The School of Communication will offer a minor in Communication Sciences and Disorders, a department that previously offered only a major.

The minor was created to attract more students and give students not majoring in the department access to its classes in a more flexible way, Chuck Larson, a professor in the department, said Thursday. Eighty-six students are enrolled as department majors.

“The science of communication explores amazing things humans can do that other species can’t,” Larson said.

Weinberg offers a five-course concentration in human communication sciences and public policy, but many students were either unaware of the program or had too little time to complete the requirements, said Kathleen Bradley, a department undergraduate adviser who created the minor. Some courses were only available once a year.

“The concentration is very vague, and it’s not well-documented,” Bradley said. “By the time people found the concentration, they had difficulty finishing and fitting all of the courses.”

Students expressed interest in the department but could not complete the double major requirements, Bradley said. The new minor, approved in October, is composed of seven courses that are “more flexible” than the Weinberg concentration and the department major, Bradley said.

Students must take Neurobiology of Communication 202 and will choose three basic science courses and three clinical courses.

Communication junior Libby Proctor, a Radio-TV-Film major, became interested in the Communication Sciences and Disorders department after taking several classes. She said she plans to declare the minor because of its flexibility.

“I feel like there’s pressure here to double major or minor, and I don’t have time for the extra major,” Proctor said. “I really liked the classes I took and I plan on taking more anyway, so I might as well minor.”

Reach Margaret Matray at [email protected].