All of IU’s academic units came together Tuesday in Alumni Hall in the Indiana Memorial Union for the “Navigating Your IU Experience: Explore Majors and More Fair” organized by College of Arts and Sciences Career Services.
Patta, a freshman biology major, came to the fair for information and said she came away with what she needed to know.
“I think I’m definitely going to do a neuroscience ?certificate,” she said.
Justin Zuschlag, associate director of career services, estimated that the fair’s attendance had doubled from last year.
Zuschlag said last year’s fair had been the day after a snowstorm, which likely affected the fair’s attendance.
“In a perfect world, we’d have thousands of students,” he said.
Zuschlag said the attendees at the event are most often younger students but that career services had changed the name of the event from “Explore Majors and More” to include “Navigating Your IU Experience” in an effort to attract more older students.
“They can enhance their degree,” he said.
Zuschlag said the fair can be beneficial to older students as it welcomes many community organizations and offers information about minors and ?certificates.
Zuschlag pointed out that University Information and Technology Services was in attendance at the fair with information on various technology certifications, such as desktop ?publication.
The event’s planning ?began a few months prior and involved career services, University Division and the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Zuschlag said.
Freshman Brianna Guennel said she came to the fair to look into the international studies program.
The international studies program is in the School of Global and International Studies.
Guennel has not yet declared a major and is currently in the exploratory ?program.
“Talking to the people who were over in the international studies area made me realize it’s probably something I really wanna do,” she said.
Both Guennel and Patta said they heard about the event through email.
Susan Sandberg, a career adviser in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, stood behind a ?table covered in a SPEA table cloth at the fair.
“We’ve had quite a few students sign up,” she said, pointing to a list of students’ names and emails on the table.
Sandberg said she hopes the fair helps students make the right choice when deciding on a program. She highlighted that the fair gave students an opportunity to compare programs side by side.
She said her role in SPEA is preparing students for the real world.
“We get them the skills they need to do something with their degrees once they graduate,” she said.
Sandberg said the majority of questions from students were academic questions so she directed them to the other half of SPEA’s table.
“SPEA is an interesting degree in that there’s a lot of moving parts to it,” she said.
Sandberg said she thinks SPEA prepares students for jobs in all three sectors: public, private and nonprofit.
Zuschlag said career services often talks with students who tell them they weren’t aware of an opportunity on campus and that the fair serves as a place for them to learn about ?opportunities.
“It’s great for students that are questioning their major and career,” he said.
Zuschlag said career services is always looking to share resources with students and that if he were a student, he would have attended the fair.
“Sometimes students don’t know all of the options they have,” he said.
He said he was happy with the attendance this year but that career services is always looking to improve numbers.
“I saw a lot of students leaving with their hands full of information,” he said.
