Key Components

Preparation for Counseling Meetings

Student Affairs departments can help students prepare for counseling meetings to ensure that students have productive counseling sessions.

• Classified staff and/or peer mentors can help students understand the purpose and value of counselor meetings prior to their scheduled appointment. 

• Classified staff and/or peer mentors can help students assess their English and Math needs and gather necessary documentation for English and Math placement. 

• Counseling departments can provide information or short videos that help students understand the types of questions counselors can answer for them and the purpose of creating an Ed plan with a counselor.

• Classified staff and/or peer mentors can support students following counseling meetings by helping students to process and better understand the plans they developed with the counselor and how to connect with other support services.

Faculty Advisors

Instructional faculty serve in a valuable role providing students with discipline-specific information about their field, real life narratives about their journey within their field, and advice regarding potential major and career paths. Given the complexity of educational planning and the importance of the role of the counselor, it is important to differentiate between counseling and advising or mentorship in utilizing instructional faculty as advisors.

• Counseling faculty train faculty advisors to ensure there is clear understanding about the counseling role and the discipline faculty mentor/advisor roles

• Counselors partner with instructional faculty within a specific meta major for ongoing dialogue about how to best serve students

• Counselors are reaffirmed for their role in providing critical counseling and educational planning for students while also providing opportunities for students to be advised by instructional faculty with discipline expertise to assist them in deciding and pursuing a specific major and career goal

Student Mentors

Student employees can provide peer support by helping their fellow students navigate the college and its resources.

• Student Mentors, also referred to as Student Success Coaches or Peer Advisors, can help their peers stay on track with their goals and define skills for success.  

• Student Mentors are NOT counselors. Their contact with students provides a low stakes point of contact who can help assess a student’s needs and guide them to resources. Peer mentors can help triage students to resources in a way that is not intimidating to new students.

Early Alert Systems

Early alert systems help to identify struggling or lost students and connect them to the appropriate college resources.

• Instructional faculty can connect students struggling in their classes through regular progress updates. By having weekly contact with students, instructional faculty are critical to identifying struggling students and connecting them to resources.

• Tutoring and resource centers can proactively reach out to students who have been referred to them by instructional faculty. Many students do not seek tutoring assistant due to stigmas and past educational trauma associated with asking for help. A proactive approach from college tutors can help to break that barrier.

• Financial aid, EOPS, and Veterans Services can also support students using early alert systems set to raise system-raised flags to identify students who have dipped below the required unit load or are close to maxing out their aid.

• Counseling faculty can use information in early alert systems of past raised flags, instructor referrals, and tutoring notes to help design a course sequence for students that is customized to their needs.