Helping Students Traverse the Great Unknown: Anchoring a Perfect Major Fair Sara Yerger, Academic Advisor University of Arizona Center for Exploratory Students Colleges of Letters, Arts, and Science

Outline Introduction ◦ Who we are ◦ Undecided/exploratory students ◦ Justification for a major fair Practical resources ◦ How to organize a major fair ◦ How to spread the word Conclusion - What’s next? ◦ Make it even more effective!

Who are we? Three majors No major selected (undecided) Pre-Professions advising Student services ◦ Major exploration Courses

Undecided & exploratory students Our unit = revolving door 18-20% of new enrollment nationally ◦ Hasn’t changed over 25 years Similar to “decided” students Varied levels of indecision

Why do students need a Major Fair? Undecided & exploratory students College transitions and development Retention and graduation Anxiety Breaking misperceptions

Meet Your Major Fair (MYMF) Why MYMF was created ◦ Overwhelming university size ◦ Confusing organization ◦ 114 majors Why MYMF was changed to reflect themes ◦ Clear up confusion to benefit students

Goals of MYMF For Students: ◦ Inclusion and engagement ◦ Introductory knowledge about majors ◦ Communicate how and when to declare ◦ Encourage earlier major declaration ◦ Reduce anxiety For the campus community: ◦ Recruiting ◦ Networking

How did we do it? Brainstorming Organization Timeline Budget Analyzed effectiveness

Innovations Organizing majors thematically Recruiting ◦ Requiring attendance from Freshman course ◦ High schools ◦ Community college Providing questions for students Giving Majors Map Updating program evaluations

How to spread the word Promotions ◦ High school students ◦ Local colleges ◦ Working with advisors across campus ◦ Listservs Advertising ◦ Daily Wildcat ◦ Flyers ◦ Banner ◦ Table tents

Conclusion – what’s next? Student feedback ◦ Good for students Advisor feedback ◦ Hard for some to adjust Internal brainstorming & evaluation ◦ Corner for processing/getting help ◦ Cut out non-major-related extras ◦ Improve entry flow/check-in

References Cunningham, K. E., & Smothers, A. W. (2010). The effect of self-efficacy and psychosocial develop­ment on major-changing behavior. NACADA Journal, 30(2), 65–71. Cuseo, J. (2005). 'Decided,' 'undecided,' and 'in transition': Implications for academic advisement, career counseling, and student retention. In R. S. Feldman, R. S. Feldman (Eds.), Improving the first year of college: Research and practice (pp ). Mahwah, NJ US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. Demetriou, C. (2005). Potential applications of social norms theory to academic advising. NACADA Journal, 25(2), 49–56. Firmin, M. W., & MacKillop, L. M. (2008). Fre­quent major changing: Extrinsic and intrinsic factors. NACADA Journal, 28(2), 5–13. Gordon, V.N., & Steele, G. E. (2003). Undecided first-year students: A 25-year longitudinal study. Journal of the First-Year Experience, 15(1), Graunke, S. S., Woosley, S. A., & Helms, L. L. (2006). How do their initial goals impact stu­dents’ chances to graduate? An exploration of three types of commitment. NACADA Journal, 26(1), 13–18 Lederman, D. (2009, January 23). As talk about retention rises, rates drop [Electronic version]. Inside Higher Ed. Miller, B. & Woycheck, S. (2003). The academic advising implications of the self-directed search and Holland’s theory: A study of Kent State Uni­versity exploratory students. NACADA Journal, 23(1&2), 37–43.

Contact information If you have further questions or would like copies of the flyers, ads, maps, and other handouts from this presentation please feel free to contact me! ◦ Sara Yerger ◦