Exploring Meta-Majors at College of Charleston

In this episode of Speaking of College of Charleston, Mark Del Mastro, associate provost for academic and international programs, and Chris Korey, associate provost for student success, discuss the concept of meta majors. They explain how meta majors can help incoming students explore various academic fields intentionally while building an academic community. 

Join us as they discuss the advantages of meta majors for both undecided and declared students, highlighting the essential skills gained through these programs and their role in enhancing student retention and success. Plus, learn how you can access more information about meta majors and discover how these initiatives align with the broader mission of the College. Tune in for insights that could shape your academic journey. 

Featured on this Episode:

Mark Del Mastro, professor of Spanish/Hispanic Studies and associate provost for academic and international programs provides leadership and support in the area of curriculum development and review and academic policy. He also oversees the Center for International Education, the Office of the Registrar, and the Office for Institutional Effectiveness. 

Born in Bowling Green, Kentucky and raised in northern New Jersey, Del Mastro earned his B.A. at Wake Forest University, his M.A. at Middlebury College, and his Ph.D. at the University of Virginia. After defending his doctoral dissertation in August 1992, he relocated to Charleston, South Carolina to begin a career at The Citadel, where for 18 years he taught a variety of courses to include Spanish language and literature, and Hispanic culture and business. In July 2010 Del Mastro joined the College of Charleston where he served as Chair of the Department of Hispanic Studies until August 2019 when he transitioned to his current role as Associate Provost for Academic and International Programs in the Office of the Provost and Academic Affairs. 

Chris Korey, professor of biology and associate provost for student success, leads the office for the academic experience, which provides students with educationally purposeful activities that lead to deep learning, integrated social and intellectual development, and engagement with local and global communities. In this role, Korey leads eight units and multiple programs. Korey joined the College of Charleston's Department of Biology in 2003. Most recently, Korey served as Associate Dean for the School of Sciences and Mathematics, a role he has served since 2020. 

Korey earned his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame and a Ph.D. in Cell and Developmental Biology from Harvard University. An active scholar, his past research focused on the development and plasticity of the invertebrate nervous system and model systems for studying human genes associated with neurodegenerative disease. Currently, he is part of an interdisciplinary research team that studies student experiences of college transitions.

Resources from this Episode:

• Meta Majors
• Students Explore Interests with Meta Majors
• Fall 2024 Meta Majors

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to Speaking of College of Charleston. My name is Mark Del Mastro, Associate Provost for Academic and International Programs and Professor of Hispanic Studies. And joining me today is my [00:00:20] colleague, Dr. Chris Corey, Associate Provost for Student Success and Professor of Biology, to discuss Metamajors.

[00:00:28] Hi, Dr. Corey. Hey, Mark. So when students come to the College of Charleston, they can, but don't have to, declare a major before they walk through the door. The meta major [00:00:40] concept helps students, quote, be intentional about exploring which major is right for you. It also helps students build their academic community and connect with others, such as students and faculty, who share a common interest.

[00:00:56] Why, in your view, is this important? Thanks, Mark. That's a great question. [00:01:00] So, for students who are coming here, both students and parents are most concerned about students picking A major that fits for them, but also finding community here on campus. We know that in the first semester academics are important, but building their community, finding those friends, finding their connection to our campus is just as [00:01:20] important as how they do in their first, you know, weeks of class.

[00:01:24] And so the MetaMajor program gives them the opportunity from the moment they step on campus at orientation to meet students who are also interested in their Particular area. Um, it also helps them meet, uh, academic leaders in those areas, deans and chairs, [00:01:40] staff that support those areas to start beginning their exploration of a future major.

[00:01:45] Uh, and our data suggests that if a student doesn't have a connection to campus or pick a major after three semesters here, we're less likely to retain them here at the campus. So it's important for our overall approach to student success to keep the students here for their four years and get them to [00:02:00] graduate.

[00:02:00] And this is one way. that we can help them pick a major maybe a little more intentionally and make them feel a little more comfortable with that choice. So today, right now, we have many incoming students on campus for orientation. And one of the things that they're learning about while visiting the College of Charleston with their families is the [00:02:20] metamajor.

[00:02:21] How would you explain what metamajors are to someone who has never heard of the concept? It's a great question. So, you can think of them as a large umbrella that gathers a group of majors, not always traditionally from the same school, um, around areas of interest. So, a good example [00:02:40] is the school, the business meta major.

[00:02:42] So, it has all of our majors in the School of Business, as a student might expect, but it also has, uh, Arts Management, and our new health, uh, It's a health services administration and management major, which are in two different schools. So as students come to campus, they'll go learn more about the business meta major, but also see how it [00:03:00] connects to other schools on campus, particularly the arts and health sciences, as a way to begin expanding their view of what that looks like.

[00:03:09] Um, we can think of our health sciences, uh, health and human behavior meta major, which pulls together majors from three different schools. Um, and it also expands their sense of what it looks like. It [00:03:20] means to be in health and studying health. They can see that it can both be psychology, it can be sciences like biology and chemistry, and also it can be exercise science and public health.

[00:03:29] And I think even in this first iteration, the Dean of the School of Health Sciences has indicated just an uptick in students exploring exercise science because it gives them an opportunity to be in front of [00:03:40] those students, talking to them more about the opportunities in these majors that students may have never heard of.

[00:03:45] Um, and also students realize that they can major in something other than biology, um, and still be involved in fields like health. So it gives them really an opportunity on the front end to maybe have a wider net, um, in a very, in an [00:04:00] area of interest that they might be exploring. So for the student who is a lot more decided in exactly what they major in, would they still have to select a meta major?

[00:04:10] They are placed in a metamajor, um, at orientation and will be inside of that metamajor for the first year. Um, the advantage for those students is [00:04:20] they may be decided now, but maybe after a semester they're not as sure anymore. Um, and these metamajors are designed to allow the movement of students within particular areas of interest.

[00:04:30] So they may come in committed to, um, arts management. But they end up liking marketing better or they come in really committed to biology, but it turns out [00:04:40] public health is for them. And so they're getting a sense of the other ways that they can move if they stay committed to their particular major.

[00:04:46] Then throughout the academic year, they will be included in a whole variety of activities that students will be invited to around making intentional career choices around study abroad around internships. So even a student [00:05:00] who is. Already committed to their major, they'll be exposed to a variety of activities run by the schools and other offices that help sort of expand what they can start thinking about in that first year to make them more successful here.

[00:05:13] So right now there's six meta-majors. Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Education, [00:05:20] Business, Human Health and Behavior, Science, Technology, Engineering and the Environment, and Exploratory. So for someone who's new to the college scene, how can they access information about the Humanities and Social Sciences?

[00:05:36] Human health and behavior and engineering in the [00:05:40] environment. That's a great question. So they can go to our Metamajors webpage that we built out, um, in collaboration both with our academic advisors and the academic schools. And in that space they can choose one of the Metamajors. They can see all of the majors that they could choose from, some of them they may have never heard of, so it's nice to see a list.

[00:05:59] It [00:06:00] gives them a sense of what their first year might look like in terms of coursework, gives them a little sense of what kind of math and quantitative skills they might need. It also provides a snapshot of the kinds of skills they might learn inside of the classroom space that apply to careers, and also encourages them to study abroad.

[00:06:17] Probably something you would encourage. Absolutely. [00:06:20] Dr. Corey, the exploratory metamajor, which obviously sounds very broad. What would a student be studying if they opted for the exploratory? I would say the exploratory one is, is the one that aligns probably most closely with the traditional liberal arts and sciences approach of the college.

[00:06:39] [00:06:40] So for a student who comes to the college, really wanting to explore a variety of. Disciplines aren't, isn't really sure what they want to do. Um, it introduces them to our general education curriculum, encourages them to explore a variety of different coursework to find their place. We're offering a new course this year through the advising office Exploratory 101.[00:07:00] 

[00:07:00] Which helps them earn one credit, but also exposes them to ways in which they can think about their strengths, values, interests, to help them pick a major, as well as align that with a potential career. So it sort of increases, um, and adds value to what we would call probably our traditional liberal arts approach at the College of [00:07:20] Charleston, and really gives them access to every major, um, as all students do, even if they've chosen another meta major.

[00:07:28] With the term metamajor, I think many students are going to be thinking about what skills are they going to acquire or hone that are going to be helpful for them for future [00:07:40] employment. And will it be helpful for them for future employment? And if so, how? Yeah, I would say it's not really much different than what we do already.

[00:07:49] It's just a different way of packaging it. I mean, certainly all of our majors provide a variety of skills, both academic skills they learn in the classroom, but also soft skills or skills you would think [00:08:00] about as being important for employment that is outside of what you would think of traditional classroom learning team teamwork, um, Data analysis, depending on on the majors.

[00:08:10] And I think what we're doing now is being much more intentional on the front end about talking about what these particular skill areas are, um, how they might align with what students [00:08:20] interests are and goals, um, and giving them a sense from the very first semester, either through our discussion orientation about the kinds of things they can expect, but also programming that will do with the career center.

[00:08:31] around internships, um, and job opportunities and skill opportunities around the Metamajors. So for example, in the spring, [00:08:40] we're exploring the idea of running some pop up career affairs associated with each of the Metamajors, so students could come in and get a sense of like, this is the variety of things I could do, um, inside of this Metamajor.

[00:08:52] And so I just think we're being intentional about rethinking and repackaging a lot of the great stuff we already do. [00:09:00] Thanks, Dr. Corey. I think a lot of these answers help to address many of the questions that are on our prospective students minds and their families with regard to the metamajor, but certainly we haven't covered them all.

[00:09:11] So where could a student go if they have any additional questions? That's a great question. I would say our, our webpages on metamajors is a [00:09:20] great place to get a sense of what we're trying to do and the kinds of information students and families might be interested in on the front end. For students who are.

[00:09:29] So, if you're thinking about the college and coming to the college, our office of admissions um is well versed in all of these new programs. And their admissions counselor, um, or the office [00:09:40] staff themselves will be a great place to get a little more information. And then, certainly, the office for student success.

[00:09:44] My office is a place where students can come, either call or email, uh and then we can provide some more information or ask very, answer very specific questions about the program. Great. Thank you. And is there anything else that you'd like to add before we conclude? You Conclude this [00:10:00] conversation. I don't think so.

[00:10:00] I think we've covered everything. I'm you know, I think it's an exciting time to be at the college Certainly, we've been able to do a lot in one year to get this up and running and it's exciting to see where it's going Already. Well, thank you very much. Dr. Corey. Thank you mark and thank you for listening to this episode of speaking of College of Charleston with [00:10:20] today's guest, Dr.

[00:10:20] Chris Corey. For show notes and more episodes, visit the College of Charleston's official news site, the college today at today. charleston. edu. You can find episodes on all major podcast platforms. This episode was produced by Amy Stockwell and recording and sound engineering by Jesse [00:10:40] Kunz from the division of information technology.