As I am in my second year attending Fresno City College, meeting with a counselor and going over my schedule should take away the stress and make it easier, right? My experience, along with other FCC students, can say it has been the complete opposite.
One of the issues students run into is actually getting an appointment with the counselors. Yes, I do take into account that there are a lot of students who attend FCC, so there aren’t always a lot of time slots available for students to pick and choose when they can speak to a counselor, or even if the counselors will have anything open.
With the limited time for students to choose the right classes, the waitlist is also difficult since we’re not sure if we’re on the right path.
In the past, when I have had an appointment with a counselor, I have been told many different things regarding what I should do, including changing my SEP (Student Education Plan) around, and found it to become very stressful pretty quickly.
FCC psychology major Kassidy Dominguez said, “I have a complicated relationship when it comes to counselors. I think they are there for guidance, but could do more.”
Dominguez said, “I know there are a lot of students, but if counselors can update students, that can definitely help to keep us on track, like if we are really taking the right classes for our majors, so that way we don’t get put behind.”
Dominguez has also stated that because her counselor referred her to the wrong class for her major, she was put two semesters behind.
Though there are a lot of cons when it comes to actually getting with a counselor and forming a schedule, they are still trying their best to help students the best way they can.
I have noticed that with each counselor I have talked with, they get confused when they see my Student Education Plan and question why some classes are placed in different semesters, or why it wasn’t formatted in a certain way, and then change it altogether.
If counselors could come up with a different plan together on how they could fulfill and reach out to help more students with their schedules and ensure they are staying on track in sufficient matters this could help a lot.
One idea that counselors can do is create a follow-up email with the students they had an appointment with, and see how their class schedules are going. Then, in that case, they know how to follow up or help the student with getting into a different class or plan before it’s too late.
Another idea for a counseling office for current or returning students can be creating a phone number that students can text if they have smaller questions that don’t require a full appointment. That way, students don’t have to go through the process of waiting to speak to a counselor, and it can also save time for the counselors themselves, so they can help more students.
Is the counseling office bad? No. Many students have a different experience when it comes to planning and getting their schedules with a counselor, but there will definitely always be room for improvement as the semesters go by.
