Minors
The School of Industrial Engineering strongly recommends minors (and other methods of developing a coherent curriculum plan) to supplement the core coursework required for the BSIE degree. Many minors contain courses that count as either technical electives or general education electives, or both (e.g., Management minor). More information about curriculum plans and minors can be found in both the General Education Elective Program and the Technical Elective Program manuals (see the Curriculum Requirements for your catalog term to view the corresponding manuals). It is possible to complete more than one minor. Minors do not necessarily increase the number of courses necessary to graduate with the B.S.I.E. degree and minor.
Not all courses used for a minor may count towards degree requirements. Regardless of the additional classes, many minors still easily fit into the BSIE program. When selecting a minor, the student should consider the impact on their semester credit hours and workload to determine if a minor is in their best interests. Consulting the technical elective and general education elective manuals will assist a student in determining how their minor coursework will fit their B.S.I.E. program. Consulting with an advisor is strongly recommended. It is the student's responsibility to ensure they meet the requirements of a minor.
In most cases, simply notifying an advisor of your interest in a minor and pursuing the classes is enough to formally “enter” the minor. Your IE undergraduate advisor takes care of adding it to your record. In some cases, departments will require the student apply for the minor and fill out extra paperwork to take courses required for the minor (e.g., ECE). Your advisor will direct a student as to any extra tasks needed to enter the minor.
The School of Mechanical Engineering maintains the most complete and up-to-date listing of minors available to engineering students and their policy documents, available here.
Minors with special restrictions
In some cases, due to overlap with IE coursework, certain courses that would satisfy minor requirements cannot be taken to satisfy the BSIE degree requirements. A list of common minors with these restrictions, among other restrictions, is given below.
IE students cannot use MGMT 30400, MGMT 30500, MGMT 30600, or MGMT 36100 to satisfy BSIE requirements. These courses can be taken as the “excess” courses (i.e., those not used for TE or GE requirements).
IE students cannot use ECON 36000 towards degree requirements. In addition, ECON 45100 can only be used as a TE. ECON 46100 can be used as either a GE or TE, but only if IE 54500 is not taken. If IE 54500 is taken, ECON 46100 cannot be used for IE degree requirements.
IE students are allowed to substitute IE 23000 and 33000 to satisfy the basic probability and statistics component of the STAT minor; however, IE students must take at least 3 STAT-titled courses to satisfy the minor, with one small caveat. STAT 51300 is cross-listed with IE 53000, so students could take that course as IE 53000 and take two additional STAT-titled courses to complete the minor. Students may not use IE 33600 to satisfy the STAT minor, although this course is listed on the minor document available here as an acceptable course.