Mar 28, 2024  
2022-2023 SUNY Potsdam Academic Catalog 
    
2022-2023 SUNY Potsdam Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Biology Minor


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Closed to Biology majors.

The biology minor provides an opportunity for non-major students to gain experience in the field of biology. The minor should be attractive to a variety of majors. In addition to chemistry, geology, physics and environmental biology majors, art majors interested in biological illustration, English majors interested in editing biological journals or psychology majors interested in behavior might choose to minor in biology. Given the diversity of the field, flexibility is the key to an effective biology minor, since it will allow interested students to gain experience in one of the subdisciplines.

Procedures for Declaring the Minor

A minor should be registered with the Department of Biology prior to completion of two elective courses, in order to ensure proper advisement. Biology minors will be assigned advisers from the biology faculty.

Special Notes for Biology Majors

  • One non-major biology course may be included in the minor with consultation of Department of Biology chair.
  • At least six of the 15 credit hours must be courses with laboratory (minimum of two courses).
  • At least 12 hours must be completed in upper-division courses.
  • All credits submitted for the minimum departmental credits for the biology minor must be 2.0/S or higher. This does not assume a 2.0 average, but a 2.0 in each course.
  • No student may enroll more than two times in any course offered by the Department of Biology without written permission of the instructor, the department chair and the dean.

Program Requirements


Required Courses: 8 Credits


Elective Courses: 15 Credits


Must be selected from biology major offerings.

The following courses cannot be counted among the 15 elective hours

Total Credit Hours Required: 23


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