Jesse Batson

Two new minors – one in Hotel and Food Service Management (HFM) and the other in dance – will be offered for fall semester.

The two new minors came out of student request.

It was a design major that first approached instructor Don Behrend about a HFM minor.

“It came from our growing program and from people from other majors coming and requesting that it would enhance their background if they were able to get a minor in our program,” Behrend said.

“There’s a great opportunity for design consultants,” Behrend said. “There are very few options for people who are building new facilities – restaurants, hospitals, bars and so forth. They have to look far and wide for design consultants.”

Not just design consultants would benefit from a HFM minor.

Students majoring in consumer affairs, economics and business administration, mass communication and turf management also have strong connections with an HFM minor.

“We’re very interested in linking this to other majors and having the opportunities out there for them,” Behrend.

Around since the late 1950s, the HFM program is growing, Behrend said. It was enhanced in the past 10 to 15 years.

The other new minor available for Fall 2005 is in dance. Up until the 1990s, a dance major was present on campus. Due to lack of interest and funds in the early 1990s, it was cut. Melissa Hauschild-Mork, HPER department dance specialist, played an integral role in bringing the dance minor back.

“I own my own studio downtown,” said Hauschild-Mork. “I’ve always maintained an interest of someday waiting until the time was right to bring that dance minor back again. Everything in education is sort of cyclical.”

With the goal of enhancing the understanding of dance and movement, new and old coursework will be taught to anyone with an interest in dance.

“There will be a lot of new coursework,” Hauschild-Mork said. “The minor is really available to anyone on campus who shows an interest in knowing more about dance and movement and how it is used as communication.”

Just like the HFM minor, no new instructors will be brought in. Instead, the classes will be offered on a rotation basis.

The dance minor may be a new addition for the fall semester, but Hauschild-Mork has been teaching the same aspects of the new minor in her previous courses.

“I’ve been slowly introducing these courses over the past two or three years now.”

Although Hauschild-Mork worked to incorporate the minor, she doesn’t plan on pushing for a dance major.

A standard 18 credits will be required in order to attain a minor in dance of HFM, Mary Kay Helling, assistant vice president for academic affairs, said.

“Typically in minors, you’re going to have three to four to five courses that are required,” Helling said.

In addition to the dance and HFM minors, SDSU is currently working on getting a minor in equine studies approved.

“We’re working on that one a little bit more,” Helling said. “That will be forthcoming.”