By Vincent DiFonzo, Editor-in-Chief
Gettysburg students will have two additional major options to choose from beginning in the 2025-26 academic year: finance and public health policy. The new majors are the latest additions to the 40+ majors that Gettysburg College currently offers.
The major proposals were presented to faculty on Sept. 12, and on Sept. 26 both proposals passed a faculty vote with strong majorities.
The Finance Major
The new finance major is a joint effort by the economics department and business, organization and management (BOM) department. Professor Joseph Radzevick, BOM chair, along with economics chair Linus Nyiwul presented the major to faculty, arguing that finance is an in-demand field and that new students could be attracted to the College by the major.
“Why are we revisiting this idea of a finance major? Quite frankly it’s because of the strong signals that both of our departments are getting — that this is an area of study that there’s just untapped demand for,” said Radzevick.
A finance major was first proposed in the spring 2024 semester. On Feb. 15, economics professor Brendan Cushing-Daniels brought forth a proposal to faculty for a major entitled “finance and economics.” Radzevick, as chair of the BOM department, expressed concern that his department was not looped into the new major proposal soon enough.
At a faculty meeting held on March 7, Radzevick proposed an amendment renaming the major to “financial economics,” which the economics department expressed disagreement with. Ultimately, the amendment did not pass.
On March 21, the faculty voted against the “finance and economics” major proposal. In April, the Student Senate Opinions Committee authored an opinion asking that the College reconsider the major proposal, writing that “such a major would pose a net benefit to the student body and has widespread support among students.”
After collaborating over the summer and this semester, the economics and BOM departments revived the major proposal, agreeing on the title of “finance” and reintroducing the major with two different tracks: a Bachelor of Science with a focus on economics and a Bachelor of Arts with a focus on business.
The finance major’s business track will require 12 courses. The quantitatively-focused economics track will require 16 total courses.
“The new major should provide students interested in finance with some exciting options for focusing their academic studies and starting along a successful career path in the field,” said Radzevick.
The Public Health Policy Major
The public health policy major is a joint effort by the departments of health science and public policy. Professor Ann Douds, chair of the public policy department, along with Amy Dailey, chair of the health sciences department, presented the proposal to faculty. They argued that because of the intersection between public health and public policy, there is both a need and demand for a major focused on health policy.
The major will be a B.A. with 14 total courses. Describing the new major, the College’s website reads, “Students interested in solutions-based approaches to mitigating public health challenges will benefit from this new degree’s rigorous, interdisciplinary, applied approach.”
Additionally, multiple courses required by the public health policy major will be available to complete abroad in Gettysburg’s new study abroad program in Bonn, Germany.
“In this new major, we cultivate critical thinkers to develop evidence-based responses to current and emerging public health policy challenges and consider public health through a social justice lens,” said Douds.
Since the passage of the public health policy major, another proposal regarding the already existing public policy major was proposed at a faculty meeting. The proposal seeks to make public policy a standalone major. Currently, public policy majors are required to double-major, meaning they must take on another major in addition to public policy.
Last year, Douds visited a Student Senate meeting and presented the idea of public policy as a standalone major to students. The proposal will be voted on at the next faculty meeting scheduled for Nov. 7.
Students will be able to declare the finance major and the public health policy major beginning next fall.
This article originally appeared on page 5 of the No. 2 October 2024 edition of The Gettysburgian’s magazine.
