Major turnout at departmental fair
Erin McCarthy
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: News
Over one hundred students filed into the Heritage Room in the Western Illinois University Union Wednesday, March 4, for the second annual Departmental Majors and Organizational Fair.
Sponsored by the Western Illinois University Student Honors Association, the fair featured 24 departments as well as University Libraries and University Advising. Carla Webb, senior mathematics major, thought of the idea to hold a fair after noticing the large amount of undecided majors.
"I realized that there are a lot of departments here that people either aren't aware of or they have no idea what it is," Webb said. "Also, for Math Club we hosted a fair for high school and grade school students to generate interest in math, and I just thought we should have an event for all departments to do that."
As president of SHA, Webb decided it would be appropriate to have students host the fair, and they began planning in the fall.
"Last year was our first time, so it was hard to get people aware of a new event, and our attendance was really low," Webb said. "This year is a lot busier, and we've had a lot more tables, so I'm pretty pleased with how it's gone."
With Webb graduating in May, some participants are concerned with who will take over planning the event for next year. Webb, however, is confident in her organization.
"I'm hoping we learned a lot with this event, and I think going through the process one more time has definitely helped," she said. "We've got a lot of other good people in SHA who will be more than capable of carrying it on next year."
Kristine Kelly, associate director of the Honors College, also helped with planning the fair. As faculty advisor for SHA, Kelly assisted with the logistics like choosing the location and publicizing the event.
"We had it in the Grand Ballroom last year, and that was just too big, so we decided to have it in a smaller space," Kelly said. "But we also have more participants than we had last year, so everything really worked out well."
Sponsored by the Western Illinois University Student Honors Association, the fair featured 24 departments as well as University Libraries and University Advising. Carla Webb, senior mathematics major, thought of the idea to hold a fair after noticing the large amount of undecided majors.
"I realized that there are a lot of departments here that people either aren't aware of or they have no idea what it is," Webb said. "Also, for Math Club we hosted a fair for high school and grade school students to generate interest in math, and I just thought we should have an event for all departments to do that."
As president of SHA, Webb decided it would be appropriate to have students host the fair, and they began planning in the fall.
"Last year was our first time, so it was hard to get people aware of a new event, and our attendance was really low," Webb said. "This year is a lot busier, and we've had a lot more tables, so I'm pretty pleased with how it's gone."
With Webb graduating in May, some participants are concerned with who will take over planning the event for next year. Webb, however, is confident in her organization.
"I'm hoping we learned a lot with this event, and I think going through the process one more time has definitely helped," she said. "We've got a lot of other good people in SHA who will be more than capable of carrying it on next year."
Kristine Kelly, associate director of the Honors College, also helped with planning the fair. As faculty advisor for SHA, Kelly assisted with the logistics like choosing the location and publicizing the event.
"We had it in the Grand Ballroom last year, and that was just too big, so we decided to have it in a smaller space," Kelly said. "But we also have more participants than we had last year, so everything really worked out well."
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