SUNY Potsdam

Contact Person:
Glenn Johnson, Chair
207B Stowell, (315) 267-2710, johnsong@potsdam.edu

23 credit hours required. Closed to Biology majors.

The biology minor provides an opportunity for non-major students to gain experience in the field of biology. The minor should be attractive to a variety of majors. In addition to chemistry, geology and physics majors, art majors interested in biological illustration, English majors interested in editing biological journals or psychology majors interested in behavior might choose to minor in biology. Given the diversity of the field, flexibility is the key to an effective biology minor, since it will allow interested students to gain experience in one of the subdisciplines.

Procedures for Declaring the Minor

A minor should be registered with the Department of Biology prior to completion of two elective courses, in order to ensure proper advisement. Biology minors will be assigned advisers from the biology faculty.

Special Notes for Biology Minors

• One non-major biology course may be included in the minor with consultation of Department of Biology chair.
• At least 6 of the 15 credit hours must be courses with laboratory (minimum of 2 courses).
• At least 12 hours must be completed in upper-division courses.
• All credits submitted for the minimum departmental credits for the biology minor must be 2.0/S or higher. This does not assume a 2.0 average, but a 2.0 in each course.
• No student may enroll more than two times in any course offered by the Department of Biology without written permission of the instructor, the department chair and the dean.   

All courses are 3 credits unless noted. Credits are divided as follows: