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Self-Designed Major

Details

The Self-Designed Major (SDMJ) is an opportunity for motivated undergraduate students in good academic standing to design a personalized, interdisciplinary program of study. Students must complete one full year of undergraduate study at Carroll College before they can submit a proposal for a SDMJ.

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About the Program

A Self-Designed Major goes beyond Carroll’s existing majors and minors allowing students to draw from the curricula of three or more disciplines to create a coherent and unique academic plan. In keeping with the college’s liberal arts foundation and the college’s mission, the SDMJ is one of the ways that Carroll provides for the “expansion of the intellectual, imaginative, and social awareness of its students” while preparing students for, “students for leadership and their chosen vocations.”

A student who wishes to pursue a Self-Designed Major will identify 2-3 faculty advisors to serve as their faculty advisory committee. Representing the key disciplinary areas of the student’s SDMJ, the faculty committee members will work with the student to craft an academic plan that intentionally combines diverse methodologies and learning experiences, while ensuring the appropriate content and rigor across the chosen disciplines.  Before submitting an SDMJ proposal, students must first complete 24 credits of undergraduate coursework at Carroll College.

Why Carroll College?

When planning a Self-Designed Major, students are encouraged to look beyond the traditional boundaries between divisions and disciplines and instead consider how the content of individual courses complement and build on one another. The final Self-Designed Major’s personalized curriculum will reflect a matrix of courses that provide coherence, breadth, and depth over the student’s entire course of study. 

At Carroll, location is key. You won’t find a better place to pursue a custom major than Montana, especially Helena. Our campus is nestled between the Continental Divide of the Rocky Mountains and the Missouri River, surrounded by vast acres of National Forest and a short drive to the crown jewels Glacier and Yellowstone National Parks.

Smaller class sizes and access to faculty are key ways students experience the value of Carroll College. Carroll students also experience the value in our commitment to a four-year graduation, job placement or graduate school, and ongoing support.

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The Outcome

The professional educational objectives of the Self-Designated Major degree program are to produce graduates who have:

  • General and specialized knowledge, skills, and global perspective necessary to pursue a future in their chosen profession.
  • The practical hands-on experience needed to facilitate their entry into the career of their choice.

A chance to improve people’s lives and enhance my own? Sign me up.

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