III. Undeclared
First Steps - As advisors first meet with new undeclared students, it will be important
to discern whether students have connected with options or are just beginning to
explore possibilities.
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For students who are not sure where to begin in thinking about a major:
o Have students consult the majors list on the college website. They should
print it and cross-off those majors in which they have no interest.
Students can use hyperlinks from the webpage to get more information if
they are unsure as to the specifics for any major.
For all students:
o Students should access and save a copy of the Choosing a Major
booklet, which is distributed by the Career and Professional Development
Center. Several activities are referenced specifically below.
o Students should complete the FOCUS self-assessment, to which they
have access through the college. They can complete the assessment online
in about 15-20 minutes. Once done, they are able to see their results.
 Students should meet with a career coach to review their
results, as FOCUS is a Career and Professional Development
Center tool. Students should then talk with their advisor about the
results and meeting, to determine next steps.
Next Steps –Digging Deeper
Once students have a smaller range of choices of major, they can take the next steps to
gain more information about the prospective majors.
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Review curriculum for each major in the college catalog and read
course descriptions, which appear at the end of catalog, to gain perspective on
the types of courses that would be involved.
Access the department websites for each major to learn more about
prospective topics of study and future opportunities in the field.
Review the options and opportunities in the field to connect majors to
careers with the CPDC information or the national access to What Can I Do With
This Major?
With these pieces of information in mind, ask the student to complete the
Choosing a Major exercise for each potential major (p. 4 of the Choosing a
Major guide)
After they complete one or more of the above, have student schedule an appointment
to debrief: What is interesting/ of concern? How does it fit with FOCUS findings? In
what ways does the student resonate more, or less, with the options?
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Getting Real
Once students have some resonating options, they can gain further concrete
discernment with these next steps.
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Encourage them to schedule a meeting with the chair of the department for
each major. The chair will be able to expand upon the major, the types of skills
which help students succeed in it, and its future opportunities.
o Students might ask the chair to recommend one or two current students in the
major with whom they can connect, in order to learn about the student
experience.
Encourage the student to visit a class in the major, as recommended by the chair
and with notice to the faculty member teaching the course. This option allows
students to get more concrete experience before taking the step to register for a class
within the major.
For students who are leaning towards a major but not ready to commit, work with
them to plan for an Exploratory class in their future schedule.
o A number of departments have introductory courses that are gateways to a
major and also meet a QuEST (General Education) requirement. Make sure
that the potential course does meet both. Some majors have QuEST
requirements waived due to the number of credits required and the ways in
which the QuEST objectives are met within major classes; be sure that the
student is aware that some QuEST courses within a department may not
count towards the major itself.
 QuEST courses can be identified in current offerings on The View
(MCSquare, Educator tab, Registrar Channel, scroll).
 The approved QuEST course list provides all courses that may be
offered on-campus, but the View and QuEST/ Gen Ed Fall/Spring
course list in Registrar Tab shows what is current.
o Some majors offer one credit “Opportunities” courses that will give more
perspective while involving fewer credits if the student should decide not to
pursue that major.
Encourage students with multiple interests to consider how they might marry
them with a major and minor (if the major credits permit).
Additional hints:
 Help students know that they are better off taking the time to make an informed
decision rather than a hasty one, just to pick a major.
 Refer students for additional sessions with a career coach, especially if they
seem “stuck” – interested but not willing to make a decision on a major.
Remind students that, in order to make their choice they do not have to know how they will apply their
major after their time at Messiah. Once in a major, they will have many opportunities to learn and
explore, processing options with their advisor and major faculty.
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