While the numbers of undergraduate History majors may not be growing nationwide, higher education is beginning to look beyond an exclusive focus on traditional majors and is beginning to value certificates and micro-credentials. What do history minors, certificates, and micro-credentials offer to students and institutions? What sorts of programs have History departments initiated? Presenters innovative programs and efforts to enlist institutional research to examine the value of minors for enhancing retention, academic success across the curriculum, and admission to graduate and professional schools. The audience will be invited to contribute about their experiences and research initiatives.

Kimberly Katz’s presentation examines, as a case study, the Human Rights & History (HRH) minor at Towson University (TU). Connecting students' interest in History to professional work other than the teaching professions, the Towson HRH minor requires an internship, with opportunities including government offices, non-profits, and law firms. Collaboration with colleagues in other disciplines, with the Career Center, and with human rights practitioners has made this program a success so far, although numbers of students have remained modest.

Jennifer McNabb’s presentation will discuss how to assess the capacity of current courses and programs for micro-credentialing possibilities, and how to build programs that attract and retain students across History programs, from majors to certificates. McNabb focuses on the Department of History at the University of Northern Iowa, now the 12th-largest major on campus and the 8th-fastest growing major on campus, whose 2 majors, 5 minors, and 3 certificates now enroll more than 400 students.

Maureen McLeod’s presentation emphasizes the links between History coursework, general education, and interdisciplinary microcredentials beyond the History department. Recognizing that many opt for minors or micro-credentials to boost job marketability, Mercy has reconfigured introductory coursework to develop writing and oral communication skills while fostering critical thinking—essential abilities for any career. Offering introductory classes on high-engagement themes such as Witchcraft and Sexuality, faculty engage students in critical discussions, encouraging them to explore diverse perspectives. To further increase engagement, Mercy faculty have integrated digital humanities projects into both surveys and upper-level courses, and have designed courses that align with micro-credentials, creating pathways through the general education curriculum that appeal to potential history minors.

Spencer Segalla’s presentation will discuss the research and institutional challenges of proposing a new credential in Historical Research and Writing— persuading History faculty to support such innovation, stretching the resources of an 8-person department to serve a new credential while still servicing 50 majors and a general education program requirement, and producing data and benchmarking to demonstrate the value of a minor for retention, graduation rates, employability, and student demand.

Together, these presentations are meant to initiate a conversation about how History departments can be strengthened by increasing emphasis on minors and microcredentials, and not be caught between the Scylla of “majorism” and the Charybdis of being a “service department.”