Students who have interests in more than one field and who want to achieve specific educational and/or career goals may elect an interdisciplinary major. If one's goals cannot be met by a major program currently offered at the college, the student may create an interdisciplinary major by combining study in two departments. For example, if a student aspires to become a medical illustrator, she/he may decide to do an interdisciplinary major combining Art & Design with Science. Or, if one aspires to be a music critic, that student may decide to create an interdisciplinary major between Music and Journalism. Many other interdisciplinary options are possible.

Students who select this option must make a strong commitment to integrating studies in their chosen fields as they develop an academic plan for the major. The interdisciplinary major must include a minimum of 40 credit hours selected from two disciplines or departments, and not more than two-thirds of these hours should be in one department. Ideally, students should plan to take an approximately even distribution of hours in each department. The major must include at least 12 credit hours from a major-granting department. Students may declare an interdisciplinary major at any time after they have completed 16 credit hours and before they have completed 60 credit hours. The only exception to this rule is for first-semester transfer students who are bringing in 60-84 credit hours from other institutions.

Additional requirements are:

• That the interdisciplinary major include some kind of professional application, such as an internship, independent project, or community-base activity in one department
  
• That is also include a senior project ( a major paper, artistic production or performance, etc.) related to the professional area in the other department.
  
• That students may not count any credits/courses toward both general studies and their major.
  
• That students must spend their last 12 hours in residency at Columbia College.

The process for proposing and developing an interdisciplinary major is as follows:

1. See the College Advisor. Students begin the process of planning for the interdisciplinary major by contacting the College Advisor who coordinate this program in the College Advising Center, before the 10th week of the semester prior to the term in which the study will begin.
   
2. Meet with Faculty in each department. The student will then contact the departments included in the proposed study and meet with appropriate faculty to design the curriculum. After the curricular plan has been developed, a Faculty Advisor will be assigned for the remainder of the student's college program. The Chairperson or Faculty Advisor from each department will sign off on the student's interdisciplinary paperwork.
   
3. Submit the completed application to the College Advising Center. Students will submit a formal application that includes the following: (four part form available in advising; linked PDF is for information only)
   1. a formal statement of purpose and rationale for the study
      
   2. a proposed list of courses
      
   3. waiver/substitution forms signed by the department for any courses taken at another institution that will count toward the major.

The College Advising Center will serve as a clearinghouse for the interdisciplinary major with regard to record keeping and semester planning of the program. Records of the study plans will be sent to the College Advising Center, the respective departments, and the student.

When all requirements for the interdisciplinary study and all college graduation requirements have been met, the transcript will indicate that the student has completed the interdisciplinary major and will include the title of the program of study and the names of the departments involved.