then be approved by the SIIM advisor or the student’s SIIM Advisory Committee.
No more than 12 credit hours of internship credit can be counted toward the SIIM program of study or towards the 120 total credit hours required for graduation.
Students cannot complete the SIIM B.A. degree without at least 30 credit hours of SUNY Potsdam courses.
It is recommended that no more than nine credits of previous coursework be included in each SIIM program of study; requests to incorporate more than nine such credits will be considered on a case-by-case basis.