Economics Major Reset

The Arts Major Reset inEconomics

October 27, 2015

The New Curriculum

• changes in plan requirements inaccordance with the new Arts guidelines:– 16 courses in major (4yr general, honours)– identical course requirements in 4yr & honours– 4yr: ≥65% MAV; honours ≥70% MAV

– Intensive Specialization with additional 5courses and a ≥75% MAV

• Rethought sequencing and delivery ofmaterial to promote student success:

– mandatory initial Math (Econ 211) and Stats(Econ 221) that will then be consistently usedin later courses

– tutorials for Math and Stats for more hands-onlearning

– 2 Econometrics courses with more appliedfocus and more exposure to data and workingwith data and statistical software

– tutorial for the first econometrics course to helpwith software familiarity and use

• Three new Theory courses– at the same mathematical level– organized around topics: choice, markets,

failures of markets

• Two new macro courses that follow thetheory sequence

• New electives at the 200 level withoutmath prerequisites

• More consistent use of requisites materialin 400 level electives

The New 4yr and honours

• min of 16 courses ECON; ≥65% / ≥70% MAV• Econ 101, 102 (Intro)• Econ 211, 221 (Quantitative)• Econ 290, 391, 393 (Theory)• Econ 322, 323 (Econometrics)• Econ 306, 1of {406,407,408,409} (Macro)• ≥2 400 level electives• any other three electives OTHER than

Econ 201

Intensive Specialization

• Meant as “Grad school prep” and for jobswith higher quantitative demands

• ≥75% MAV on at least 21courses• Honours courses PLUS

– Econ 392 (Theory: Strategic/Welfare)– Econ 421 (Econometric Theory)– Econ 491 (Advanced Micro Theory)– Econ 496 (Advanced Macro Theory)– Econ 472 (Honours Research Thesis)

Mathematical Economics

• minimum of 16 courses ECON; ≥ 70%MAV• Econ 101, 102 (Intro)• Econ 290, 391, 392, 393, 491 (Theory)• Econ 306, 1of {406|7|8|9}, 496 (Macro)• ≥2 400 level electives• Econ 472 (Research Paper)• any other three electives OTHER than

Econ 201• math requirements as before

No more 3yr General

• For three year degrees Liberal Studies isavailable with an Econ Minor

• Students who are in Arts now and who arenot first year students now can be allowed“back” into the old 3yr general IF they havethe required old plan courses.

Econ Minor

• min of 8 courses ECON; ≥ 65% MAV• Econ 101, 102 (Intro)• Econ 201 (Theory)• one of Econ 206, Econ 207 (Macro)• ≥ 4 200+ Econ electives

New Plans -

• MANDATORY for– First year Arts students admitted Fall 2015– All students admitted to Arts Fall 2016 and

after• NOT available for

– students admitted for upgrading or completingtheir existing degree

• a POSSIBLE option for– other students who are getting credit for at

least one course in Fall 2016

Switching to new Plans

• existing students who already have Econcourses on their transcripts may switch toa new plan

• due to the significant changes in requiredcourse numbers, economics will allow“block substitution” of required courses

Block substitution

• ‘Block’ refers to a group of coursestowards a curricular objective: theory,macro, econometrics, etc

• Due to changes in sequencing of materialacross courses, it is not possible tocombine old sequence and new sequencecourses within theory and macro

• not all blocks have to be substituted - forexample, students can substitute the oldtheory block but follow the neweconometrics block

• because the new macro courses requirethe new theory sequence, usually themacro block is a required substitution forthose switching into the new plans

• Intro– old: Econ 101, Econ 102– new: Econ 101, Econ 102

• no substitution necessary

• Quantitative– old: Econ 211, Econ 221– new: Econ 211, Econ 221

• no substitution necessary

Blocks

Theory Block

• old 4yr: Econ 201, Econ 301• old hon: Econ 201, Econ 301, Econ 401

• New: Econ 290, Econ 391, Econ 392

• approved substitution: all three ofEcon 201, Econ 301, Econ 401

Macro Block

• old 4yr: Econ 202, Econ 302• old hon: Econ 202, Econ 302, Econ 402

• new: Econ 306, Econ {406|7|8|9}

• approved substitution: Econ 302, Econ 402

• Note: 306 requires 391 and 290, so likely allstudents are better off substituting this block

Econometrics Block

• old 4yr: Econ 321• old hon: Econ 321

• new: Econ 322, Econ 323

• approved substitution: both of Econ 321and the new Econ 323

• Note: 321 won’t be offered starting F16, studentswho do not switch can use 322 instead of 321

Electives Blocks

• old 4yr: two 400 +, one 300+, two any• old hon: five 300+, two any

• new: two 400+, three any level; Econ 201does not count as an elective

• approved substitution:– two 400+ : NOT 401, 402– three any level: NOT Econ 201 (Econ 202 ok)

Difficult to switch into

• Intensive Specialization– requires courses that won’t be scheduled until

Winter 2018

• Mathematical Economics– requires courses that won’t be scheduled in

Winter 2018

• Note: course availability may yet change

Co-op plans

• precise details yet to be determined• Students in good standing in co-op in old

plan can likely switch to new plan

• Students out of co-op (average too low)likely unable to resume co-op by changingplan dates

• For details, keep watching the Arts Resetwebsite for updates

Other considerations

• Specializations:– open to all NEW plans including MathEcon– all require 4 courses– can follow an “old” specialization while on a

new plan– need to do a plan mod into the old

specialization before Sep 2016 to lock it in,otherwise graduating calendar rules apply

– students who do not switch can do a newspecialization

• No matter what, there will be more limitedtimetable choice in the future. Once we‘know’, I will post expected and confirmedterms for when courses are offered.

• Known course deactivations Fall 2016– 202, 304, 355, 365, 411, 465

• Econ 321 will not be offered starting Fall2016 --- replaced with Econ 322 which cancount in the old plans as 321 substitute