The Career Center organized and hosted the first annual Major and Minor Fair in the quad on Thursday, Oct. 9, to showcase the academic programs Shippensburg University has to offer students.
The event lasted from 2-4:30 p.m. and featured 30 academic departments. Each department offered information on their majors and minors.

Several other organizations were also represented, including the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), Undergraduate Research Center, Honors Program and the Career Development Center.
Professors, department chairpersons, students and secretaries volunteered their time to talk about the different majors, minors, tracts, focuses and courses their departments have to offer.

“We wanted students to have an awareness to understand the majors and minors at ship,” Brooke Deschenes, the career counseling graduate assistant for the Career Center, said.

The fair also created a way for students and faculty to communicate together, Deschenes said.
Andrew Zomok, a freshman, said he attended the fair to find out how his major in biology could connect to a minor in art. After speaking to the representatives of those departments, he found ways that the two subjects could be tied to each other.

“If you don’t have a minor, definitely look into getting one,” Zomok said, who recommended other students attend the event.

“I think [the Major and Minor Fair] is a good way to get the word out about the departments,” Matthew Cella, an English professor, said. “The earlier off you know what you want to do the better off you are.”

Cella hoped the students would get exposed to the wide array of academic programs taught at SU by attending the fair.

The fair offered a variety of information about the possible fields a student can enter, Rebecca Sager, a freshman, said. Thanks to the fair, Sager said she is considering adopting a second major.
Students had the opportunity to participate in a raffle to win prizes by completing a scavenger hunt and filling out a survey of their experience to receive pizza. Free snacks and beverages were also provided.

The fair will be held annually, if not every semester, Deschenes said. The Career Center plans to have the Major and Minor fair in September, instead of October, for the 2015 fall semester.

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