PLYMOUTH – This year students at Plymouth State University who have not yet selected a major will no longer be known as students who are undecided. The name has changed to deciding.
This may not seem like much of a change, but this change has more weight to it than just the semantics. Dean of Academic Experience, Robert Fitzpatrick, explains that “the ‘un’ connotes an unpleasant negative, as if the student hasn’t done anything to consider what her major should be.”
When in fact, Fitzpatrick has noted that there is very high academic achievement among the students in the College of University Studies program.
“These are students who are in an active process of deciding upon the major that fits best with their individual skills, aptitudes, and career aspirations,” says Fitzpatrick. “To call them “un” anything is really inappropriate.” When a student is asked what their major is they no longer have to reply with a negative adjective but a positive, active verb, as Fitzpatrick would explain. The largest difference being that the student is no longer placed with a professor from a random department; they have their own department to call home. The College of University Studies mission statement states that it, “assists deciding students with the resources and personal attention needed to select an appropriate major and to plot a course of action leading to graduation by the most efficient route possible.”The initial step is for students to find a field that they are interested in and enthusiastic about. Once a major is decided on, the student can begin to take courses with professionals in the field they aspire to join upon graduation. For a student to see the value of becoming an educated person is a huge part of the College of University Studies. “A student will sometimes tell me, ‘That class is boring,’ explains Fitzpatrick. “To me, this is an admission that that student has not yet found a way to see how relevant and exciting every area of study truly is. In fact, everything is interesting. It just depends on how you chose to observe or participate.” So to be involved in a program that does not interest a person would mean sudden death to the student’s ability to observe and learn, if the student is not stimulated. There are programs that are available on the College of University Studies website (www.plymouth.edu/unistu/), such as Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (MAPP). This is a tool that forces the student to think about where they excel, what stimulates them. “Our goal is not limited to finding the right major for the student, but to look at the bigger picture and help the student to determine what will make this students social and academic life at P.S.U. the best it can be,” says Fitzpatrick.