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Major Emphasis Descriptions

Major Emphasis Descriptions
Download an MS Word template
A Major Emphasis Description is a complete description of a major as it exists in the lower division. It is published in the college catalog. It is distributed to current and prospective students, advisors, and articulating institutions. It should be treated with the utmost seriousness.

A Major Emphasis Description includes the following sections (note that much of the required text may already exist in your catalog materials; please feel free to recycle as much as you can):
  1. The Department name, exactly as it should appear in the College Catalog (English, Chemistry, Theatre Arts, etc.).

  2. A list of tenure-track faculty members and their titles.

  3. A brief, general description of the department or area. This is an opportunity to advertise your area to prospective majors. Be honest and interesting.

  4. A list of area-specific outcomes (cognitive, behavioral, and affective). They need not be quantifiable, but they should be assessable in some manner. ("Students will be tolerant of their fellow humans," is certainly a worthy outcome, but one wonders how it could be assessed in a meaningful way.) Note that area specific outcomes are generally different from G.E. outcomes.

    • Cognitive outcomes should be introduced with verbs such as "know" and "understand."

    • Behavioral outcomes should be introduced with the auxiliary verb "can" followed by a substantive verb appropriate to your program (e.g., "can write," "can use," "can differentiate").

    • Affective outcomes should be introduced with verbs such as "feel," "believe," "appreciate," and so on.

  5. A list and/or description of careers that graduates may wish to pursue. (If appropriate, indicate whether additional education and/or certification would be required.)

  6. A list of courses required to complete a self-contained program (such as an A.A.S. degree) OR recommended as preparation for upper-division work in the major.

  7. Suggested Schedule(s), if appropriate.

  8. Additional Considerations. Information related to employment, transfer, graduate programs, and so on. In short, anything that a student might need to make sensible curricular choices.

  9. Special opportunities. Describe any special opportunities that your department may offer (clubs, teaching experiences, etc.), especially if four-year institutions make such opportunities available only to upper-division students. Here too, make your area seem interesting; make Snow College worth attending.

Please adhere to the following typographical standards when producing your document; your consideration at this stage will help the Catalog Office immensely:

  1. The department name should be placed in all-caps, 11-point Ariel.

  2. Major headings should be placed in all-caps, 10-point Ariel: DESCRIPTION, OUTCOMES, CAREERS, RECOMMENDED CURRICULUM, ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS, SUGGESTED SCHEDULES, ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS, and special opportunities.

  3. Faculty titles should be placed in bolded 10-point Times New Roman.

  4. Career names (when used as headings) should be placed in bolded 10-point Times New Roman.

  5. Body text should be placed in 10-point Times New Roman.

  6. Use italics where appropriate. Please do not underline.

  7. Please use no other fonts or font sizes than those indicated here.

  8. Please use no headers, footers, page numbers, columns, or other formatting devices.

  9. The Catalog Office has not yet decided on a format for suggested schedules. For the time being, do the best you can with headings and tabs (nothing fancy or weird) and trust the Catalog Office to format your schedules appropriately.


If possible, create your file in Microsoft Word. WordPerfect remains acceptable.

Please give a hard copy of your Major Emphasis Description to your Curriculum Committee Representative.

Please send a digital copy of your Major Emphasis Description as an email attachment to ude.wons@yenrac.ffej