Fresno State students will have the opportunity to meet with department chairs in hopes to gain both clarity and guidance today from 1 to 4 p.m.
A new program to Fresno State, Chair Chat, offers both students that have not declared a major and those considering changing his or her major a chance to meet with department chairs and gain insight to various majors.
“[Chair Chat] is an opportunity to help students graduate on time,” Lauren Smoot, Associated Students, Inc. senator-at-large for Undergraduate and Graduate Academics Affairs said. “We want students to be comfortable with their majors and we believe that this program offers an outlet to ask department chairs as many questions as [the student] may have.”
The concept for Chair Chat developed in spring of last year. Smoot organized the event as part of the “Six in Six” initiative declared by the California State University system. The proposal, announced in 2010, aimed to raise the CSU’s graduation rate by at least 6 percent in six years. Currently, according to the CSU Chancellor’s office, the average graduation rate for the CSU system is only at 46 percent.
“We believe that graduation is important for all students,” Smoot said, “and we believe that Chair Chat is going to aid students in making a faster and more certain decision when declaring a major, thus allowing them to graduate sooner.”
ASI has been taking reservations for the past week from any student that wants to talk with specific departments. Students are able to sign up for 15-minute increments with the chair (or chairs) any department or multiple departments of the students’ own interests. ASI maintained a presence in the Free Speech Area during the week of April 4, in an effort to solicit more reservations from students.
Undeclared freshman Nicole Williams claimed she was hesitant when asked if she was going to attend Chair Chat.
“I’m not intimidated to talk with the department chairs,” Williams said. “I’m just reluctant to really declare anything at this point because I’m not sure which direction I should go in.”
Williams claimed that she did not want to “waste her time” and talk to one department, only to realize that it would not be the right fit for her.
“I am just hesitant to try it out because I don’t know what to ask, and I don’t want to go in and meet with a department chair if I don’t need to.”
Chair Chat was not only designed to help undeclared majors and freshman, but to also give students the opportunity to talk with department chairs about any issue that would be affecting a student’s experience.
Annabel Berroya, ASI senator of the Kremen School of Education and Human Development, has been handling student reservations and planning for Chair Chat over the past few weeks. She said that many students are unfamiliar with the program and don’t understand who is eligible to participate.
“The most common misconception is that this program was designed for a specific group of students ”” freshmen,” Berroya said. “The fact is that Chair Chat is providing a bridge between students and faculty at Fresno State.”
For some students, Chair Chat will provide an outlet for learning what specific majors entail. Andrea Coffland, a sophomore and political science major, has changed her degree path twice over the past year and hopes to settle soon after talking with a department chair.
“One of the main reasons I haven’t committed to one major is because I haven’t had a chance to ask any questions,” Coffland said. “I think this program is going to give me the chance I’ve been missing, and help me reach the goal that we are all striving for here at Fresno State ”” graduation.”