It’s been nine weeks since the fall semester started. This semester marked the return of students to campus and among those students are two classes who have never had college in person. To help students who may be questioning or are still exploring their major, the Academic Services Department hosted a Majors and Minors Expo Tuesday during common hour.
The expo was hosted in the ballroom on the third floor of the Smith Student Center (SSC). It included majors and minors from the College of Business, College of Education, College of Health, Engineering, and Science and College of Liberal Arts. The expo was held virtually last year so being able to do it in person was refreshing for both students and staff.
Grace Groeger, graduate assistant in the Career Education Development Center, spoke on the changes in the event from last year to now.
“It’s super exciting, I remember partaking in it last year and the flow of traffic just wasn’t the same, we didn’t get to see as many students because it’s harder to navigate in a virtual setting more or less,” Groeger said. “But it is great being able to see people interact and have that face-to-face connection with their possible future majors and minors.”
Groeger represented the career office, which gives students resources to find out what they would be interested in. If students don’t know where to start, this table would be the place to go.
The table at the back of the ballroom offered focus surveys for students to take in order to help guide them to what best aligns for them. From there, they could direct the student to the majors and minors they might be the most interested in.
The tables included things such as sport management, biology and English. The event gave all these programs the opportunity to attract some new students and it gave them a chance to give a pitch in person.
Some of the programs may not have had a chance to get students otherwise, and there are always students looking to do new things.
The exercise science table was one of the many tables at the event. Steve Verba and Jeremy Dicus, professors in the exercise science department, helped run the operations. They were both excited to have the event in person.
“It’s an extremely important event, there is two groups of students who are less familiar with campus, their program and faculty, and this gives them an opportunity to see what else is out there if they’re interested in making that switch,” Dicus said.
Both acknowledged the fact that being in person makes it much easier for a student to know whether or not they like the majors they’ve chosen. The Major and Minor Expo plays a big part in helping guide students.
“We were fortunate that we still had some classes on campus, but it didn’t feel normal,” Verba said. “There’s a whole new energy on campus and in classes, and while it’s a struggle to get reacquainted to the face-to-face format, I think it’s nice to have that interaction with students.”
