Student Success & Support Program

Counseling Department 

The Counseling Department’s mission is to provide comprehensive counseling services in a safe, supportive environment to guide, motivate, and empower students to achieve their educational, vocational, and personal goals

Counseling Appointments 

Students may meet with a counselor in-person, online via Zoom, or by telephone. Students decide how they would like to meet with a counselor when making an appointment upon availability. Counseling appointments are between 30 minutes to one hour in duration. Drop-in counseling services for quick questions are also available upon request pending availability

Counseling in Foreign Languages

Counselors are available to provide counseling services in Cantonese, English, Hindi, Spanish, Urdu, and Vietnamese. Students are encouraged to make their preferred language request when making a counseling appointment. 

New Student Orientation

Students are encouraged to complete the New Student Orientation online prior to meeting with a counselor. The New Student Orientation is available on the online student portal and is available upon admission to the College. The New Student Orientation introduces students to College policies, procedures, and information regarding the following topics:  

1. Academic expectations; progress and probation standards;
2. Maintaining registration priority;
3. Prerequisite and co-requisite challenge process;
4. Maintaining California College Promise Grant eligibility;
5. Description of available programs, support services, financial aid assistance, and campus facilities, and how they can be accessed;
6. Academic calendar and important timelines;
7. Registration and college fees;
8. Available education planning services; and
9. Other issues, policies, and procedures the College has determined as necessary

Self-Guided Placement

Students are encouraged to complete the self-guided placement to assist with the development of a student educational plan and determine proper placement into English and mathematics courses. Students who plan to earn an associate degree, earn an associate degree for transfer, or plan to transfer to a four-year university are encouraged to complete the self-guided placement online prior to meeting with a counselor to develop an educational plan.

Student Educational Plan

Students are encouraged to meet with a counselor to develop or update their student educational plans to help them meet their educational, vocational, and personal goal without wasting time or money. Student educational plans help students map out the courses and sequence to earn a certificate, degree, and/or transfer.

Guidance Curriculum

The Counseling Division offers Guidance courses to new, continuing, and returning students. Guidance courses focus on helping orient students to college, providing study techniques, and preparing students for transfer or career placement.

Process

Students who have earned an associate degree or higher from an accredited institution or are transferring from another community college or a four-year institution will need to provide A&R with written documentation. 

Students who believe that they would not directly benefit from participating in orientation, placement, and/or counseling and have never attended a previous accredited institution must file a Matriculation Waiver form available in General Counseling Department. 

Prerequisites, Co-Requisites, and Other Limitations on Enrollment

All prerequisites or co-requisites identified in SJCC’s catalog and class schedule were established according to state laws as outlined in the District’s Model Plan. The following information is provided in compliance with those laws.

Definitions

• “Prerequisite” is a condition of enrollment that a student is required to meet in order to demonstrate current readiness for enrollment in a course or educational program.
• “Co-requisite” is a condition of enrollment consisting of a course that a student is required to simultaneously take in order to enroll in another course.
• “Advisory” is a condition of enrollment that is advised, but not required, to meet before or in conjunction with enrollment in a course or educational program.

Prerequisites, Co-requisites, and Advisories on Recommended Preparation Challenge

SJECCD adopts the following in order to provide for the establishing, reviewing, and challenging of prerequisites, co-requisites, advisories on recommended preparation, and certain limitations on enrollment in a manner consistent with law and good practice.

Students may challenge any prerequisite or co-requisite on one or more of the grounds listed below. The student shall bear the initial burden of showing that grounds exist for the challenge. Challenges shall be resolved in a timely manner and, if the challenge is upheld, the student shall be permitted to enroll in the course or program in question. Grounds for a challenge are: 

• The prerequisite or co-requisite has not been established in accordance with the district’s process for establishing prerequisites and co-requisites;
• The prerequisite or co-requisite is in violation of Title 5;
• The  prerequisite or co-requisite is either unlawfully discriminatory or is being applied in an unlawfully discriminatory manner;
• The student has the knowledge or ability to succeed in the course or program despite not meeting the prerequisite or co-requisite;
• The student will be subject to undue delay in attaining the goal of his or her educational plan because the prerequisite or co-requisite course has not been made reasonably available.