Undecided majors decline throughout the years

According to page 73 of the Midwestern State catalog, students must have a degree on file by 45 credit hours. However, as of last fall, there were 198 undecided majors on campus — about 4 percent of the total population.

“Take a look at page 73 of the Midwestern State catalog,” Darla Inglish, registrar, said. “The last paragraph under the heading Degree Plans explains the 45 hour rule.”

There are approximately 42 majors and seven pre-professional programs to choose from, but some students do not choose any of these programs and declare undecided.

“For the most, part the undecided students are freshmen and sophomores, but some juniors and seniors spend a semester as undecided,” Naoma Clark, director of the academic success center, said. “The upperclassmen do this mostly when they are thinking about changing their major to something else, or if they are stuck between two majors and need a little help choosing which one fits them best.”

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“The numbers of undecided students has been on the decline,” Mark McClendon, director of institutional research and assessment said.

In the fall of 2009 the number was 314, in 2008 the number dropped to 332.

Undecided students are assigned to an adviser at the Mustangs Advising Center after their freshman year.  Added to the campus in 2010, the MAC, as it is sometimes called, is a part of the Academic Success Center where students go and get academically advised.

“Our mission in the Academic Success Center is to get the students connected to their academic colleges,” Clark said. “Being undecided and spending time in limbo is inefficient, so by getting them to their academic colleges as soon as possible, we are saving them time and money. Besides, it is much more motivating when the students are talking to people with the same interest as them. We want them to graduate as efficiently as possible.”

Charlsi Brawley entered as a freshman in the fall of 2012 and declared herself as undecided. Many people in her family have been in the medical field, so she knew that she wanted to do something along those lines.

“I kind of already knew that I wanted to be in the nursing field, but at some point in time I thought about doing other types of jobs as well,” Brawley said.

Brawley was given an adviser to assist her in picking a major, but was never forced to pick a major.

“I can’t imagine how being coerced would ever be appropriate,” Clark said.  “A student’s educational pursuit is personal and often developmental and an important decision – a choice that affects the rest of their life.”

The academic success center successfully assisted Brawley in picking a major.

“To help me decide what major would be best for me,” Brawley, a freshman in nursing, said. “I talked to many different advisers and then I talked to many different professional people until I found something that I liked. I chose nursing because helping people is something that I enjoy doing.”

Other than one-on-one sit-downs with advisers to help the undecided choose a major, the class called College Connections, MWSU 1233, is another way to help them make an informed decision about choosing their major. The class was designed to explore the connection between college and careers.

“In College Connections we incorporate exploring majors and careers into the course content and address it throughout the semester,” Pamela Moss, professor of College Connections said. “Of course our students are required to attend the Majors Fair, held every October and organized by the Academic Success Center. At the Majors Fair students can visit with a representative of every available major on campus, all in one room.”

Working through basic and intro courses are another technique to steer undecided students to a major.

“Most undecided majors work though the basic courses because those are the courses that are required for every major,” Clark said. “They take these courses along with these in the hopes of finding something that feels right to them.”

Undecided majors have many options to help them choose what career would best fit them.

“The university has been very deliberate in recent efforts to provide excellent advising services to students, and in the summer of 2010, the ASC initiated the Mustangs Advising Center for first year student advising,” Clark said. “I believe The MAC has had a positive and pivotal impact through intentional advising to help students indentify educational plans and goals and connect with majors in the six academic colleges.