In the spirit of choosing and changing majors, GVSU alumni, faculty and students will gather in the Kirkhof Center’s Grand River Room on Wednesday for the sixth annual Academic Majors Fair.

There are currently 1,200 students who remain undecided in their majors at Grand Valley State University. Sulari White, director of the Pre-Major Advising program and coordinator of the Academic Majors Fair, said many more will need to change their majors as well.

The fair gives students who are undecided about their major or seeking an alternative major the opportunity to explore the world beyond GVSU through alumni that return to offer their own perspectives on majors and career choices. The fair will take place from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

White said the fair gives exposure to both career-driven and liberal arts-type majors, with all majors represented at the fair by faculty. Some faculty will partner with returning alumni to help show students how that major can lead them in a career path.

She added that today’s economy requires an ability to evolve and do many things that may not have been included in job-specific majors.

“We emphasize liberal arts majors because research shows that they are more successful in this changing job market,” she said.

White said students today are working in a very rigorous college environment, with many programs that have very high GPA requirements – like nursing or physical therapy – that may not be attainable by all students. These types of majors are limited in student acceptance.

“We don’t want to say don’t follow your dreams, but we also want to encourage students to make realistic goals based on certain attributes that they possess,” White said.

White and other advisers rely heavily on what is called a parallel plan for students, which allows them to choose courses that supplement each other as requirement fulfillments in different majors.

The fair will also include a unique segment called “Choosing a Major Based on Personality Type.” Brian Bossick from the Counseling and Career and Development Centers said personality type is an important part of choosing the right major. Bossick said the segment on personality will feature a self-assessment for each person and some interpretation of that information.

“Personality is just one of the areas we look at to determine what would be the best fit for each student in terms of major,” Bossick said.

The centers use one-on-one meetings with students, career groups with multiple students and student outreach to help individuals find their career choice and corresponding major.

“Choosing a Major Based on Interests” is the other outreach program utilized by the career center.

Jordon Olson, a GVSU senior, said he found his own major path while speaking with alumni at the GVSU Major Fair when he was a freshman.

“Originally I wanted to be an accounting and finance major, but I decided to include those in a broad business degree to make myself more flexible,” he said. “Not everyone can work on Wall Street.”

Having the alumni come back and talk about how their career paths developed after graduating helped Olson choose a more flexible major rather than focus on a career-driven major, he said.

“The alumni presence was really important to me as a freshman because it was like ‘Where do I go from Allendale after I graduate?’” he said. “‘What do I do?’”

To learn more about choosing or changing your major, visit the Counseling and Career and Development Center online at www.gvsu.edu/counsel.

[email protected]