Last week I received a letter in my school mail from a college in Iowa. It was addressed to, “Instructors, guidance counselors, and  administration.” I cringed. Nothing ruffles my feathers more in education than being called a “guidance counselor.”  It is 2022 and the profession of school counseling has been around since the early 1900’s. It has evolved and adapted to modern and current times, yet somehow, the title of guidance counselor has been hard to shake. 

“Can everyone hear me?” “Nope, go ahead!” “You’re muted!” are just a few statements that have been uttered in the countless Zoom meetings we’ve all endured for almost a year.

As we begin another academic year, college campuses across the state are busy with transition programs for new students. From welcome week activities to first-year seminars to peer mentoring programs for incoming freshmen, the opportunities for first-year students to get help mastering their transition to college are abundant. However, it is important to recognize the great work that many colleges and universities are doing to help a different group with their college transition: transfer students. Three campuses, Iowa State University, Central College, and the University of Iowa, shared their initiatives to help transfer students make a successful transition to their new university.

Professional school counselors and college admissions counselors can work together to help students in innumerable ways through the college decision process. Working as partners, they can call upon the skills and expertise of each to provide the best information and most satisfying college search process for students. As a former professional school counselor, now college admissions counselor, I see many ways the two groups can work together for students.

Now that admissions staff and students are back from winter break, many admissions offices are conducting their winter all-staff training. Although there are many similarities in how we all train and refresh staff on important topics, there’s a lot we can learn from each other about the best way to learn more about our campuses and improve in the work that we do to support students. To learn more about how different offices handle all-staff training, I spoke with Marcus Phillips from the University of Iowa, Tom Heiar from the University of Northern Iowa, and Drew Shradel from Cornell College.

If its fall, most of us are busy with college fairs, school visits, campus visits, travel itineraries, applications, and endless emails. It’s hard to find a day when the entire staff is in the office at the same time.

Campuses have been hosting events and visits for as long as most of us can remember. But, just because your institution’s visits and events have always looked a certain way, is that the way they need to stay?

It's hard to believe that National College Decision Day is only a couple of short weeks away. All of the hard work of high school counseling staff and admissions professionals will soon come to fruition as we see the college classes of 2022 come together. As an admissions professional, I know that I am definitely excited to see what this next class will bring to our campuses!  

The Iowa ACAC Inclusion, Access, and Success Committee is excited to host the third annual L.E.A.P. Conference on Wednesday, April 4, 2018!

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), has been a huge help to the immigrant population that arrived here as children. After the entire population was placed on a roller-coaster of having DACA rescinded and reinstated, we are not yet sure what the future holds. As a recipient myself, and undocumented before this, I was always afraid of disclosing my immigration status. Although DACA recipients cannot apply for any federal aid, there are many ways that institutions can offer help. Here is what we recommend for DACA recipients: