Student Issues / Attending College

Community colleges nationwide have implemented specific support programs to stimulate student support and success. Often referred to as “mentor services” or “mentor programs,” community college mentors can be paramount leaders for guiding and encouraging younger students. Mentors are often older community college students who have demonstrated specific academic or professional successes in their collegiate studies. By sharing their knowledge and insight with new and younger students, community colleges have designed robust programs to enhance the success of all students and campus members.

What is a Mentor Program?

While each community college has its unique mentoring program, the general concept focuses on pairing a new or young student with an older, more experienced student. Often, mentors will guide new students by helping them set their schedules, by providing campus tours, or by offering to serve a new student as an academic tutor or study buddy.

When engaging in a mentoring program, mentors are considered the “experts” in their field or organization, while mentees are the more novice and less experienced organization members. In the case of community colleges, mentors are usually students, although they may often also be professors. At the same time, mentees are new and younger students or students who may need special support services, such as ESL support, transfer support, etc.

This video examines the peer mentoring program at Guttman Community College in New York, New York.

Community

Alternative spring break is an opportunity for students to engage in service-oriented trips to help struggling groups of individuals, areas, or communities. While fun should always be in the equation of spring break, you can also make a difference during your vacation.

As spring break becomes an increasingly travel-based event for millions of students across the country, community colleges are embracing alternative spring break programs in order to provide students with local, national, and even international opportunities to spend a week having fun, while also making an impact on a specific area. By engaging in these programs, Life-Changing Travel asserts that students can “Come back with a tan, an impressive addition to your resume, great stories, new friends and a fresh perspective not only on Spring Break but on the world!”

This video offers some alternative activities for spring break activities.

Community Colleges and Alternative Spring Break Opportunities

Central Piedmont Community College

As Central Piedmont (CPCC) describes, “Alternative Spring Break (ASB) is a low-cost service trip that provides students with an opportunity to participate in meaningful service activities, learn more about community issues, and have fun.” By engaging in the variety of ASB programs, students can choose from an array of projects that are “designed to encourage civic responsibility.”

In the past, CPCC students have taken trips up and down the Piedmont coast, traveling to Atlanta, Georgia to help homeless

As you enter into your freshman year of community college, are you already imagining your earned cap and gown on graduation day? Despite goals and ambitions of completing a community college program, research conducted by the academic journal Community College Review reveals that there are specific factors that may indicate whether or not freshman students return to subsequent semesters while continuing to complete their degree.

As the authors David and Renea Fike reveal, “Though it costs more to recruit new students than it does to retain current students, institutions often focus on student recruitment rather than student retention […] Institutions budget for recruiters and associated expenses such as travel and recruiting materials. Recruiting is essential for getting students enrolled. But once they are enrolled, what are institutions doing to retain them?”

Why is Student Retention Important?

According to Fike, student retention is important for various significant reasons. At the basic level, retention rates are necessary for a school’s financial stability and sustained academic progress. Adding to this, “The federal Higher Education Act may use graduation rates as a measure of institutional effectiveness.” On a more personal level, students deserve to engage in a positive collegiate experience, where they are able to “complete their academic goals, and enter the workforce.”

Analysis of Community College Students and Graduation Expectancies

Currently, the average attrition rate of community college students is approximately 41% from the first to the second year of school. To improve the success of students and school performances,

As a rising number of students enroll in community college programs, the support of a community college counselor is becoming increasingly vital. As researcher Preston Pulliams from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Personnel Services supports, “The emerging role of community college counseling is actually an expansion of traditional roles: Community college counselors are becoming learning agents, student developers, and resource managers.”

Traditionally, community college counselors focused on “providing personal counseling, vocational guidance, and social support for the traditional community college student.” However, as student enrollment grew, and the student populations become more academically, socially, and financially diverse, counselors have shifted their focus: “To meet the needs of these new students, community colleges are reinstating testing and placement, dismissal and probation policies, general education requirements, and select admissions programs.”

Community Counselors and Systems of Support

Learning Aids

As Pulliams further explains, “The emerging role of counseling involves helping students to complete their academic objectives […] Counselors must perform the roles of student developers and learning agents.” Adding to this, “counselors must communicate to students the importance of skill-building and other academic requirements and help them understand the value of their academic endeavors.”

Counselors, as learning aids, can help serve students of the community college as academic supporters; counselors have access to all of the school’s resources and tools to help students find specific and interpersonal support and assistance. For example, if a student is struggling with specific math concepts, a counselor can guide

As the job market is becoming increasingly competitive, many community college students are taking advantage of internship opportunities before they receive their diplomas. Internships can provide students with a variety of benefits, many of which often help push a prospective job candidate’s resume to the top of the application stack.

Benefits of Internships

Learning More about Your Major

One of the foremost benefits of a community college internship is the experience allows students to receive hands-on interaction with work in their field of study. Added to this, for students who are unsure of their major, or uncertain of what their major may lead to careerwise, they can utilize internships to ensure that they are on the correct path of study.

According to college advisors, the average student changes majors three times before finalizing their course of study. According to Dr. Fritz Grupe of My Majors, approximately 80% of high school students begin college without knowing what major they want to study.

By working with different internships, you can hone your professional interest and find the appropriate major for you.

This video reports on a student's internship with Facebook.

Build Your Resume

As a great number of candidates may be applying for a single position, community college interns are able to build up their resume with significant work experiences. In today’s competitive work environment, your resume is what sets you apart