Declaring the IDLS Major

JMU students admitted before Fall 2019 declare the IDLS major and an education minor in ELED, SPED, IECE, and MIED and must complete a graduate program to earn a teaching license.

The IdLS major requires students to make three selections during the declaration process:

• declare the major
• and major concentration
• and then declare your education program minor.
• (If you are changing majors, you will also drop your current major, even if you are "undeclared").

All three selections must be made before you click the "submit" button; otherwise, your online declaration will be denied and the process must reset. To expedite your online declaration and avoid denied requests, view this short JMU tutorial before getting started or drop by the Madison Advising Peers office in Roop Hall for free help making these changes on MyMadison.

Note: Your online declaration is initiated through MyMadison but isn't approved until you visit with an Education and an IdLS advisor (more about that in Step 5).

To begin, select Student Center and follow these steps:

Step 1: From the dropdown menu, select Major/Minor Change. Click the magnifying glass icon and search for the BS option for Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies.

Step 2: You'll then be prompted with a dropdown menu to select a required concentration for the IdLS major; your four options are described on the main IdLS website. Concentration choices look like this. Changing an existing concentration? Just replace the existing code in the concentration box by clicking the magnifying glass.

Step 3: Next, select a minor (remember ELED, IECE, SPED, and MIED are all considered minors). Select Add Major/Minor and scroll down the list for minors in Elementary Education, Inclusive Early Childhood Education, Special Education, or Middle Education).

Optional Step: If you are changing majors or minors, you'll next want to select Drop Major/Minor.

Step 4: After all requests have been made, select Submit Request to submit them all at once. Keep in mind that your changes aren't instantaneous. It may take up to a week for your Student Center to reflect your changes. (It may take even longer if you didn't follow these directions, as your request will be denied and you'll have to wait for the system to reset.)

Step 5: You're done with MyMadison, but your request isn't approved until you meet in person with an Education advisor in Memorial Hall and an IdLS advisor in Gabbin Hall. For education, email or call your assigned Education advisor or program coordinator of ELED, IECE, MIED, or SPED to review program requirements and the admission application to JMU's teacher education. For the IdLS major, contact us at idls@jmu.edu to be directed to one of our advisors who can review the IdLS core and concentration selection and assist in long-term program planning toward graduation.