Many students have a tough time deciding on a major and ultimately a career path. To help their students with this common dilemma CSUN has developed a program called Pathways, which shows students there are several different paths to the same career.
The whole purpose of the Pathways program is to show students that there are several different curricular paths to the same profession. The goal in doing this is to allow students to select a major that they will enjoy and be competent in so that they can graduate on time, saving themselves a lot of money in the process.
The Pathways program, which was the vision of late vice president of student affairs Terry Piper and provost and vice president of academic affairs Harry Hellenbrand, cost $100,000 to develop. The interactive style of the Pathways program aims to entertain students while making the assessments that will lead to their major and ultimate career path. Each of the assessments associated with the program are in a game format and available in both flash and non-flash formats, making them easily accessible to anyone.
The Pathways program is still in its pilot phase, with some kinks to be worked out. Before launching the program the CSUN Career Center is looking for students to participate in focus groups so that the program can be fine tuned. When students participate in the focus group they will be compensated with a free lunch, Starbucks gift card and an opportunity to win an Amazon gift card.
The Pathways program is destined to be a start of the art tool for college students to leverage the interests into a beneficial career. Being able to take classes that you are actually interested in, and able to succeed, will go a long way in having a prosperous college career. Students will no longer waste money on tuition, books, and housing when they decide to change their majors after a year or two. Pathways will allow students to quickly identify what types of courses they can take that will lead them to the career they have always wanted.
