What Counselors Do Five

This is part five of a series of roles that counselors play at City College.  Feel free to add to the list!  

Puzzle-Assembler (Kelli) – This usually happens with students who have unique situations.  (I know, you’re all unique individuals, but most situations are more similar than they are different.)  The puzzles I assemble usually start with either “I have 60-plus units.  Am I eligible for a degree?” or “I want to transfer to State as a <insert major here>, but I have all these units from out of the area.  What do I do?”  Those are pretty straightforward.  The fun ones, though, start with, “I want to open a halfway house for at-risk teens.  I don’t need a specific degree because I’ve got qualified people lined up to do the counseling/social work part and I have no interest in a business degree, but I want a degree from City.  How can I do that?”  This type of student knows exactly what their project needs (or is willing to do the research to find out), so we go over types of classes that would fulfill those needs and see if there’s some degree that fits, or if there isn’t, I help the student put together a justification for a “Selected Studies” degree, which are designed for occasions just like this one.



picture by Sage Ross



Brainstormer (Ray) – Turn off the toxic voices, the doubts, the insecurities, the “I can’t because…” statements. Let your imagination run wild for a while and let’s see what comes up.

Cartographer (Kelli) – How do you get from here to there?  Which classes do you need to finish to be admitted to X University with Y Major?  This is the academic planning piece.  I can either give you an overview of everything you need or work with you to plan each semester.  Your call.

What Counselors Do

Intro

Two

Three

Four

College Accreditation

You might've heard the term "accreditation" in reference to colleges and universities. Ashford University has run into problems with accreditation, and this can have consequences for students who earn a degree from this college. What exactly does the term mean and why is it important? Keys To College Accreditation will tell you what you need to know about accreditation. The article appeared in the "U-T San Diego" on July 11, 2012.

Bridgepoint Education's Ashford University, a for-profit college, will lay off 450 admissions counselors in an attempt to address accreditation issues. Bridgepoint Cuts 450 Jobs appeared in the "U-T San Diego" on Sept. 24, 2012. 

What Counselors Do Four

This is part four of a series of roles that counselors play at City College.  Feel free to add to the list!

Researcher (Kelli) – When you come in to see me, chances are good that we’ll spend at least part of our session (no matter how long or short that session is) on the internet.  Contrary to popular belief, I don’t know everything.  I’m pretty good, however, at finding the stuff that I don’t know, using the tools at my disposal.  That said, you’re not off the hook.  If it’s a complicated question asked in a ten-minute walk-in, I’ll find you a source or two, then send you off to do more research yourself.  Why?  It’s your life – if you’re not interested enough in the topic to type it into the Google search box, then you’re probably not going to enjoy it in the classroom.

Detective (Ray) – Learn to investigate. It’s a skill that will take you far. Investigate the kind of career you want by info interviewing (talking to people who do the work), job shadowing (can I watch you work?), internship (let me earn some college credit for learning on the job), volunteering, or just plain snooping around. Investigate the major at the school by touring the campus, chatting with students and faculty, going to the department to ask questions. Investigate a prospective employer by finding out about their mission, their culture and values, how they treat employees, the kind of people who work there, the possibilities for advancement and promotion. Investigate instructors before selecting the class by looking at their books, talking to other students, or speaking to instructors.  

What Counselors Do

Intro

Two

Three

What Counselors Do Three

This is part three of a series of roles that counselors play at City College.  Feel free to add to the list!  

Enforcer (Kelli) – Every entity has rules; occasionally my job is to enforce them.  Mostly, these are the rules pertaining to academics: To remain in Good Standing a student must complete 61% of the courses they attempt with at least a 2.0 GPA.  When you don’t, we need to figure out how to fix it.

Problem-Solver (Kelli) – This goes along with Enforcer.  If a student is having issues academically, I always ask “Why?  What happened during that semester that caused those bad grades (or withdrawals)?”  The answers usually fall into one of a few categories: too much work (AKA money problems which then turn into time problems), lack of Financial Aid (AKA see above), family problems (AKA time management or emotional turmoil), health problems, and boredom (AKA lack of motivation).  Then we talk about how to fix that situation, if it hasn’t already been resolved.  Sometimes, students come to me with these types of issues before they get in trouble, which is always a good thing.  These are not the only problems I solve, just the most popular.

What Counselors Do
Intro
Two

What Counselors Do Two

This is part two of a series of roles that counselors play at City College.  Feel free to add to the list!  

picture by Jkadavoor




“Daydream Believer”(Kelli) – Sometimes I think the most difficult part of college isn’t the classes.  Show up, participate, do the work, and the grade follows.  The hardest thing is walking into an office with a total stranger and sharing your “Dream.”  You know what I mean.  You want to become a nurse, or an actor, or a therapist, or a doctor.  Your family and friends would think you’re crazy if you told them, so you haven’t. They think you’re going to college just to get a better job.  A huge part of my job is to take your dream seriously.  I believe that you can do it.  Make no mistake, I’m going to ask probing questions and force you to face reality – you need to know what you’re getting yourself into – but I’m not going to laugh at you or tell you that you shouldn’t do it because it’s not practical.

Prober (Ray) – This goes with daydream believer. You want to be a business major. What does that mean? Let’s look closer. Do you see owning a business? Going into marketing and advertising? Accounting? If you want to run a business, what kind? What does it look like? What kind of product or service? This isn’t to be nosey. It’s to help you get a clear idea of your vision. And if you’re not clear, then I assign research and detective work.

Sounding Board (Ray) – You know what you want; you just need to say it to someone who’s really listening.

What Counselors Do
Intro