RTC is accredited through the Commission of Colleges of the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges and is listed in the current issue of Accredited Institutions of Higher Education. Specialized accreditation has been earned by the following programs: Auto Body Repair, Alcohol Education, Child Care, Culinary Arts, Dental Assistant, Licensed Practical Nurse, Pharmacy Technician, and Surgical Technologist.
The guidance program is an integral part of RTC and plays an important role in the mission of the school. Guidance assesses basic skills, interests, and aptitudes and helps individuals make appropriate career choices. Guidance assists enrolled students by providing support services which will enhance student success. Counselors provide linkages between students, agencies, faculty, and administration. Students can benefit from guidance services throughout their college experience. Critical points include access to college, establishing career and life goals, encountering personal barriers to academic success, and entering the job market.
Approximately 1,200 students graduate from the occupational programs each year. Some go on to further education, but the majority go directly into the labor market. Successful outcomes are measured primarily by the numbers who find employment in their area of training. Placement and follow-up data are closely monitored and are important factors when decisions are made to either continue or cancel training programs.
Program and college information is provided to prospective students and when appropriate, interest inventories or aptitude tests are administered to help determine career direction.
Basic skills of English, math, and reading are assessed for every student who plans to enroll in an occupational program at the college. Counselors participate in the explanation of student scores immediately after the test and recommend remediation where applicable. RTC acknowledges that this is a time when the individual is most likely to take the needed steps.
Counselors are assigned to various departments including health, technical, trade and industry, basic studies, and business. This encourages close linkages with the faculty, the students, and the associate dean of the department.
Counselors work closely with instruction, consulting, and advocating for students regarding learning styles and the need to accommodate in the case of disability.
Counselors often advocate for students in resolving conflicts on campus as well as intervening in student complaint issues.
Contacts with the local high school and community-based organizations are maintained by visitations and tours. Counselors are also available for on- or off-site presentations. A representative from the counseling program attends the Running Start, the Tech Prep, and Occupational Information Specialist meetings at the local high schools.
| 7:30 | Counselor reports to work. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8:00 | First appointment is with a student who wishes to participate in Running
Start and needs assistance in deciding which college-level course is appropriate. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9:00 | The next client is an individual who has just received notification that
the company where she was employed is downsizing. She is faced with a need to get retrained and needs immediate intensive career exploration before deciding on a new training program. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9:30 | Assessment committee meeting | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10:00 | An enrolled student has a disagreement with his instructor regarding a grade for an assignment. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10:30 | Meet with agency counselor and sign a JTPA contract for a dislocated worker. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11:00 | Student wishes to discuss transfer courses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12:00 | Lunch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 12:30 | Explanation of Asset scores and provide orientation for new students. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1:00 | Presentation to community-based organization members who wish to know
about the various career options available at the college. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2:30 | Individual who wishes to enter the workforce requests labor market information. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3:00 | International student information requested by a sponsor. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3:30 | Assorted reports and other paperwork | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A few years ago our counselors felt the need to establish a counseling program which would serve the needs of all students, not just the ones who came to the counseling center.
A needs survey was conducted and students, faculty/staff, and administrators were asked to identify the top ten student needs. The National Career Development Guidelines as well as A Guide for Counseling and Guidance Services in Washington State were reviewed for direction and information. The goals outlined in these publications were modified because the committee felt that the goals needed to be localized.
The following three broad goals were selected to provide a framework for the program:
Goal 1: To facilitate lifelong learning competencies required for fulfilling potential and adapting to change.
Goal 2: To facilitate personal effectiveness competencies required for social and personal development.
Goal 3: To facilitate life role competencies in multiple settings: school, home, work, and community.
In addition to the three broad goals, student learning objectives and counselor activities were selected to facilitate the implementation of these goals. Budgetary constraints have impacted our ability to implement all of the elements of the program. We continue to implement more and more portions of this program as additional personnel are added to student services.
Additionally, each year we emphasize and focus on specific need areas. In 1994-1995, our need areas are twofold:
What follows is a more complete description of our program as well as a listing of suggested counselor activities.
GOAL #1 - To facilitate lifelong learning competencies required for fulfilling potential and adapting to change.
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
GOAL #2- To facilitate personal effectiveness competencies required for social and personal development.
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
GOAL #3 - To facilitate life role competencies in multiple settings: school, home, work, and community.
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
Objectives and indications of attainment--Students will . . .
2. Addressing the Needs of Diverse Student Populations
RTC has a very diverse student body, with respect to ethnic origin, income level, age, and abilities.
Initially, students are offered a workshop on financial aid, which details options open to them during their course of study. Options can include scholarships, Pell Grants, work-study, Stafford Loans, and state programs. More than half of our students are on some form of financial aid.
Although our students have differing abilities at entry, we have a Basic Studies program, which is tuition free, and allows the student to brush up on skills which will be needed in their vocational program, including ESL. These basic skills labs are offered in private industry council offices, county jails, and at agencies serving refugees, in addition to on campus.
To promote success for women, we have Excel classes, which help prepare women for either choosing a career or preparing to enter the job market. Our ANEW program (Apprenticeships for Nontraditional Employment for Women) prepares low-income women to enter the construction trades.
Finally, students with disabilities are accommodated with specialized vocational counseling and with adaptive equipment such as magnified print computers, voice activated computers, and so on. The chemically dependent are offered custodial and horticulture vocational training at a special facility.
3. Program Support Services
RTC provides instructional support by providing individualized programs to help students based on their academic need. Among those services are computerized learning modules that, based on student answers, progress to the point where the student needs individual help, which is then provided by staff. Volunteer tutors provide specialized individual or small group help. Sign language interpreters are assigned to students that require assistance, and tape recorders or note takers are available to students requiring accommodation.
Handicapped and car pool accommodations make access to classrooms and labs as easy as possible. Enhanced bus service to the campus makes getting to school more convenient for students, in conjunction with bus passes being provided for other needy students.
The RTC Child Care Center offers reliable and affordable day care for students' children. The hours are from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., which give students a generous amount of time to drop children off before class and pick them up after class. A co-located employment security office on campus provides full-time and part-time job placement and assistance with employment benefits. RTC provides a veterans representative on campus and we have a veterans assistance person in financial aid.
1. Family/Parental Involvement and Support
Because at RTC our average-age student is 32, the role of students' parents is substantially less than at the secondary level. However, realizing the importance of parental influence, RTC programs involve collaboration, articulation, and communication with parents and/or families of our potential students, our current or former students, and with our community at large. Two of our programs which directly serve parents/families are Evenstart, a free basic skills/ESL program for parents of at-risk school-age children, and our ongoing parent education classes. Other kinds of parental involvement include high school students who wish to enroll in the Running Start Program have to have their parent(s) meet with the director of student services as part of the advising process.
As part of our ongoing recruitment plan, presentations are made to hundreds of parents of high school students every year as part of "College Night" at local high schools. Our designated disabled student services counselor meets with incoming disabled students and, when appropriate, their parent(s), to plan the students vocational training and any ancillary services. The financial aid staff regularly offers financial aid workshops specifically for parents.
2. Faculty/Staff Involvement in Career Guidance and Counseling Program
Faculty play a critical role in RTC's Career Guidance and Counseling Program. Faculty serve for a period of three years on the tenure committee of each counselor, observing their work and influencing their activities during tenure. Counselors also serve on faculty tenure committees.
Having first met with a counselor, potential vocational training enrollees visit program sites and meet directly with the faculty member, who presents a detailed description of their program, a curriculum outline, required prerequisites, placement rates, current employers hiring program graduates, hourly wage for new hires, and so on. Running Start requires a strong link between student, parent, vocational instructor, and Running Start coordinator.
Enrolled students will receive a comprehensive orientation to the school from their teacher the first day of class. Faculty, because they, along with the student, set up co-op placements where students earn credit for work experience are, again, directly involved in student counseling and guidance. Faculty also participate in job fairs, career fairs, and community resource fairs, often answering questions about their career (and their program) which can greatly influence a career choice.
Annual new faculty orientations include the introduction of the counseling staff, with an emphasis on the support counselors offer students and instructors. Faculty to counselor communication between Basic Studies and Student Services is facilitated greatly by the use of a Remediation Completion Report form.
Faculty play a key role in student participation in the student "Brown-Bag Lunch" series. This free series of informal presentations focuses on student mental and physical health issues. Often teachers bring their classes, or groups of students attend because their teacher recommends that they go.
3. Intra-Agency Cooperative Agreements
RTC provides support for diverse community needs through intra-agency agreements. For example, we hire and train childcare educators who, in turn, offer training for childcare workers in community day-care centers. In the Renton Senior Citizens Center, we offer classes on nutrition to low income seniors, to help them manage proper nutrition on a limited budget. Through our Basic Studies program, we offer ESL and Adult Basic Education to residents of low income housing throughout the area.
Interagency Cooperative Agreements
The agencies which work closely with RTC include the YWCA, the Employment Opportunities Center, Pacific Associates, Asian Counseling and Referral, Central Area Motivation Program, and the Seattle Conservation Corps. RTC also works with state agencies such as Vocational Rehabilitation, Department of Social and Health Services (JOBS Program), the Dislocated Worker Program; and other specialized programs such as Experience Plus, through the state's Office of Employment Securities. We cooperate in offering vocational counseling, information on the job market, financial aid, and supportive counseling throughout the program of study. Basic skills are assessed by both the agency and our counseling staff, and remediated before or during their education to ensure success.
4. Collaboration with Business
RTC has had extensive involvement with business and industry for many years. The following are especially worth noting: We collaborate with, and provide training for, the employees of such national and international companies as Firestone, Midas, Subaru, and others, including the Boeing Company.
The Business and Office Department collaborates on a contract basis with H&R Block to provide income tax preparation classes each fall quarter. RTC also has a collaboration with Puget Sound Multiple Listing Association to provide computerized training to real estate agents and other users of that system. Pre-employment training is provided to beginning travel agents in partnership with Premium Travel.
The RAVEN Project is the most ambitious project RTC is involved with. This project involves the designing of a human powered plane and includes RTC students from the Electronics, Machine Technology, and Health and Fitness programs working on various aspects of the operation. They are working with the Museum of Flight in Seattle and engineers from the Boeing Company. The goal is to have the plane ready for a six hour, 100 mile flight, from the Canadian border to the Puget Sound by 1997.
RTC provides trade-related instruction to indentured apprentices from 18 trades.
1. Institutional Support
RTC's administration is very aware of the importance of a strong Student Services Department as shown by the placement of this department under the direct supervision of a vice president that reports directly to the president. Student Services also does an annual presentation to the board of trustees for RTC at one of its regular monthly meetings. Throughout the year, the trustees have asked for special reports or have requested specific information concerning students to be prepared and presented by Student Services staff.
RTC has sought special funding to hire additional counseling staff to work with the special workforce population and a second position to develop a Running Start Program during the 1993-1994 school year.
The Workforce position has become a direct link to employers who are downsizing. This gives us the opportunity to offer services directly to their employees.
Running Start is a state-mandated program that allows 11th- and 12th-grade high school students the opportunity to attend postsecondary schools and receive both high school and college credit for work completed at the college level. Because of the nature of these programs, we filled these positions with counselors.
2. Facilities
RTC completed a massive building program during the late 1980s. The Campus Center, which houses the Student Services Department, was one of the buildings completed in that process. Student Services personnel actually worked with the architect to design their work area and establish the relationship to other departments within the building.
The Student Services suite is 2,500 square foot of space consisting of eight private, well-appointed, 125 square foot offices; a 400 square foot conference room; and 1,000 square foot of secretarial/reception area to receive students and guests. The Student Services area also shares another 1,500 square foot of common area with the Registration Department since both work so closely with students. Each office has its own computer system and is being tied directly to the student database for counseling convenience. Each office also has its own telephone line with voice mail.
Although it is not physically located in the Campus Center, the Student Services Department has a 1,000 square foot testing center with private office space and secured storage. Student Services establishes the testing schedule, scores, and interprets all assessment instruments for students.
3. Financial Support
The Student Services Department receives 5% of RTC's $16 million dollar annual budget. Expenditures fall into three major categories: salaries and benefits - 65%; public relations, recruitment, and institutional publications - 30%; and supplies, professional development, and travel - 5%.
The majority of the Student Services Department dollars comes directly from the state allocation; however, Perkins dollars flow into Student Services to cover special circumstances. Students that are either handicapped or disadvantaged who need a special accommodation or special training equipment qualify for extra dollars. Both the Running Start and Workforce programs generate extra money that can be used by Student Services when needed.
Student Services is well-cared-for financially and only has to justify its needs. Major needs may take one budget cycle before dollars are provided.
4. Guidance Personnel Qualifications
The professional staffing for the program consists of a vice president for students and six counselors. All seven have master's degrees.
Three of the counselors are registered by the State of Washington in addition to their vocational guidance certification from the state. One of the counselors is a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor, and one of the occupational specialists has a specialization in ESL.
For employment at a technical college, work experience outside the field of education is required for Student Services personnel. Our staff have had a variety of work exposures, including experiences in the following trades and industries: transportation; construction; health; social services; corrections; and business management, as well as entrepreneurial.
Our staff have memberships in a variety of professional organizations. The counseling department is represented on almost every college committee, including accreditation. We also serve on a variety of local- and state-level educational committees.
5. Professional Development
RTC provides its faculty and staff with resources and personal insight into successfully managing their evolving professional lives. RTC counseling staff members work collaboratively with the human resource staff and the professional development and tenure committees to assist individuals with understanding career paths and to select appropriate strategies from a variety of learning opportunities. A supportive environment is cultivated that helps counselors and faculty identify development needs and approaches for learning.
Inservice training is offered to help employees design a career profile and discover and capitalize on their strengths. Counselors utilize the Faculty Development Plan to develop their mission and goals. Counselors also benefit from campuswide workshops and conferences, which include intra- and interpersonal skills, as well as technical topics. Other opportunities for counselor training include attendance at professional conferences, seminars, workshops, and monthly faculty grab bag sessions.
RTC counseling staff represent a rich source of subject matter expertise. They often serve as trainers or job role models for counseling graduate interns. These interns gain on-the-job experience by assisting counseling personnel with presentations to students, assessment, recruitment and intake. Through campus training courses, employees receive Professional Improvement Units (PIU) by taking college level and continuing education credits tuition free. Classes are generally taught by our staff or faculty members from local universities.
6. Program Evaluation
Program evaluation is multifaceted and is both formal and informal.
The formal evaluations were performed by the team from Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges in the fall of 1993. As you can see from the attached documentation, they evaluated the guidance program as a part of the overall student personnel services.
Formal evaluation based on observation and overall performance is also a yearly responsibility of the vice president for Student Services.
Informal evaluations occur on both a weekly and on a yearly basis. At the end of each year, the guidance staff meets to set goals for the following year and review our progress toward the goals which we set the previous year. Department goals are mutually determined after considerable discussion, and we are cognizant of the need to express our goals in terms of measurable outcomes.
Each week the vice president for Student Services meets with the guidance staff to review issues which have come up during the previous week and the expertise of the whole group is utilized to resolve the issue. Questions for Community College Counseling Departments, a tool developed by CSDAC (the State Counseling Administrators group), is used as a guide.
In 1993, a student satisfaction survey was mailed to the 1991-1992 completors/noncompletors.
In 1994, a 28-item Workforce Training Trust Fund Survey was mailed by the state board to 1,323 workforce students enrolled in state colleges.
7. Follow-up of Program Completors and Noncompletors
The follow-up of former students, a function performed for many years by the counseling staff, is now done by the staff at the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges.
The procedure is as follows: At the end of each school year, RTC transmits to the state a completor/leaver report. This report is a listing, by instructional program, of the names and Student Identification Numbers (SIDs) of students who have exited the program during the year.
The State Board staff matches the SIDs of the students with the database of the following state agencies: Employment Security, Office of Fiscal Management, Systems Management Information System, as well as the Department of Defense Personnel File and neighboring states' data files. The employment status of each student is determined when there is a match with the Employment Security file. Data is then made available to each college through a series of reports.
In addition to the completor/leaver report, a separate placement report is compiled from data which is gathered from program instructors. The reports are made available to program administrators and are utilized in the yearly program and instructor evaluation.