Counseling

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has adopted numerous resolutions which addressed the distinction between counseling faculty and paraprofessionals (including 8.01 S98; 8.02 S99; 8.01 S01), beginning with Resolution 15.1 F93, which affirmed the distinct professional role and function of counseling faculty, who meet minimum qualifications leading to counseling knowledge, competencies, and skills, and affirmed that the role and function of counseling faculty is distinct from paraprofessionals;

What’s New in the 2012 Revision? The original paper, The Role of Counseling Faculty in the California Community Colleges (1994), provided principled positions of the Academic Senate regarding the essential functions of counselors and the delivery of counseling services in helping students achieve success. The paper concluded with specific guidance on appropriate roles for paraprofessionals, and an appendix addressed the role of faculty advisors.

Whereas, A significant focus of the California Community Colleges Task Force on Student Success (established in response to Senate Bill 1143, Liu, 2010) draft recommendations (as of September 30, 2011) is the need for increased advising capacity to meet the needs of California community college students;

Whereas, Even with robust growth in the ranks of counseling faculty, California community colleges would not have adequate counseling faculty to meet the needs of California community college students; and

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community College’s 1994 paper The Role of Counseling Faculty in California Community Colleges describes a range of activities performed by counseling faculty which are still appropriate for counseling in the 21st century but do not include how the role of counseling has evolved with the introduction of technology;

Whereas, President Obama has called for an additional five million community college degrees within the next ten years in the American Graduation Initiative, which may have federal funding associated with it; and

Whereas, Many students with adequate coursework do not earn degrees because they fail to apply, have courses from multiple colleges, or do not understand the process;

Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges is the organization whose primary function is to make recommendations with respect to academic and professional matters as defined in Title 5 53200;

Whereas, Standards or policies regarding student preparation and success are among the policy development and implementation matters embedded in academic and professional matters;

Whereas, Student athletes represent a significant portion of the at-risk student population within the California Community College system, and significant local, state, and federal regulations (i.e., Commission on Athletes, National Collegiate Athletic Association and Financial Aid) critically impact their matriculation;

Whereas, There have been numerous reports of paraprofessionals acting in counseling roles, and such paraprofessionals do not meet the state minimum qualifications for the faculty counseling discipline;

Whereas, Paraprofessionals may give incorrect information and advice to students regarding college programs, services, and transfer;

Resolved that the Academic Senate work with the California Community Colleges Counselors Association to develop for counseling faculty clear definitions and guidelines for web advising, including issues such as legal issues, student confidentiality, and ethics.

Whereas the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has adopted "The Role of Counseling Faculty in California Community Colleges," and

Whereas, although the "Role Paper" describes the range of activities of counseling faculty, it does not set out specific standards for how those roles would be performed, and