Procedures for Declaring or Canceling an L&S Major, Certificate or Option

For Students

Any L&S undergraduate student interested in declaring or cancelling an L&S major, certificate or other option in the College of Letters & Science will need to meet with an academic advisor in the appropriate major department or unit.  The academic advisor will assist you in declaring the major when you are eligible to declare.

If an L&S undergraduate student wishes to pursue more than one L&S major, the student must:

• speak with the academic advisor in each major/academic unit in order to declare the additional major(s)

Information about approved non-L&S majors for L&S degree-seeking candidates can be found at declaring additional majors outside of L&S.  

If a non L&S undergraduate student (i.e., an undergraduate student pursuing a degree in another school/college on the UW-Madison campus) wishes to pursue an additional major in the College of Letters & Science,  the following rules apply:

• School of Business Undergraduates: Must meet with the L&S major advisor to declare the major.  More information can be found at "Can I double major outside of the Wisconsin School of Business" under BBA Majors.
• College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Undergraduates: Must first attend a CALS workshop to be given the appropriate forms to fill out.  Additional major/degree information for CALS students is located at additional major/degree policy and process.
• School of Education Undergraduates:  Must meet with the L&S major advisor to learn about the requirements for the additional major so they can create a study plan.  Students must obtain a major declaration form from the L&S major advisor and take it to room 139 Education Building (1000 Bascom Mall) for dean's approval.  More information about adiitonal majors or double majors can be found under degrees, double majors, and graduation.
• College of Engineering Undergraduates: Must get the approval of the L&S major advisor and the academic dean of the College of Engineering.  For more information, see additional major. 
• School of Human Ecology Undergraduates:  Must meet with the L&S major advisor and take the major declaration form to Human Ecology's Student Academic Affairs & Career Development Office.  Additional information can be found at declaring additional majors.
• School of Nursing Undergraduates: Students admitted into the Nursing program are permitted to declare a second major in L&S.  Must complete the School of Nursing's Petition for Special Consideration and get the approval of the L&S major department.  For more information, see Second Major under Degrees within the Policies and Regulations tab.

**Students should contact the L&S major department(s) for the major declaration form (LSMAJORDECFORM.pdf) and information on declaring a major in the College of Letters & Science.

For L&S Undergraduate Advisors

L&S departmental advisors working with undergraduate students who wish to declare a major in their particular department/unit will need to get access to the online major declaration e-form.   Department advisors who wish to get access to the e-form will need to complete an Student Information System (SIS) authorization form available at:

Student Information System (SIS) Authorization Form for UW-Madison

Advisors will need to:

1. Fill out the top portion of the Student Information System (SIS) Authorization Form with their contact and other information.
2. Fill out the Additional Roles portion of the e-form (at the bottom of the page) with the following:  (A) UPG SR MAJ DECL.
3. Send the SIS authorization form with the appropriate signatures to Ms. Alisha Arnold as an email attached to alisha.arnold@wisc.edu or via Inter-D mail to 207 South Hall.   Once reviewed and approved, the forms will be sent by the appropriate authorization body in L&S Administration to: Security Authorizations, 1210 W Dayton St, FAX 265-0667.
4. Once DoIT Security Authorizations has begun processing the request, the Office of the Registrar will contact you to request specifics about the plans/subplans/certificates that you will be responsible for declaring and cancelling.  
5. If you have not heard back regarding your authorization within two week’s time, please contact DoIT.  The DoIT authorization department can be reached at security.authorizations@doit.wisc.edu.
6. If you have an urgent request for plan/certificate declaration or cancellation before you receive the relevant SIS security, please contact Debbie Moy in the Office of the Registrar at 608-262-3811.  

Once the departmental advisor has been authorized to use the e-form, s/he will be able to access the major/certificate declaration/cancellation e-form in SIS by going to:

Main Menu > Records and Enrollment > Dean/Dept Processing > Major/Certificate Requests

For more assistance in processing a major declaration or cancellation request, please contact the Registrar's Office at (608) 262-3811 or registrar@em.wisc.edu.

 Additional information regarding the major declaration process can be found in the NewMajorCertificateDeclarationDocumentation.pdf .

**L&S departments/units cannot use the online major/certificate declaration form if they are attempting to assist a non L&S undergraduate student declare a second major. An undergraduate student earning his/her degree outside the College of Letters & Science must fill out a the paper version of the Major Declaration Form and take the signed form to his her academic dean's unit for approval.