Rose Bialk/The Mossy Log
At the March 3 faculty meeting, four new minors were proposed: law and policy, education, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Leading up to the meeting, proposals were reviewed by the Curriculum Committee. Proposals do not guarantee these minors’ creation, and the minors are currently set to be debated and voted upon at the April 7 faculty meeting. Any minors that pass the faculty vote will be implemented in the coming Fall 2026 semester.
Professor of Biology and Chair of the Curriculum Committee Margaret Metz declined invitation to comment on the possible new minors, stressing the importance of faculty discussion and the voices of the diverse ranges of opinions on the board over her personal opinion.
Peter Drake, chair of the computer science department, commented in an interview with The Mossy Log that the creation of the proposals for the cybersecurity and AI minors have been fairly smooth, advancing quickly due to strategic support from President Robin Holmes-Sullivan and Dean Bruce Suttmeier. Like the recent approval of the data science major, the proposals of these new minors contribute to the college’s wider goal of increasing undergraduate admissions and retention.
“In both of these areas we expect there to be a lot of jobs, and we expect there to be a lot of interested students and increased enrollment,” Drake said, discussing the possible new cybersecurity and AI minors. “These seem to be the trends nationwide.”
The proposals for the cybersecurity and AI minors are largely based off of existing curriculum and are designed to be interdisciplinary. The possible creation of the new minors would not include the hiring of any new staff or faculty members in the current proposal. Amidst the current budget deficit of Lewis & Clark, Drake sees the proposed creation of these new minors as a positive investment for the future of LC.
“We should be able, we hope, to bring in a number of new students, and therefore revenue, for very little expense,” Drake said. “These are areas where we already had some courses and some expertise, and we’ve bundled that up, put a label on it and added a little bit more.”
The proposed curriculum of the AI minor comes with mathematical, computer science and statistical knowledge balanced with knowledge of social context.
“We are more focused on how to build AI than how to use it and understanding how existing systems work,” Drake said. “Certainly it can be applied and used in a number of different fields and may be important in careers going forward, but we also want to take into account the social, environmental and other consequences, and think about ways to use it responsibly or times to not use it. ”
Drake emphasized that the proposed curriculum for the possible AI and cybersecurity minors is designed to be approachable to students outside the computer science department. Drake also commented on the value an AI minor could bring when paired with a humanities major.
“A lot of the discussion in that academic world right now is affected by and around AI,” Drake said. “So being part of that discussion is part of what it means to be an academic or scholar in that field. There are some deep and interesting questions about what these things have to say about human society.”
Drake also said that scholars are grappling with what humans uniquely contribute, which tasks should be automated and how to ensure the benefits of new technology are shared equitably.
The proposal of a possible new AI minor and the interdisciplinary nature of this proposed minor is reflected in Holmes-Sullivan’s recent opinion piece with the U.S. News and World Report on Jan. 23 that stresses the value of a liberal arts education today.
“Machines don’t actually have ‘intelligence.’ Only humans do,” Holmes-Sullivan wrote. “In our increasingly AI-driven world, professional and personal success depends on nurturing that which makes us human.”
Holmes-Sullivan argued that AI can replicate certain human functions, but the abilities that define leadership and creativity remain uniquely human.
The proposed minor would contribute toward other initiatives by the college centering technical competence.
“The future is changing very rapidly, and it is hard to predict what the world is going to look like in five years, but there is a lot of excitement about this right now,” Drake said. “No matter what happens, these tools are going to have a part in future society, so people will need to understand how they work and think about the consequences of using them.”
Drake has seen an excited reception from students on the possibility of an AI minor in the future.
“They see new things, new tools with new technologies, new capabilities, coming out on a daily basis,” Drake said. “But there are some serious concerns being raised as well.”
Drake said the field deserves careful study and criticized the way some companies are rolling out AI tools, arguing that the technology does not have to be developed on their terms.
The proposed AI minor curriculum includes six courses: Introduction to Computer Science, Computer Science I, a math background class, an applied/advanced course, a social context course and a new course on machine learning.
The proposed cybersecurity minor includes the courses Introduction to Computer Science, Computer and Network Security, Cybersecurity Clinics and two electives from various fields. There is also a possibility of offerings for undergraduates on the law campus. This would include a cybersecurity clinic, in which students would assist local nonprofit organizations in improving their cybersecurity. This was taught last semester as a topics course and is planned to become an official course next fall. Drake is optimistic that the clinic will continue whether or not the new minor is approved. That said, he anticipates the faculty to be swayed by the proposals.
“I expect these minors will pass,” Drake said regarding the AI and cybersecurity minors.
The proposed education minor would include no new courses, but would include Education in a Complex World and Reimagining Teaching/Learning from the graduate school. The minor would have supplementary classes from a wide range of interdisciplinary options. The minor would include a practicum where students would engage in local K-12 schools.
The proposed law and policy minor would create a new introductory course and require a course in constitutional law. The minor would also include elective options across disciplines. It would also implement a practicum with law research positions with the law school’s clinics. The new minor would be supported by law school adjunct professors and a new process of cross registration across campuses.
The Mossy Log will report on the status of these minors after they are considered at the faculty meeting in April.
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