By Rachel Boulton and Gina Picci

For students in the class of 2007 who entered the university last fall, a minor seemed like a far-off prospect. In addition to the warnings not to take only one part of classes that would later be combined under semesters, academic counselors advised students early on that they would be better off waiting to start classes for a minor until semesters hit.

For students like sophomore journalism major Anne Ferreira, however, the semester system has brought on confusion.

“I don’t have a clue about declaring a minor,” Ferreira said.

University Registrar Linda Allen has not heard many complaints herself, but said informing students about minors is a “left over issue from quarters.”

Mary Mello, director of academic student services for the College of Arts and Sciences, said there are students already pursuing minors under the semester system, but if there is any sort of confusion, students should see their department advisers.

Mello said that once students have a general idea about the minor they want to pursue, they should ask their advisors about a petition to declare a minor, which should eventually end up at the Dean’s Office. The petition is critical to the minor process because the colleges “cannot even keep track of minors without it.”

In addition, for the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Business Administration, offering enough classes for students to fulfill a minor in either of the schools has become an issue.

Peggy Fletcher, dean of the College of Business Administration, recommends that students talk to their advisors and let them know which classes they want to take and when.

“We need this information for planning purposes,” Fletcher said.

She accredits most of the difficulty of offering enough classes to the lack of communication.

“It is difficult pulling off a list of students who need specific business classes,” Fletcher said. “Hopefully, advisors will relay the information they obtain from students to the school of business to make the list of classes better tailored for students, especially those who want to obtain a minor in the school.”

Fletcher does not blame semester conversion entirely for the issue.

“It just so happens that semester conversion was the same year as the reaccreditation of classes in the school of business,” Fletcher said. “We closed classes to everyone but the business students because the school is going through reaccreditation. We had to make sure they got their classes.”

Classes were later opened to other students, but the list of classes to pick from was narrow and caused some frustration for those who needed specific business classes.

“There was difficulty this year choosing classes. We recognize that,” Fletcher said. “To solve the problem, we are being provided with funds to add on additional classes for the spring.”

These classes will only be offered to those wishing to minor in the College of Business Administration.

There will also be more classes offered during the summer quarters to further accommodate those who are not taking classes in the spring. The only way for students to get into these classes is to speak to their academic advisors. Students will not be able to register for the courses online because the courses will strictly be open to those who wish to minor in business.

“Planning is key,” Fletcher said.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, program sheets for majors are currently available in the Dean’s Office at One Meserve Hall. Students are advised to keep an eye out since minor program sheets are soon to come. In addition, both Allen and Mello recommend the Registrar’s Web site, registrar.neu.edu, for detailed information about course offerings and minor program requirements.

Gail Stubbs, an advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences, has already made some recommendations to students since the conversion occurred.

Information “is in writing in several different places … [but] anytime a student asks a question, we can refer them to the [university] catalogue,” Stubbs said.

The catalogue became available later than usual due to the conversion, but Stubbs said the information in the catalog is crucial when students begin thinking about taking a minor.