Shane EvansStudents at Cabrini are encouraged to talk to their advisers about the majors they are considering. It is recommended that students declare a major before their sophomore year. These are both suggestions from the registrar and can be seen in print in Cabrini’s undergraduate catalog.
Dr. Charles McCormick, the dean for academic affairs, said that there is no policy forcing students to declare a major before they register for classes. However, he said that students are recommended to declare a major as soon as they know the area they want to major in. McCormick said, “It is better for a student to prepare a schedule with an adviser in their major, than to take random courses.”
However, not everyone at Cabrini agrees that declaring a major early in a student’s college career is always the best thing. Sophomore Steve TreDenick, a criminal justice major, has changed his major from business to criminal justice. TreDenick said, “I think it’s better for students to wait to declare a major until they really know what they are interested in. At first, I thought about making money in the future and that’s why I chose business as my first major.”
Dr. Sharon Schwarze, a professor of philosophy, feels strongly that there should be no rush for students to declare a major. This year is the first year Schwarze is not an adviser for freshmen students. In her past experiences, many of her students have had a variety of majors before they settled on one. Schwarze said, “Students should not be pushed to declare a major. I think it’s good when students have a lot of different interests; it shows excitement. Undeclared equals open-minded and exploring.” Schwarze believes that it takes maturity to declare a major. She also feels that when students take different types of classes, it allows them to learn about things they might not have ever thought to explore before. This may lead to them discovering the major that they want to declare.
Dr. David Dunbar, an assistant professor of biology, advises honors science students. Dunbar said, “I encourage students to consider other majors if they are having concerns over whether they really want to major in science.”
Nancy Hutchison is one person who is in charge of advising undeclared majors. Hutchison said that there is a Learning Community that helps students to develop a better sense of future major possibilities. This course offers students the opportunity to research different majors and use self-assessment tools to learn about their interests and skills. Hutchison said, “This course has helped many discover what they want to major in and has reconfirmed for others what they already thought they’d like to major in.”
Sophomore Chris Sweeney has just declared a major a few weeks ago. He said he did not feel like his adviser forced him to declare, but made his decision now because he is almost 100 percent positive that he will remain an accounting major. Sweeney said, “I’m happy about my decision and I am thinking about double majoring in accounting and business administration.”
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Posted to the web by Shane Evans
