A new minor in broadcast meteorology, which might affect up to three majors, was passed by the Council on Academic Affairs Thursday.

Alan Baharlou, chair of the geology and geography department, said the new minor would include downloading information from satellites, analyzing it and then providing a weather report for the Charleston area.

The broadcast meteorology minor would require an additional 12 hours of science classes.

Mark Borzi, a speech communications professor, said the new minor would benefit three majors.

“For (biological) science, the new minor would be another skill set students could have,” Borzi said. “In the production area, the minor, even for students who didn’t want to become meteorologists, would provide a competitive advantage. But the primary reason is to support students in the (earth) sciences.”

The minor does not include the certification many of the commercial news stations are requiring for meteorologists. It does, however, provide enough credentials for students to help out off-air and do background work.

The broadcast meteorology minor was unanimously passed by the CAA.

Two proposed courses in industrial technology, INT 2523 and INT 3153, were also voted on at the CAA meeting.

The proposals to create the prerequisite courses Routing and Switching Fundamentals and Advanced Routing and Switching were unanimously passed as well.