Florida A&M University’s Office of University Retention held its Spring 2015 major and career exploration fair Wednesday in Gaither gym.
Primarily for freshman and undecided students, the expo initiated when the School of General Studies closed. The fair was implemented to help students who were in general studies to venture out into a major of their choosing. Students who may be transitioning from one major to another were also welcome.
Charlene Howard, academic advisor counselor in the office of access and opportunity, said that the event’s purpose is to become a one-stop shop experience for students so that they have the ability to come and get their major changed hassle-free.
“This creates a more centralized unit so that the student doesn’t have to do too much running around and make it convenient for the students so that they can not only see their initial advisor but meet with their new advisor as well,” Howard said.
There has recently been a career development piece added where students can meet with the career center and financial department counselors. The opportunity to meet with academic clubs and organizations was also a new component added to the event.
“We added the component of academic clubs and organizations to get students aware of organizations that they can join that are related to their major,” Howard said. “It’s not just about changing your major but actually career exploration and learning about what FAMU has to offer and the opportunities on campus,” Howard said.
Janette Kenerson, a senior bio-chemistry student from Chicago, attended the career fair to promote her major.
“Today I’m at the career fair trying to encourage more students come out take a look at the chemistry courses and different things you can with a chemistry degree,” Kenerson said.
Johnny MacCaskill, a School of Business and Industry academic advisor, attended to provide students with their major changes.
“The first group of students, freshman studies, general studies, summer abridge, those areas are considered areas that you can’t get a degree from…those students will be the students that we service the majority of the time we’re here,” MacCaskill said. “The design of this event was so that students can change their majors on the spot rather than having to go around and get it signed in different areas…the idea was to have all of these people in the same place.”