Students meet, get info at major fair

"Each year I'm a little surprised at the number of students still searching for their major," said Calvin Payne, internship adviser for the Arizona Graduate Program in Public Health.

The annual fair, held in the Arizona Ballroom of the Memorial Student Union, is designed to bring experts from different campus departments to one location, said Sharon Aiken-Wisniewski, a freshman academic specialist in the Freshman Year Center.

Advisers, students and professors at 62 tables represented more than 100 majors this year, said Aiken-Wisniewski, who also directs and organizes the major fair.

"Our goal is to help students find majors their freshman and sophomore years," she said, "so they're more academically stable their junior and senior years."

Department representatives said they were pleased to see so many students at the event.

"I have a feeling this is going to be very successful," said Barbie Orcutt, who was representing the College of Engineering and Mines.

"For individual students, this is an introduction to engineering as an option," she said, adding most students are surprised at the number of degrees in the college.

Payne said students are often afraid to make appointments with department advisers because they feel they see the appointment as making a commitment to that college.

"This gives students the freedom to talk to people without commitment," Payne said.

"Students can go from booth to booth and get that information here," he said. "This is a valuable event."

Shannon Parrington, an undeclared freshman, said she was surprised at the number of majors offered.

"I don't know my major and I wanted to see what I could major in," she said. "It was interesting to see how many majors there are."

Undeclared freshman Anthony Salazar said he would recommend the fair to uncertain students and others interested in switching majors.

Salazar said individual advising sessions might accomplish more, but he liked the variety of the fair.

Ferlin Begay, an undeclared freshman, said he came to the fair thinking about majors in computer sciences and sociology, but wanted to get more information on them.

"This gives students an idea of what the majors are all about," he said.

But James C. Mitchell, a journalism department lecturer and undergraduate adviser, cautioned against thinking the fair was just for freshmen.

"A lot of people are still looking for their major," he said.

Aiken-Wisniewski said 250 students attended the fair when it began in 1993. She said attendance had risen to 900 by last year.