BY Miguel Barragon
Redesigning East Los Angeles College is hosting a series of events where groups will get to participate in an activity that will help determine how students find majors in the future.
Redesigning ELAC is a part of the Guided Pathways Plan, a multi-year integration idea funded by the state Chancellor’s Office.
Its purpose is to help students succeed in choosing the best courses suited for their academic goals.
These group activities will occur during events known as the Meta Major Card Sorting Days.
The goal of the activity is to create ten or less clusters of cards by grouping together majors and programs that are similar in study or vocation.
Each card represents a different Associate’s Degree, Associates for Transfers Degree, Certificate of Achievement, or Skills Certificate offered at ELAC.
This activity by Redesigning ELAC is part of a larger initiative by Guided Pathways to create a new category, known as meta majors, for organizing majors and programs that are closely related.
Redesigning ELAC says that meta majors would provide a more focused way of introducing majors to students.
Jessica Hansen, a facilitator of the Meta Major Sorting Card Day on Friday, said that meta majors would eventually be part of the ELAC Catalog, the ELAC website, and academic counseling.
“The goal is for students to save time,” Hansen said. “A lot of the time, students will not know what classes to take, so meta majors would help students figure out what interests them in an easier way.”
At the MMCSD on Friday, three groups worked separately on their meta major clusters.
One group looked at a blue card that said physics and decided it should go in a specific cluster of cards
Another group saw a pink card that said accounting assistant and decided it should go in a cluster with related cards.
The groups named each cluster at the end. One group named one meta major cluster “business” and another “technology.”
Each group is made up of members of ELAC in various roles.
All members of ELAC, including students, faculty, staff, and administrators are invited to participate.
Facilitators encourage each department at ELAC to represent themselves in the group activity.
“It opened my eyes to what’s available,” second-year student Kevin Sandoval said.
Sandoval said this is his first semester taking school seriously and that the event made it easier to understand all the different options available.
“This made me realize there are a lot of programs to look into,” Sandoval said.
Tickets are available for the next Meta Major Card Sorting Day on Oct 9 wat: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meta-major-card-sorting-days-tickets-50154530551