2019 20 Syllabus

2019-20 Syllabus About the Course Goal: To enable counselors, youth workers, social workers, and educators to provide high quality college access counseling and programs. Objectives By the end of the course, you will be able to: Define college access counseling and identify successful outcomes Identify useful career assessment tools and introduce students to career exploration Assess students’ academic, social, and financial situations to better assist them in the college process Guide students and families through the financial aid process, from applications to packages and loans Research colleges in depth and recommend them with confidence Counsel students with difficult situations on the college access process Plan your counseling program to meet the needs of your particular student populations Create balanced lists of “good fit” colleges and non- college program suggestions for your students Approach The Foundation Course for College Access Counseling (the course) is highly interactive and hands-on with a focus on practicing newly learned skills and immediately applying new knowledge. Requirements To be eligible for a course certificate, participants must attend all 10 days of the course, actively participate, and submit a portfolio. (Details of portfolio assignments are on following pages.) Participants must also actively engage with our learning management system (LMS), Member 365, by participating in online discussions, reading provided suggested readings, and turning in assignments as requested, for example. Resources Each participant will receive one topical workbook and all relevant handouts per session. Participants will have access to electronic copies of resource materials and props from the sessions through our LMS. Session Titles and Dates: (full descriptions are on-line in the 2019-20 Professional Development Brochure) Financial Aid Application Process October 10 or November 20 Assessing Postsecondary Readiness November 7 or December 18 Student Choice through the Lens of Career December 5 or January 22 Researching and Evaluating Students’ Postsecondary Choices January 9 or February 26 Strong College Applications February 6 or March 25 Financial Aid: Packages, Loans and Gap March 5 or April 15 Youth Development in College Access April 2 (series a) or May 6 (series b) College Access Counseling Skills April 9 (series a) or May 13 (series b) Common Counseling Challenges Practicum April 16 (series a) or May 20 (series b) Culmination and Evaluation Meeting (1/2 day) April 23 (series a) or May 27 (series b) We invite supervisors to a half-day culmination the week following your last workshop. At that meeting, we will review the course content and portfolio work; strategize about the opportunities and challenges of implementing new program ideas; and award certificates. Course Facilitators: Sandy Jimenez Assistant Director of Training, Options Center Goddard Riverside Community Center (212) 678-4667 x4014, [email protected] Michael Gordon Trainer, Options Center Goddard Riverside Community Center (212) 678-4667 x4013, [email protected] Supporting Facilitators: Deborah Fuller Director, Options Institute; Deputy Director, Options Center Goddard Riverside Community Center (212) 678-4667 x4017, [email protected] Judy Lorimer Director, Options Center Goddard Riverside Community Center (212) 678-4667 x4001, [email protected] Administrator for the Course Juana Alejandro Administrative Coordinator, Options Institute Goddard Riverside Community Center 646-758-6555, [email protected] Course Logistics Location The Options Center, 352 West 110th Street, NY, NY 10025 Time 9:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Please be prompt. Meals Breakfast will be available at 9:00 a.m. Lunch on your own. You are welcome to bring your lunch; there is a refrigerator and microwave available. Portfolio Assignments The portfolio demonstrates each participant’s ability to apply the knowledge gained in the core areas of college access counseling to a student case. For your student case, you will put together a complete file, develop a list of good-fit recommended colleges, write a letter of recommendation, offer feedback on an essay, and complete a career counseling assignment. Each portfolio assignment directly corresponds to topics covered in the seminars. Choosing a student case For your student case, you should use a student that you are currently counseling on college access. If possible, select a student with a particular situation that you would like to gain more experience on advising. Avoid choosing students with extreme or very challenging situations. You will be able to talk through these kinds of cases with facilitators, but for this project you want to choose a student case that will allow you to garner knowledge and skills to support the majority of your counseling situations. Your case student must be a New York State resident with less than a year left until high school graduation (or who has a High School Equivalency) for whom you can obtain: an up-to-date transcript which includes a cumulative academic average SAT or ACT scores if your student plans to take or has taken these tests information on family income and household size an essay written by the student If you do not currently work with a student or are unable to acquire all of the items above, we will provide you with a sample student. Important note: The student case is mainly for you to get practice with the processes we will be demonstrating. You do not need to notify your student that you are using him or her for your practice case. While we trust your learning will enable you to better support your students, the primary reason for using a student case is to practice the methodology. The Course schedule and timeliness of feedback you receive may not run concurrently with a student’s college process timeline. For example, we may not be able to get you feedback on a recommendation letter before you need to submit it. Finally, it is best if you leave yourself the room to make mistakes, try something new, and explore your skills without feeling pressured to get the “right answers.” Completed portfolios are due March 25, 2020. We strongly recommend that you turn individual assignments in as you complete them. Portfolio Assignment #1: Assessing Your Student You may begin working on this assignment after you complete the Assessing Postsecondary Readiness workshop. Collect and submit information on your student. To do a thorough assessment you will need information on your student’s academic history and performance, financial and family situation, extracurricular activities, college and career interests, and needs and preferences around college. Obtain this information by collecting as many of the applicable following items as possible: An intake form Case notes from your meetings High school transcript HSE score report Standardized test scores (PSAT, SAT, ACT, etc) Income documents, such as tax returns, public benefit letters or statements Student essay or other writing Important Note! For confidentiality, after gathering this information please use a false name or initials for the student. Redact any identifying information, such as social security number, addresses, etc. Write and submit a student summary. Include where the student is in the postsecondary planning process and your understanding of what will most affect the student’s future college career. You may use a previously written case note summary or compose something new. Write it as an introduction of the student and their college aspirations. If you are using a sample student, in your own words, summarize where the student is in their postsecondary planning process and your understanding of what will most affect the student’s future college career. _______________________________________________________________________________________ Portfolio Assignment #2: Postsecondary Pathway List You may begin working on this assignment after you complete the Student Choice through the Lens of Career workshop. Create and submit a list of programs for your student that is not going directly from HS to college. Choose three programs that would provide a good postsecondary pathway. Please list the program name and a short paragraph or list about why you would recommend this program. Portfolio Assignment #3: Developing a Balanced List of Colleges You may begin working on this assignment after you complete the Researching and Evaluating Students’ Postsecondary Choices workshop. Create and submit a balanced list of colleges for your student using the tool for creating a balanced list. Make sure that your list reflects the elements of a balanced list -- academic, financial, geographic, success oriented and matching student preferences. It should also be in category format: least difficult, moderately difficult and most difficult (also known as safety, target, and reach schools). Please limit your list to: 3 least difficult colleges (safety) 5 moderately difficult colleges (target) 3 most difficult colleges (reach) Include notes about the schools you researched and why you chose to include them on the list. Portfolio Assignment #4: Recommendations and Essays You may begin working on this assignment after you complete the Strong College Applications workshop. Part A: Write a Recommendation Letter Write a recommendation using a model of your choice. Make sure the letter is in proper format, grammatically correct, and gives a convincing argument for acceptance. In order to prepare for your recommendation: Identify three main strengths of your student that you want to highlight in the recommendation Identify any circumstance or personal information about your student that the admissions committee should know Part B: Essay Feedback Write a letter to your student conveying your feedback on their (or sample) essay. Identify three main improvements you feel the student should make with specific/clear suggestions on how to make the revisions. Outline next steps for the student. Portfolio Assignments Rubric We presume that each course participant will submit his/her own work. Participants may consult with one another, but should ultimately complete assignments individually. Assignment A satisfactory submission includes: Portfolio Assignment #1: Assessing Your Student - student documents as requested - a descriptive paragraph of the student -all applicable fields of the assessment form filled out - detailed next steps, showing thoughtful analysis beyond the basics Portfolio Assignment #2: Postsecondary Pathway List - three unique programs - a paragraph or list noting why this program is a good match for your student Portfolio Assignment #3: Developing a List of Colleges - a recommended balanced list in category format, (least difficult, moderate, most difficult), that demonstrates the five elements of a good list - annotations supporting your list decisions Portfolio Assignment #4 Part A: Write a Recommendation Letter - a recommendation letter clearly identifying three strengths of the student - a properly formatted letter -a grammatically correct letter - a convincing argument for acceptance Portfolio Assignment #4 Part B: Essay Feedback - essay feedback clearly identifying three main improvements to be made - feedback directed to the student in letter, script (dialog you would speak), or email; grammatically correct - specific/clear suggestions on how to improve If a section does not meet required standards, it will be marked unsatisfactory. Unsatisfactory sections require resubmission. To receive a certificate, participants must submit all sections of the portfolio and resubmit any unsatisfactory sections. Final submission of all portfolio assignments is due March 25, 2020. Please submit portfolios through our learning management system.