Business Management Minor Degree Clearance Information

All minor requirements must be completed on the same timeline as your primary masters or doctoral degree requirements. When you submit the application for your degree for your primary program, you will also apply for your minor. The integration of the minor into the graduation clearance process is dependent upon which plan classification your program follows and which system is used to track your degree progress.

Detailed information on degree completion steps at the University of Minnesota.

Plan Classification

All students who will participate in a preliminary oral exam as a component of their program must add the minor to their degree plan prior to taking the preliminary oral exam. For doctoral students, this would typically need to be done prior to the end of the third year, before the research and writing of your dissertation. This process is in place to ensure that the business management minor is thoughtfully interwoven into a student’s academic studies.

All Plan A and Plan B students with a minor must have a committee member present at their examination/thesis presentation. This is typically a PhD-level faculty member of the Carlson School. This individual will fill the requirement for a committee member from outside of the major. Detailed policy information on oral examination requirements may be found here: PhD candidates and Master’s candidates.

Plan C students are not required to complete a final oral examination as a component of their program. As such, the minor must be declared prior to filing for degree conferral.

Degree Progress System

Graduate Planning & Audit System (GPAS)

GPAS students are required to complete the Add A Graduate Minor online form to add the minor to their report. This form may also be used to remove a minor from a student’s GPAS Report. More information on GPAS. 

Please note that if a student’s minor requirements are not satisfied on their Graduate Planning & Audit System (GPAS) Report, it will prevent the student from graduating. Should any alterations to a student’s minor on their GPAS be required, the MBA Student Affairs Team will review when needed to facilitate a smooth clearance process.
 

Graduate Degree Plan

Students must file their completed GDP Form at least one semester prior to their anticipated graduation or in line with the final examination policies outlined on the left. Should updates to the submitted GDP be required, students may file the Graduate Student Petition Form.

Both of these forms require signatures from your faculty advisor, co-adviser (if applicable), major field Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), and minor field DGS.