Opinion: If my university changed the name of my major after I graduated....

dmoore44

Should I continue to use the name of the program I graduated under, or can I use the new program name without looking like a tool? None of the classes related to the major have changed - it was just the name of the concentration...

Cisco Inferno

What are the two names of the programs? if it changed to something better sounding I do not see a reason not to.

Xyro

What's on your degree??

I don't believe it's ethical to use anything but what is present on the degree.

Cisco Inferno

Xyro wrote: »

What's on your degree??

I don't believe it's ethical to use anything but what is present on the degree.

True. I guess it should match whats on your actual diploma. What do I know? I dont even have one

dmoore44

Xyro wrote: »

What's on your degree??

I don't believe it's ethical to use anything but what is present on the degree.

My diploma only mentions that I have a BS, nothing more. It doesn't mention what my focus or course of study was.

blargoe

You put the degree you earned. You don't want them to request your transcript and see a discrepancy.

dmoore44

I understand what you're saying, but any discrepancy would be in the program title, not in course of study.

I suppose a similar (hypothetical) question would be this: "What happens if my college changes its name after I graduate"?

networker050184

You use the name of what you earned. You don't change it if the school makes changes after.

ptilsen

Go with what's official. If there's nothing official, I don't see any issue with using the new "focus designation," if you will, that the school has put on it. The degree major cannot or should not change, but how you specify a focus of studies can and isn't necessarily official.

For example, my university offers an Economics B.S. major. Within the Economics major, it offers a Business Economics track and an Economics track. The physical diploma and the formal way to refer to it, however, will always be "Bachelor of Science, Economics." On a resume, someone with this degree might add "Business Economics focus". This is where things are a bit squishier, in my opinion. If the school changed the focus track to be "Econometrics" because that more accurately reflected the focus of the degree (it doesn't; this is hypothetical, FWIW) even though the courses didn't change, I wouldn't see a problem with someone listing the new title on his or her resume. It's a study track, not a major or minor, and as long as the way its presented isn't dishonest, I don't see a problem with not going with whatever the university called it at one time.

That being said, I would most likely ask the university before doing it: "I noticed this track has been renamed from 'Y' to 'X', even though the courses are the same. I completed this while it was still called 'Y', but since 'X' more accurately reflects what I studied and could improve my career prospects, is there any problem with using it on my resume?"

Again, I would be more hesitant if the whole degree changed. If it was a Computer Science major and the university decided to create a Software Engineering major that used the exact same classes, my default position would be that referring to my degree as Software Engineering would be unethical. I might still ask, but that's definitely more questionable, especially if the diploma or at least official transcript reads the old major.

Out of curiosity, what are the specifics of the change? I'm struggling to come up with a name change of this sort that would really matter in any context. A degree or study track being so poorly named that graduates want to retroactively take the new name seems unlikely.

HunterW

Ptilsen,I have kind of a similar experience except that I have not graduated yet.I applied for a "Computer Sciences & Software Engineering" major and now the school has changed the name to just "Computer Sciences" which is kind of messed up since I obviously wanted the other degree name and that's why i signed up for it.My question is,would it be possible to come back to college even after graduating,in case they change the name of the major and then validate my degree with the new degree's name? Or maybe go to another college and validate my CS degree in order to get that "Software Engineering" degree I actually was aiming for?

JDMurray

Ptilsen hasn't been active on TE for over six years, so you might not get a response. 

Check with the school if the name on your degree will be the old or new name. You started the program under the old name and old requirements, so I assume your degree will have the old name. Maybe your school will give you the choice of which degree name you wish to market yourself.

Is your school actually dropping all of its SE courses and only offering CS courses? If so, unless you are looking to become a pure computer scientist, you might want to look into transferring to a proper SE program.

HunterW

Hello JD,thanks for the response haha.I left college for a while due to financial reasons and I just came back and I talked with the head engineering and computer sciences chair who told me the name has been rebranded and now is only called Computer Sciences even though I started the major as a CS & Software Engineering.The study plan is the same as before so we take Software Engineering I and II and also we have the Software Engineering project on the senior year.Actually,we are now required to take Calculus I,II and III as well as Physics which were not requirements before so now is actually even closer to a  Software Engineering study plan but I have no idea why they did that and changed the name.

JDMurray

HunterW said:

Actually,we are now required to take Calculus I,II and III as well as Physics which were not requirements before so now is actually even closer to a  Software Engineering study plan but I have no idea why they did that and changed the name.

When formal CS programs were introduced in the 1970's, they were typically controlled by the university's mathematics department. This is why traditional CS degrees have so many math requirements (and specifically why I never got a CS degree). Therefore, it may be that your CS&SE program is now controlled by your school's math department rather than by its engineering or business department. It's also possible the injection of traditional studies is for marketing purposes; to differentiate your school from competing schools who offer only a "programmer's degree" in comparison.

Knowledge and skills with advanced math is not a requirement for being a programmer these days. I made a living as a software developer for over 20 years and never needed calculus or physics to produce usable software products. If my employers needed math or physics skills they hired mathematicians or physicists. However, if you want to write software for "heavy math" applications, or you want to push the frontiers of CS itself, then advanced math is a necessity.

volfkhat

HunterW 

Are you going to a Ivy league university?

If the answer is "No",
then just choose the fastest path that gets you to a Bachelors.

College aint what it used to be.
People don't care like they used to.

Now, if you think one school has a better curriculum that better aligns with the field  you are trying to work in...  
then that's a different discussion.

But if all this is about "what title" is on my diploma (CS vs SoftEng)......  it Doesnt MATTER  (my opinion).

Save yourself some Time & $$$.