Last spring, a curriculum committee came up with a design for the proposed major. The new major would be called women and gender studies and the program of women, gender and social justice would no longer exist.

There used to be a major in women studies and a women gender and social justice specialization, said Lisa Fine, the co-director of the Center for Gender in Global Context. Then, for financial reasons and the desire for the program to be redesigned, it went into moratorium for about four years.

“On average there is about a new person each day signing up for the specialization,” she said. “There are about 75-100 students enrolled in the specialization.”

Students will still be able to get a specialization in women, gender and social justice, and the core classes in the specialization and major will be consistent.

It has been approved by both the colleges of Arts & Letters and Social Science, and next, the proposal will go to the University Committee on Curriculum.

If the plan travels successfully through the Academic Governance system, students may be able to major in women and gender studies starting in the fall.

Having a women’s studies program is a vital and component part of any research institution, Fine said. It would be the same as if the university didn’t have an English or chemistry major.

“We are the only Big Ten school without a women and gender studies program,” she said. “We are hoping to move women issues into a more global perspective that is very unique and forward thinking major.”

There also will be many new faculty members within the university who specialize in gender and women that will now be able to teach classes in the major.

Fine also said this would be the first opportunity for many faculty members to teach on the topic they have researched.

Stephanie Glazier, an English senior, said if she wasn’t a senior she would have majored in women and gender studies.

She said taking the specialization has given her a variety of class options from several departments around campus — a broader view of the topic.

The program will be housed in the Office of International Studies and Programs, which is located in the International Center. This also is where the Center for Gender in Global Context is located, which opened in August.

“Studying women’s issues gives you a different perspective that you wouldn’t see in other classes that are necessary in examining issues that relate to women or how women relate to issues,” Schacht said.