UNC adds education minor for students interested in policy

The University will offer a minor in education meant to teach non-majors the basic elements of educational policy and practice beginning in fall 2012.

And while the new minor won’t land students a teaching job, administrators said the program’s participants will be better versed in educational policy for use in a variety of other fields.

Deborah Eaker-Rich, assistant dean for academic affairs in the School of Education, said students interested in the minor might include future Teach for America participants and developers of educational policy.

Eaker-Rich said a student who wants to train as a museum instructor might major in history or art, but the minor in education would help that person gain the skills to teach museum programming.

“Education is a practice applicable to many places,” she said, adding that the minor is geared toward teaching in places other than a traditional classroom.

She said students interested in working with Teach for America might also benefit from the minor, since it can better prepare them for the teaching world.

UNC is one of the top recruiting grounds in the country for participants in Teach for America.

The minor will not meet the federal and state licensing requirements that are mandated for becoming a full-time teacher, Eaker-Rich said.

Mike Hobbs, spokesman for the School of Education, said there is a substantial level of interest in educational policy among undergraduates studying in other departments.

Eaker-Rich said the minor, which has been in the works for several years, offers a new opportunity for non-majors to take the courses generally reserved for students in the school.

The first required course of the minor — Schools, Societies, and Issues in Education Practice and Policy: Past and Present — will be offered in the spring, Eaker-Rich said.

Laura Gutmann, a graduate student who will be a teaching assistant for the new course, said in an email that the course is geared toward those not majoring in education.

“We certainly hope that the new minor will give non-majors who are interested in educational issues more opportunities to interface with the School of Education,” Gutmann said.

She said students interested in working in educational reform could benefit from the minor.

Eaker-Rich said she hopes the new minor will enroll 25 students initially and expand to 100 at the end of the next three years.

Support from Chancellor Holden Thorp and the interest among students made this the right time to introduce the minor, she said.

In planning for the minor, administrators accounted for budget cuts, Eaker-Rich said.

The new minor will be funded in part by private sources, she said.

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