Counseling Centers
As noted above and elsewhere, you'll have as much help as you want with academic, career, and financial aid issues. Sometimes, however, you may need help with other issues at a personal or family level.
Personal and family issues especially can take a hidden toll on you when you are in community college. Before you know it, you're not focusing in class, you're missing a few sessions, and you're skipping assignments. Remember that your success at community college is important to your family, too.
"Going to see a counselor doesn't mean that you've done something wrong. It means you need some help and we want to give it to you. This isn't like high school where, frequently, when you're sent to the guidance counselor, it's because you're in trouble. Counseling services on campus are there to support and assist you."- Donald Weigand, Director of Counseling and Student Development, Westchester Community College (New York)
Counselors will be available to talk out issues, help you sort out options, and help you decide on a course of action that can help you stay focused and in school even though other aspects of your life are unsettled.
Programs will also be available to help you deal with medical and health problems, as well as serious issues such as alcohol and drug abuse problems.
Counseling sessions are confidential, so you don't have to worry that your problems will become public. Your professor can be sympathetic and help to a certain extent, but you might need some additional professional assistance to help you resolve your issues. It's available, so take advantage of it.
Your college may have a separate center or several centers that can help you with these issues. You'll want to check with your office of student affairs or student services to see what services are available on your campus. In addition, should you need more assistance than the college can offer, counselors will be able to direct you to external resources and professionals who can help you.
Other Campus Resources for Academic Success
Community college is really geared to helping you succeed at every level. Be sure to take advantage of additional academic resources on campus and online to help you do as well as you
possibly can do in your coursework. It's challenging, but help is available.
Academic Support
Most colleges have a center or several specialized centers dedicated to offering you additional academic support in a broad range of subjects, especially in basic skills such as reading, writing, and mathematics. These academic support centers or learning resource centers offer a variety of types of assistance ranging from individual or group tutoring to access to computer-based or online course reviews. They may also be specialized, such as a writing center, a mathematics center, or an academic computer center to help you sharpen your basic computer skills.
At Westchester Community College in New York, for example, the Academic Support Center operates on a walk-in basis. As Joanna Peters, a lab coordinator, points out, "This system allows students to seek help easily when they need it. Our tutors know how to pinpoint their needs and address their problems. We find that students start to view the Academic Support Center as a safe haven and a comfortable place to be, especially once they develop a rapport with the tutors.
"The Center is a place where students can also connect with other students. They even start to help each other. Our biggest issue is that students who need help often do not come to the Center for assistance or they come too late in the semester. But when they do, we give them highly personal attention."
"The Academic Support Center isn't just for students who are underprepared in English, mathematics, or reading. It's also for the student who has a B+ grade and wants an A. We also help students learn how to organize themselves into the role of student, as much as we help them develop their academic skills."- Joanna Peters, Lab Coordinator, Westchester Community College (New York)
You'll want to see what academic support services are available at the departmental level also. For example, if you're studying computer science or physics, your department may offer tutoring services because these are difficult subjects that require special knowledge. Tutoring is usually available free of charge, so why not get help when you need it?
College Survival or Skills Courses
Almost every college has a skills course to help you learn to be a good or better student. Sometimes, these courses are recommended for entering students and sometimes they are an actual requirement (often called Freshman Orientation). They are often available during the year as "refresher" courses when you need help.
TIP: Many community colleges have special orientation courses or sessions for adult students (usually 25 years and older) as part of an office of adult student services.
You'll learn good study habits, understand your learning style, improve your note-taking and test-taking skills, learn ways to manage your time and stress"just about anything that is going to help you succeed in your classes.
In addition, many of these courses help you review requirements for your major and understand program requirements. They will get you started right and keep you on the right pathway.
If you weren't a great student in high school or feel you need to brush up on how to be a student, these courses will be well worth the time you put into them. After all, the goal is to succeed, right?
TIP: Many colleges have terrific online resources for student success"time management, study skills, test-taking tips, information about learning styles, memory development, stress management, and other general tips.
The Library
Don't overlook the campus library as a place where you can receive assistance, from finding reference materials to computer access to online courses and email.
Once again, you won't be on your own. Librarians are there to help you access the information you need to do your research papers, find reference materials, and steer you to the right resources for your class work. They're the experts and know where the materials are, so let them be your guides.
You'll find all the materials you'll need including books, magazines, videotapes, CD-ROM databases for research, special materials that your professors have reserved"just about anything you need for your coursework.
Libraries are also centers where computer or study skills are often taught. They can also be your retreat when you need a quiet place to study between classes.
Special Services Offices
Community colleges have many services for students with special needs, such as:
- Students with disabilities
- Returning adult students
- Students who are economically disadvantaged
- Students who are academically at risk
- Students with limited English proficiency
- Single parents
- Women students, including displaced homemakers and welfare-to-work program participants
- International students
You'll find a supportive network of professionals who are familiar with your special needs and challenges. Services often include development of an educational plan; free individual and group tutoring; workshops on study skills, test taking, and time management; personal career and academic counseling; and referrals to other departments or community agencies.
Although services are similar to those offered in other college offices, such as counseling, these programs often have separate funding, and focus on the particular needs of these students in making the transition to college, the special issues they face in staying in school, and offer programs targeted to their needs. If you think you'll be eligible for services from one of these special offices, speak with a counselor in that office.
10 Ways to Spice Up Your Barbecue
Happy Graduation
New Workbooks Are Here!
Add your own comment