Month: December 2012

According to James Madison University’s Career and Academic Planning website, “More than half of the students who enter JMU with a declared major change their minds at least once.” When I started at JMU in fall 2009, I was declared to be an accounting major. After taking courses like calculus and economics, I decided that my interest in pursuing a career that involved math was non-existent. I decided to go undeclared at the end of my first semester of sophomore year.

Over Christmas break, that year, I thought a lot about what I was going to change my major to. It wasn’t until a family friend, who works in Public Relations, told me about his working experience at CBS, which made me interested in pursuing a career in the media. I conducted some research and talked to my parents about changing my major to Public Relations in the School of Communication Studies. They thought it was an excellent idea since I am creative and love to write.   

After I made a decision that I was going to declare a major in communication studies, I had no idea who or where to go from there. Most underclassmen, who change their major, may find it difficult to access resources that will help guide them through their transition into a new major. I asked my accounting advisor on whom to talk to and she directed me to Career and Academic Planning.

CAP was an excellent resource for my career development and planning. After I told them that I wanted to major in communication studies, they guided me over to Dr. Sharon Mazzarella, director of SCOM. Once a student declares SCOM and is enjoying it, he or she can seek help from either Dr. Mazzarella, Dr. Toni Whitfield, assistant director of SCOM, or Gretchen Hansen, SCOM’s program support technician, through the application process in order to become a fully enrolled SCOM student.

As a declared SCOM student, it is required to take Introduction to Communication Theory and Communication Theory Lab. The professors who are teaching those two courses can also advise prospective SCOM students. When I was taking the introduction courses, Gretchen Hazard mentored me at times when I was afraid I was not going to get accepted into the program. Many declared students may find the two introduction classes to be difficult at times. My friend Stacey Petty, an SCOM senior, said, “When I was taking the introduction classes my sophomore year, I found the exams to be too long and specific. As someone who is mainly interested in Organizational Communication, it is difficult to study every aspect of communication studies.”  The reason why some students get discouraged after they take an exam in there intro courses is because there is a GPA requirement of a 2.7 or higher between the two courses. It is important that prospective SCOM students use their professors as mentors because they can make sure that their students continue to work hard and keep their hopes up.

Once students are accepted into SCOM, they will be assigned an advisor that they will have until graduation. Advisors are also great sources and mentors for current students who need help deciding what classes to take or if they are meeting all of their requirements for graduation.

Students can access more infomation regarding career planning and SCOM by following CAP, @jmucap, and SCOM, @jmuscom, on Twitter.

 

Contact Information:

Career and Academic Planning

www.jmu.edu/cap

Wilson Hall 3^rd Floor

(540) 568-6555

 

Dr. Sharon Mazzarella

mazzarsr@jmu.edu

Harrison 1283

(540) 568-5633

 

Dr. Toni Whitfield

whitfits@jmu.edu

Harrison 1256

(540) 568-3166

 

Gretchen Hansen

hansenga@jmu.edu

Harrison 1284

(540) 568-6775

 

Have you changed your major before? If so, how were you guided through your transition from your original major to your current major? I would love to hear from you!