College of Engineering. Students must declare a major when they apply to the College of Engineering. Their freedom to change majors thereafter may be limited.
College of Letters and Science. Students must declare a major by the time they have completed 90 units. If you have not declared a major by this point, a hold may be placed on your registration materials. Such a hold would be removed only when your Declaration of Major petition is filed in the dean's office. Petitions can be obtained from faculty advisers, department offices or the Office of the Registrar. As a part of the declaration procedure, you must, in consultation with a faculty adviser, prepare a projected plan of study. You are accepted into the major when your adviser and the dean have approved the petition.
To be accepted into a major, you must have a C average in all courses you have completed that are a requirement for that major, as well as a C average in the upper division courses you have taken toward the major. With the approval of the College Executive Committee, additional requirements, such as completion of a particular set of required courses with a specified grade point average (usually well above a C average), may be introduced as conditions for acceptance into any major at any time.
If your performance is unsatisfactory after you have declared a major program, you may be required to withdraw from that major by the dean, upon written recommendation from the chair of the department or the curriculum committee that administers the major.
To change from one major to another within a college, you will need the consent of the department or committee in charge of your proposed new major. Admission into a major program may be denied by the program or by the dean if your grade point average in courses required for the selected major is less than 2.0.
Procedures for change of major within a college are the same as for declaration of major and the same conditions apply. If you wish to change to a major that has admission restrictions, you must comply with the special procedures and requirements for that major.
Except under unusual circumstances, no change of major will be permitted after you attain senior standing (135 units). It is not possible to change or declare a major in the quarter you complete your degree work.
College of Engineering. The above provisions may not apply to students in the College of Engineering, whose freedom to change majors is limited. Please contact the Engineering dean's office for specific change-of-major requirements.
A change petition, available at the dean's office and Office of the Registrar, must be endorsed by a faculty adviser of the new major you are selecting and signed by the dean of the college from which you wish to transfer. In addition, admission to the new college will require that dean's approval. Permission to transfer from one college to another may be denied or deferred if you are in academic difficulty or have a GPA of less than 2.0 in courses that are required by the new major.
College of Engineering. You may submit petitions for a transfer into the College of Engineering from another UC Davis college only if you (1) are in good academic standing and are making minimum progress; (2) have completed at least 40 units as a registered student on the Davis campus; (3) have successfully completed Mathematics 21A, 21B and 21C and Physics 9A (or their equivalents) on a letter-grade basis; (4) have and maintain a minimum GPA of 2.5 in all mathematics and physics coursework in the Mathematics 21 and 22 series and in the Physics 9 series; and (5) have the minimum UC GPA specified for the year in which you wish to transfer. Additional restrictions may apply to students who want to major in Civil Engineering, a currently impacted major. If you have completed more than 120.0 units, you will be unable to file a change of major petition except by appeal. Your appeal must include a quarter-by-quarter program plan of study before a review of your appeal will be considered.
You must declare a specific major at the time you petition to transfer and must have the minimum GPA specified for transfer into that major in that year. Consult the En-gineering Undergraduate Office for details on minimum GPAs for transfer to specific majors.
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. Because of similarity in course requirements for many of the major programs in the college, requests for multiple majors are not normally approved. If you are interested in two or more areas of study, you should consider the options of planning an individually designed major, or of adopting one or more of the minor programs offered by the college to complement your major. If you complete two majors, you may also petition for recognition that you have completed all the requirements for study of a major in addition to your selected major. At least 80 percent of the upper division units used to satisfy course and unit requirements in each major selected must be unique and not duplicate those of the other major. In planning for multiple majors, you should determine the total requirements needed for each major as well as for graduation from each college involved.
College of Engineering. Engineering has several established double majors. Enrollment in combinations of engineering majors other than the established double majors or in an engineering major and a non-engineering major may be possible. A change of major petition is required; this should be filed in the Undergraduate Office and is subject to approval. Double-major students must satisfy the requirements for both majors. Degree requirements for such double majors ordinarily cannot be completed within four academic years.
College of Letters and Science. Students choosing to major in multiple subjects must notify the dean's office of their decision by submitting for approval a petition endorsed by faculty advisers in the majors. The dean's approval of the declaration of more than one major is subject to the following conditions:
It should be possible to complete all degree requirements within the 225-unit limit.
Combination proposals that cannot be approved are two or more majors
A student who completes all requirements for approved multiple majors in which one major normally leads to an A.B. degree and another normally leads to a B.S. degree, will receive a B.A.S. degree. A single degree is granted to students who graduate with multiple majors.
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The College does encourage multiple majors between colleges whenever your academic interests and abilities indicate this to be the best route. After endorsement of the Change of Major petition by the appropriate faculty in the colleges involved, each dean may approve the petition if there are sufficient differences between the requirements for the major programs you wish to study. At least 80 percent of the upper division units used to satisfy course and unit requirements in each major selected must be unique and not duplicate those of the other major. In planning for multiple majors, you should determine the total requirements needed for each major as well as for graduation from each college involved.
College of Engineering. Enrollment in a combination of an engineering major and a non-engineering major may be possible. A change of majors petition must be filed in the Undergraduate Office and is subject to approval. Such double-major students must satisfy the requirements for both majors. Degree requirements for such double majors ordinarily cannot be completed within four academic years.
College of Letters and Science. The same conditions apply for cross-college majors as for multiple majors. Cross-college programs will not be approved if the majors involved are available within a single college as well. For example, cross-college programs between the Colleges of Letters and Science and Agricultural and Environmental Sciences will not be approved if one of the majors is biochemistry, biological sciences, evolution and ecology, genetics, microbiology, physiology or plant biology.
Students with academic interests not covered by an established major have the opportunity to develop an individual major. Such a major requires the selection of interrelated courses totalling a minimum of 45 upper division units from two or more areas of study. If you choose this option you will work closely with faculty advisers to develop a coherent and rigorous academic program. This program is then submitted to a faculty committee for review and approval. Submit the proposed program to the committee by the fourth full week of the fifth quarter before graduation. If you wish to undertake an individual major, request the appropriate forms from your dean's office. Program requirements are outlined under Individual Major in the Programs and Courses section of this catalog. The College of Engineering does not offer an individual major.
If you are interested in two or more areas of study, you should consider completing one or more minor programs. Minor program requirements are listed in the Programs and Courses section of this catalog under the department that offers them. You will find a complete list of the minors offered at UC Davis in a chart at the front of this catalog.
A minor consists of 18 to 24 units in upper division courses specified by the department or program offering the minor. At least half of these units and courses must be completed in residence on the Davis campus. You are also expected to complete all courses that are prerequisite to the upper division courses. To request certification of a minor, you must have a grade point average of 2.0 in all courses required for the minor. At most, one course used in satisfaction of your major may be applied to your minor. If you elect more than one minor, these minors may not have any courses in common.
If you want to have completion of a minor certified on your transcript, you must obtain a minor petition from your dean's office and file it no later than the deadline for filing for graduation. You can elect only one minor in a subject area. Requirements for the minor must be met by the time of graduation.
No minors are available in the College of Engineering, although students in Engineering may, with the approval of the Engineering dean's office and the adviser in the minor department, develop minors in either the College of Letters and Science or the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. A minor is not required and may not be used to substitute for approved Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) electives. The Undergraduate Office in the College of Engineering has the primary responsibility for certifying minors for engineering students and should be consulted before you begin the minor sequence.
If you are enrolled in the College of Engineering but elect a minor in either the College of Letters and Science or in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, you must pick up a minor petition in the office of the college that offers the minor you want and have the completed petition approved by the minor adviser and then certified by the Undergraduate Office of the College of Engineering.
We welcome your comments.
UC Davis 1996-97 Online General Catalog