'Boilermaker Expressway' maps career options

By Luis Jiménez
Staff Writer

Students may feel intimidated when they have to make a choice that will affect the rest of their lives, like choosing a major. Students who cannot decide what to major in can get help at the Undergraduate Studies Program office.

Chad Pulver, academic adviser for the Undergraduate Studies Program, said the program could help students decide what they want to do with their lives.

A recent attempt to help students with undeclared majors is the construction of a board that lists all the possible majors at Purdue. The board, located at the Undergraduate Studies Program office in room B-50 of Schleman Hall, was created by Pulver, who says the main goal of the board is to allow undecided students to have a visual representation of how the career system works.

The board, which is on one of the walls of the Undergraduate Studies Program office, was designed to resemble a highway system, dubbed the "Boilermaker Expressway."

From that highway, several exits stem out representing the various schools at Purdue. These exits resemble roads which have several stops, which represent all the majors and respective minors at Purdue. At the end of this road lies a "no outlet" sign.

Cathy Sleeth, academic adviser for the Undergraduate Studies Program, said the reason the board was made like a highway is to show the undecided student an image of the different options available to them.

"The undergraduate students come in and have an image of the highway, and you are basically looking at your different options, but you have to take an exit," said Sleeth.

According to Pulver, approximately 300 of the 6000 students that enroll in Purdue yearly are undecided, and this number has remained constant over the years.

"There has been an overall steady incoming of people who are undecided," Pulver said. "But we've focused on letting students know that it is OK to be undecided."

Sleeth said that when prospective students come to the different recruiting events at Purdue, academic advisers talk with them and explain to them that it's OK not to have their entire life planned out at 18 or 19 years old.

"Students are invited to come into the program and take the time to explore other options," said Sleeth.

Sleeth said that students are only allowed to be in the program for four semesters, but usually by the time students reach this point, they have a good idea of what their major is going to be.

The last part of their selection process is making sure that they took the right courses to switch over to their major of choice.

Andrew Doyle, a sophomore in the University Studies Program, has been in the program for four semesters and now has to make a decision. Doyle says he feels confident in the decision.

"I feel prepared to make a choice," Doyle said. "I got all the help I needed from the Undergraduate Studies Program."

Pulver said that the program encourages undecided students to get involved in campus so they can realize what they want.

Pulver also said that undecided students enroll in an orientation class called Educational Psychology 105, "Academic and Career Planning," to help them with the decision.

Sleeth said the course was designed to allow students do a lot of exploration about Purdue's different majors. "They are requested to make assessments and research on majors so they can find a right exit," said Sleeth.

According to Sleeth, one of the advantages of the program is that it has a small student-to-adviser ratio. Thus, academic advisers get to know their students very well, which facilitates the students' choosing process because there is more time to ask questions and have individual attention.

Although many of the students in the program are undecided, the majority of them have an idea of what they want to study but they still haven't narrowed down their choices.

"Students just don't want to close the door to other options," Sleeth said. "By coming into this program, students take core requirements and have the opportunity to take a little extra time to choose from over the 200 majors."

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'Boilermaker Expressway' maps career options

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