Whereas, The Academic Senate for California Community Colleges has long-standing support for the role of Counselors in supporting student success, including a paper on The Role of Counseling Faculty and Delivery of Counseling in the California Community Colleges (2012) [1] and resolutions such as 08.01 S21 Counseling Faculty, Student Success, and Transfer [2], 04.00 S92 Counselors [3] and 08.02 F94 Role of Counseling Faculty in Noncredit Programs ;
Whereas, According to the California Community Colleges Chancellors Office Data Mart dashboard, a dramatic increase in the fall/spring noncredit enrollment has occurred over the past three years, data shows a 46.9% increase in the number of noncredit sections between 2020-2021 and 2022-2023, and student enrollment also has a three-year increase of 56.7% with 640,552 duplicated noncredit students in 2022-2023 [4];
Whereas, Noncredit course and program offerings are equity-driven opportunities for all students, including providing opportunities for first-generation students, second language learners, adult learners, and students looking to upskill, which require academic and personal counseling support; and
Whereas, Noncredit students have individualized needs regarding student education planning, basic needs support, noncredit to credit pathways, course sequencing, and credit for prior learning that require specialized counseling support, but currently consistent noncredit counseling support is not provided across the California community college system;
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges encourage all local academic senates to prioritize a discussion on supporting the counseling needs for noncredit students, whether through an identified noncredit counselor or counseling faculty who are supported with professional development on counseling for noncredit students; and
Resolved, That the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges provide resources and tools to support and share effective practices in counseling noncredit students by fall 2024.
MSC
1. https://www.asccc.org/papers/role-counseling-faculty-and-delivery-counseling-services-california-community-colleges
2. https://www.asccc.org/resolutions/counseling-faculty-student-success-and-transfer
3. https://www.asccc.org/resolutions/counselors
4. https://www.asccc.org/resolutions/role-counseling-faculty-noncredit-programs
5. California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office. Management Information Systems Datamart. “Non-Credit Course Sections Summary Report.” Retrieved September 27, 2023, from https://datamart.cccco.edu/Courses/NCredit_Course_Summary.aspx