The mission of a college is to foster and further student success.
Their success, especially at two-year colleges like El Camino College, often hinges on the quality of academic counseling services. The college boasts 47 full-time and 62 part-time counselors throughout different academic programs.
While the college experience is inherently complex and at times, confusing and intimidating, community college students have to navigate a path they are unfamiliar with. This includes choosing majors, career paths and class enrollment.
The hand guiding them through this journey are the college’s counselors, who help students choose their classes, identify their academic interests and encourage them to pursue their dreams. Since many students at ECC are the first in their families to attend college, these services are especially essential.
ECC is in dire need of improved academic counseling services.
Students expressed their dissatisfaction to The Union, complaining about counselors assigning classes they don’t need and long wait times to get scheduled for an appointment.
For example, students said they were urged to take on a heavy course load. While counselors are pushing for students to finish their general education and core requirements for their major, some students may not be able to handle completing a heavy academic workload in two years.
Classes are being pushed because counselors give students an opportunity to change their major or explore different interests.
While this might be a good idea to discover classes a student would enjoy, it comes at the expense of spending extra money and wasting time. One student said counselors get confused because most of the classes they help choose from were not in alignment with the student’s major.
California residents pay $46 per credit, while out-of-state and international students pay more. While $46 is cheap, every dollar counts.
In order to transfer to a UC or CSU school, 60 units are required. Sixty units are also necessary to graduate from El Camino. In the latest report from the college’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning, data shows that students are averaging approximately 71 units for an A.A. or A.S. degree, 11 more than the required amount during the 2023 to 2024 academic year.
ECC counseling issues include unclear communication and explanations from express counseling sessions, which offer quick solutions to questions related to academia. It’s not the same as in-depth counseling services.
In addition, counselors work hours based on their availability. Many part-time counselors work at other colleges, splitting their time across different educational institutions. In addition, some of these counselors are available one or two days during the week due to other commitments, which makes it difficult for students to access.
Good counseling leads to confident students, while poor quality counseling leads to students potentially withdrawing from classes.
According to data from the Office of Institutional Research and Planning, 40.1% of the overall student population in the fall semester of 2023 have withdrawn from at least one class from a program during the 2023 to 2024 academic year.
While there could be many reasons why students have withdrawn, this could be a result of a heavy course load.
To mitigate these issues, The Union editorial board would like to see counselors be open to what students want. Secondly, providing additional training for counselors to ensure they are well-trained in degree requirements as well as transfer pathways prevents misinformation.
While full-time counselors are required to complete 50 hours of training covering different programs and support services, part-time counselors have to go through 16 hours of training that include district policies, general education patterns, and prerequisite clearances.
Additionally, while express counselors generally answer quick questions, The Union editorial board would like to see these counselors be equipped with additional knowledge pertaining to academic programs.
The editorial board would also like to see counselors to take thorough notes, recapping discussions with students in order to keep other counselors in the loop. By doing this, other counselors are aware of who counseled the student, instead of creating a new educational plan and causing confusion.
ASSIST is an online tool used for students and counselors in order to establish an academic plan from the two-year level to the California State University and University of California systems. While counselors can freely access this tool, counselors should also take into account the needs and wants of students.
Please be open to student needs and wants.
