Education Plan Completion Strategies by Leslie Salas

Overview

lesliesalas2_1 — 2025-09-29 20:01:54 UTC

Focus on:

New

First time

non-special admit students

Comprehensive ed plan is defined as a plan with at least 2 terms in length and should reflect the number of terms required to achieve the students declared course of study.

NO population was identified as having DI.

Strategy Focus

lesliesalas2_1 — 2025-09-29 20:05:07 UTC

What key strategies will our college plan to implement or continue to proactively ensure all students receive a comprehensive education plan early in their journey- with a primary goal delivery in the first semester, and a secondary goal of delivery by the end of their first academic year. This will help support equitable outcomes and prepare students for transfer, employment, and economic mobility.

Please add any strategies you think would support the completion of comprehensive plans for the identified students in the overview.

Suggested Strategy

lesliesalas2_1 — 2025-09-29 20:07:34 UTC

Create a positive service indicator for all new, first time non- special admit students to meet with a counselor for an education plan.

Improving Ed Plan completions

2025-09-30 20:13:58 UTC

Reinstitute "EAP", Early Admission Program where new students meet with a counselor and develop an educational plan one on one with a counselor. Students who are not ready to detail a comprehensive plan will complete an abbreviated plan and a detailed action plan (such as Career courses, workshops, visits to the career Center) and be given an appointment date in the near future to finalize a comprehensive plan.
After the start of each semester, identify those students who have not developed a comprehensive ed plan and set up a counseling appointment for them (or ed planning small group session).
With the help of student workers, canvas the campus and ask other students if they have a current educational plan and if not, offer to arrange one on the spot. We need to encourage students to meet with a counselor and a 3 week appointment delay can be a deal breaker for some students.
Leave some appointments open on the grid for campaignes to fill them with students who haven't ever seen a counselor

Communication to students after application is submitted (CCC Apply/Palomar)

2025-09-30 23:35:28 UTC

Provide students with a guide outlining the necessary links/tutorials that get them into their student portal
Provide information about verifying their education plan/program of study and providing resources to TypeFocus assessment and/or Palomar Mapper tool to assist with course planning
Emails need to be sent to student personal accounts to provide them with specific instructions on how to access their Microsoft365 accounts (outlook)
Direct students with AP scores to order scores and send to Palomar College
Identify career planning milestones and add positive service indicators to indicate Major confirmation/Career Exploration
Create strategic counseling full drop in sessions during registration
Collaborate with English/Math/Comm C1000 courses to get students to complete comprehensive plan as part of their assignment and/or extra credit? (or ANY GE courses/programs for that matter)
Create a "New Student Checklist" for students to follow
Follow the cycle of registration calendar, encourage students to make appointments for comprehensive plans (October/April)

counseling outreach

2025-10-01 15:55:27 UTC

Visit classrooms to promote counseling services and workshops as well provide opportunity for students to schedule counseling appointments

provide ADT small group educational planning workshops (utilize pathway mapper tool for comprehensive education plan)

Target ADT classes (psy, bus) to promote workshops

Orientation Includes Type Focus

2025-10-02 00:13:30 UTC

Require or encourage orientation after applying that includes the following before new students can enroll:

Online or in person workshop that details drop deadlines, etc., similar to our past orientations.
Afterward, they complete TypeFocus.
Afterward, this will trigger an appt. the student will make with a counselor to determine career/major and first semester classes.
Student then registers for classes.

If it's done in this order, the following benefits occur:
-Counselors could write more comprehensive educational plans that connect with the student's true major and lower the average number of times the average student changes their major which is 3-5 times during college. This will also open up more counseling appts.
-Students get directly involved in their career planning process and looking within themselves to find their true purpose, interests, and gifts they possess instead of winging it.
-Students who are excited about their major and career do better in their classes because they are motivated to succeed which will increase graduation and transfer rates.
It just seems like a no brainer.

2025-10-02 17:35:16 UTC

Workshops (ed planning) for new students that are pathways focused and ideally to include an instructional faculty member from that discipline. For undecided students, career planning workshops and review of general education options.

Screening for AP/official transcripts to be on file prior to making an appointment for a comprehensive ed plan. Provide process to request scores/transcripts when student books appt.

Collaboration with Promise and those who apply to Promise, reaching out to those students and create a comprehensive plan for every one of those students. Although many of them might be undecided, many of the first-year students will have similar ed plans with some of the common General Education courses.

docallaghan2 — 2025-10-02 18:48:25 UTC

My ideas

2025-10-02 23:02:53 UTC

New Student Orientation
Offer online—and potentially in-person—new student workshops prior to a student’s first counseling appointment. These workshops will introduce students to college, help them successfully transition to college and provide an overview of available support.

Educational Planning for New Students
Provide education planning workshops exclusively for new students, organized by pathway. Emphasize that plans may change as students refine their career or major goals. Introduce what their current academic journey could look like, how it may shift with future changes, and support them in creating an initial two-semester education plan.

Undecided Students & Career Exploration
Incorporate a career assessment at the time of application through CCCApply for students applying to Palomar College to help them begin identifying possible pathways. I’m not sure how the technology piece will work—whether a link to the assessment will need to be provided, or if students will be automatically redirected to the Palomar College website. While career workshops could be an option, they are not always appropriate since career planning is highly individual, and some students may not feel comfortable sharing in a group setting. Starting with an assessment during the application process provides a strong foundation/starting point, which counselors can then build upon during individual counseling sessions.

Comprehensive Education Planning
Offer comprehensive education planning only after all transcripts and external exam results have been received and the student’s major has been officially declared.

*Note: provide better access/visibility to how to change major video tutorial on the website-as this process has proven to be somewhat challenging since students have to do it on their own.

Front Desk Training
Train front desk staff to accurately schedule students for 15-minute or 1-hour appointments based on agreed-upon criteria. This ensures students are matched with the appropriate level of support and receive robust assistance tailored to their needs.

Prior Transcript Requirement

2025-10-03 00:54:53 UTC

If students have attended prior colleges, how could we make it a requirement to have them on file prior to Comprehensive ed plan appointment?