Starting in fall 2005, students who come to NIU undecided in their major will go to the Academic Advising Center to receive guidance about what major to pursue.

Undecided students are currently advised through the college of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

The Advising Center, located in Campus Life Building 120, isn’t identified with any separate college. However, once the student decides their major, advisers send the student in the direction of the appropriate college for further advising, said Earl Seaver, vice provost. The center will also serve as a safety net for older students who are reassessing their majors, said Michael “Brody” Broshears, Academic Advising Center director.

Four full-time members currently staff the center. As the center builds credibility, it will bring in graduate assistants and learning assistants, Broshears said.

The center will start to advise students registered for fall as early as April. They expect to advise 750 to 1,000 students in the fall, Broshears said.

The center will also have an extension office in the Grant Towers basement, Broshears said.

Staff members will advise students through a developmental advising approach, Seaver said. Advisers will focus on the student individually and the issues they bring to the table, academically and in their life goals, Broshears said.

“Some students know what they’re good at but haven’t connected that to a career,” Broshears said. “They may want to be a crime scene investigator but don’t know how to do it,” he said.

Advisers have been taking time to learn more about the different majors to give the best advising to undecided students, Broshears said.

“In most of the colleges, advising has been successful and we want to support that,” Broshears said.