Counseling department is preparing to assist all incoming students with iSEPs
AS THE FALL SEMESTER comes to a close, and the spring rapidly approaches, new students are getting ready to begin their journey at City College. For the counseling department at City College that means ramping up for a new load of Individual Student Education Plans or iSEPs.
According to City College counselor and Los Rios Community College District iSEP committee member Kris Janssen, City College counselors and Los Rios iSEP committee developed the plans in anticipation of Senate Bill 1456, the Seymour-Campbell Student Success Act of 2012, which, beginning fall 2014, requires all incoming freshmen at California community colleges to complete an orientation, an assessment test and an education plan (iSEP).
“We knew this [the state mandate] was coming, so we were really on the forefront for developing this tool,” said Janssen.
According to the new law, schools’ funding will be tied to their compliance with the requirements beginning in 2014 and will be based in part on what percentage of students completes all three of the requirements.
“The funding we get depends on how able we are to provide all of those services,” said Janssen.
According to City College Counselor Richard Yang, who also sits on the district’s iSEP committee, orientations, assessments and iSEPs are not only requirements of the incoming freshmen next fall, but also are necessary tools for students’ success, which is the main goal of the counseling department and the college.
“Being a student is an investment. You’re investing in yourself. You’re investing time and effort into it, your heart into it, so you’ve got to make sure you get what you need to succeed,” said Yang.
According to Yang, it will be more difficult for students to enroll in the classes they need if they fail to comply with the new requirements.
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According to Janssen, with an estimated 5,000 new students coming to City College next fall, the counseling department has considered many ways to manage the increased workload, including hiring more counselors, asking part-time staff to work more hours, and allowing incoming students to
complete some of their requirements in a group setting to cut back on staff time.
“We have some great concerns on how we’re going to take this on, and we’ve discussed a lot of different things to deal with that,” said Janssen. “We just put in a request for two more counselors, so we’re hopeful we’ll at least get one.”
According to City College Public Information Officer Amanda Davis, the Student Success Act included research on what types of tools make community college students more successful and the requirements of the law are based directly on that research.
“As a result of this statewide analysis of student success, a series of contacts with students [was] determined to be helpful,” said Davis. “Students who have an orientation and complete education plans tend to be more engaged and complete their goals.”
According to Yang, the iSEP program at City College is still relatively new, and counselors are still refining some aspects of the software responsible for developing the plans as well as learning how to use it effectively.
“It’s going to take some time. We’ve got to work out the kinks, and we need to make it more seamless for students,” said Yang. “Because everything is so new, we’re going to stumble along the way, but we’re going to pick ourselves up and keep on going.”
Yang advises all students to develop an iSEP and meet with a counselor regularly to discuss education and career goals as a vital part of students’ ability to be successful.
“Find a counselor that you can connect with, be proactive and involved as a student,” said Yang. “If you meet with a counselor that doesn’t answer your questions or doesn’t make sense to you, find another counselor, because it’s really important that you have someone to plan things out with.”
