The most popular minor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences may be on its way to taking a major step.

More than 150 undergraduates have declared a minor in criminal justice studies, a fact that does not come as a surprise to Matt DeLisi, the program’s coordinator.

“Crime and justice are intriguing concepts. So they’re intrinsically interesting – cops and robbers, criminal profiling – undergrads love it,” said DeLisi, assistant professor of sociology. “If it was simply a decision of me saying, `OK, it’s a major,’ it would’ve been done when I started here.”

But DeLisi knows it’s not that simple. Turning a minor into a major can be a long and arduous process, often taking more than a year, said Associate LAS Dean Zora Zimmerman.

Previous attempts to make the minor into a degree program have been unsuccessful. The Board of Regents has been concerned with duplicating a program that already exists at the University of Northern Iowa, said Bob Schafer, professor and chairman of the sociology department.

However, the real issue may not be the competition, DeLisi said. Adding a new major with a shrinking state budget may seem like wishful thinking.

“It could be construed as that. Because of the general climate, it just seems paradoxical to be requesting more money when, at the same time, you’re talking about cuts,” he said.

Despite budget woes, the outlook for future sociology students may not be as dreary as it appears, DeLisi said. Currently, five of six criminal justice classes and one internship are required to complete the criminal justice studies minor. Creating a major would add about four more courses, DeLisi said.

“It’s very close to what would be required for a major,” Zimmerman said. “I think we’re just waiting for the right time.”

Seventy students added the minor last semester, so that time may not be too far away, DeLisi said. Classes that are usually filled to capacity may be getting too large to ignore. With new student interest, he said, the issue becomes meeting undergraduate demand.

“I want to make it so that the numbers are so incontrovertible that you just have to do something,” said DeLisi. “I’d like to see it be a major within five years. That’s a goal I have.”