The Major

The Bachelor’s Degree with Individual Concentration (BDIC) program provides motivated and self-directed students the opportunity to design an individualized major. The program enables students to pursue academic goals in areas not available through existing departmental curricula or traditional majors at the university. Each student develops a proposed program of study, called a concentration, in the BDIC Proposal Writing course, with guidance from BDIC faculty and academic advisors, as well as a faculty sponsor or mentor. Throughout the program, students work closely with a BDIC advisor, who provides comprehensive guidance and support to help them achieve their academic objectives.

BDIC concentrations are interdisciplinary, drawing courses from at least three departments. In planning their concentrations, students are encouraged to consider the resources of the Five College consortium as well as domestic and international exchange opportunities, which can greatly enhance many BDIC concentrations. In addition, internships and independent studies offer BDIC students valuable hands-on experience in their fields. A maximum of nine internship/independent study credits may be used toward the BDIC major.

BDIC students earn either a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science degree. For the B.S., 60 credits are required from the sciences and mathematics. Because of the individualized nature of each student’s program of study, BDIC has as many concentrations as it has students in the major.

Requirements

1. Completion of BDIC 396P, Proposal Writing, and acceptance of the proposal compiled in that class.
2. Completion of at least 12 interrelated, upper-division, graded courses in the area of the student’s concentration, not including BDIC 396P or BDIC 350. Students must earn a GPA of 2.00 in courses applied to the degree. Courses must be drawn from at least three departments and must be at least three credits each.
3. Completion of at least four semesters in the major (the semester in which the student is enrolled in the proposal writing class is considered the first semester). Fewer semesters may be approved by the department in exceptional cases.
4. Completion of BDIC 350, Junior Year Writing, with a minimum grade of C.
5. Submission of a senior summary and abstract by November 15 for February graduation and April 1 for May graduation.
6. Completion of BDIC 494I, Innovation and Integration (the BDIC Integrative Experience class), with a minimum grade of C, in the junior or senior year.