Freshman Kenzie Shultz loves the St. Thomas environment but also has a passion for fashion merchandising, a major not offered at the university. Fortunately for Shultz, however, St. Thomas is a member of the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities, allowing her to pursue the major she loves at St. Catherine University while staying at the campus she’s comfortable with.

Tonia Jones Peterson, an academic counselor at St. Thomas who works closely with students who are ACTC majors, thinks the program is a great opportunity for students to expand their options in choosing courses, majors and minors.

“Students sometimes change their mind about what they want to major in, and … what a great opportunity to be able to continue your education at St. Thomas but perhaps pursue something of interest at another institution,” Peterson said.

The ACTC program includes the St. Thomas, St. Kate’s, Macalester College, Hamline University and Augsburg College. Students who attend any of these institutions may take exchange classes as well as major or minor at one of the alternative schools.

St. Thomas currently has 20 ACTC majors and 10 minors, according to Peterson. The most popular majors she has noticed are fashion merchandising, American sign language, studio art and interior design.

Schultz, who plans to major in fashion merchandising at St. Kate’s, said a major reason she chose St. Thomas over St. Kate’s was the all-girls factor.

“I felt more comfortable at St. Thomas because it’s not an all-girls school,” Schultz said. “When I found out that I could do fashion merchandising, which is my intended major, and also go St. Thomas, it really changed around my perspective and definitely set in stone that I want to go to St. Thomas.”

Schultz is excited about the opportunities St. Thomas provides and hopes they will help her to pursue her goal of working in retail – buying lines for department stores and eventually one day opening her own wedding dress boutique.

Schultz is currently in the process of petitioning her major and meticulously planning her classes for the ACTC program – a process that is required for all ACTC students.

Susan Anderson, director of academic counseling at St. Thomas, said the ACTC program is a great resource for students who have their minds set on coming to St. Thomas but have conflicting ideas about what they want to major in.

“I think there are certain majors that get kind of popular, like the fashion merchandising seems to be one that has had a surge of interest from incoming students,” Anderson said. “So right off the bat, maybe their parents went to St. Thomas, they want to be a Tommie, but the fashion thing is what they’re passionate about. So (the ACTC program) allows for kind of a combination that is really attractive to them.”

Junior Maria Jungbauer is also a fashion merchandising major at St. Kate’s. She declared her major last spring but just started taking classes there this semester.

Jungbauer said being involved with the communities of two different universities has been challenging.

“At St. Kate’s, since I major there, they want you to be involved in a ton of stuff,” Jungbauer said. “I’m over there all the time, but also here I want to be involved in Women in Business and all those clubs. They meet at lunch, and I’m over at St. Kate’s during lunch, so I can’t come back over here to be in that.”

Jungbauer said she has a connection to the St. Thomas that is not the same at St. Kate’s since all her friends are Tommies.

“I was originally a marketing major at St. Thomas, but I want to be a fashion buyer,” she said. “So that’s why I switched over to St. Kate’s to do the fashion side. I just really want to graduate with a diploma that said St. Thomas on it.”

Anna White, a junior at St. Thomas, is currently a studio art major at Macalester and an art history major at St. Thomas. White has been an ACTC major since her freshman year. She said although the two schools are different, she feels positively about both institutions.

“Macalester is completely different from St. Thomas. They’re kind of polar opposite community-wise,” White said. “The art department is super fun. It’s a brand new art department at Macalester, very welcoming.”

White is grateful the ACTC program has allowed her to attend her desired university while pursuing her career. This experience has also allowed her to meet many interesting people.

“I actually really like meeting a lot of different people. I think that’s a big benefit. I’ve met a lot of unique people from both schools,” White said.

Anna Rosenthal, a junior at St. Thomas who is an ACTC studio art major, majors at St. Kate’s. Aside from being a studio art major, Rosenthal is also taking science courses at St. Thomas to pursue a career as a scientific illustrator.

“I’ve known that I wanted to be a scientific illustrator since I was 14, so I kind of had a vision for what I wanted,” Rosenthal said. “That’s really what attracted me to St. Thomas or one of these (ACTC) schools, because it just had all the pieces.”

Rosenthal also appreciates that being a part of two universities has allowed her to be a part of a variety of communities.

“It’s nice to get the feel of two different campuses and meet new people. Having connections over there is nice and broadens your scope of friendships and relationships with faculty,” she said.

Margaret Galush can be reached at galu4637@stthomas.edu.