Value Statement:

• The College recognizes the importance of helping students to articulate their educational goals, and to align College resources in support of those diverse goals.

Enabling students to meet their educational goals should be the central organizing principle of College activity. While most of the work on this task will be done by students and faculty as part of the instructional process, the College shall also provide these other needed supports:

A. Goal Declaration

The College shall help students relate their aptitudes and interests to career opportunities and the corresponding educational goals (which may or may not include further college education after ACC). Accordingly:

[1] The College shall provide current information about the career opportunities in its area (including current demand, starting salaries, and career salary prospects), the preparation typically required for success in those careers, and the subsequent success by academic sector of ACC students in job placement and/or university transfer.

[2] Students shall be assessed as to their preparedness for their goals and informed of the educational sequences ACC offers that would advance them toward those goals (or of an alternate supplier or method in cases where that would be in the best interests of a student).

[3] A declaration of educational goal (which may or may not include a degree or certificate) shall be maintained (and updated at least annually) for each college-credit student to allow analyses of goal attainment.

B. Advising

[1] Each college-credit student (except those who at entry declare a clear short-term goal and decline an advisor) shall be assigned a faculty or staff advisor prepared to assist with the specific educational goal of that student. For transfer students, this preparation shall include appropriate knowledge about their field and the articulation of ACC courses with their target college. For workforce students, knowledge of the student's target industry shall be included. In either case, students requiring remediation under state law shall be given assistance and advice on how to satisfy such requirements while advancing toward their specific goals.

[2] Students (especially those who have difficulty reaching their goals) shall be advised as to how to learn effectively at the college level and as to what combinations of preparation, courseload, and non-school activities have been found to be consistent with academic success at ACC.

[3] Advising and counseling shall reflect a consistent philosophy of operational delivery throughout the College, with task assignments implementing a coordinated plan allocating resources based on student needs and addressing both campus-specific services and college-wide responsibilities.

C. Financial Aid

The College shall fully inform students as to their opportunities for financial assistance to attend college, and shall facilitate their use of those opportunities, especially for grants.

D. Educational Counseling

The College shall assist students in addressing obstacles to the achievement of their educational goals. Accordingly:

[1] Counseling services shall be focused on enabling educational achievement. Counselors shall accordingly work with students (self-referred or identified by faculty or staff as needing attention) so as to help them:

(a) make good use of the support services available at the College.

(b) understand how other students with similar problems have successfully resolved them.

(c) develop work and classroom participation patterns that contribute to successful performance in school and in their intended career.

[2] Student-development staff shall ensure that student concerns are brought to the notice of the responsible authority. Counselors shall therefore:

(a) inform the appropriate supervisor when a student reports any action by a College employee that seems contrary to College rules or policy, and

(b) inform students of the College's appeal systems when appropriate, while respecting the responsibility and authority of instructors.

[3] The college shall provide assistance to its students in placement in jobs or further higher education when they have completed their preparatory work.

E. Reports

The President shall make a comprehensive annual report to the Board on the extent and nature of College efforts and results in this area. It shall list goal-achievement rates by major/program, ethnicity, and gender, and shall describe the participation in and nature of support services in this area. The report shall also include institutional plans and goals for improving the College's ability to serve students who do not succeed in reaching their declared goals.

The Austin Community College Board of Trustees adopted this policy on August 2, 1999 and amended it May 1, 2000, March 4, 2003, and March 31, 2003. Note: This policy was renumbered from A-6 to A-4 in August 2009 due to resequencing of board policies.The original A-4.Tuition Rates, was moved to G9 under the newly renamed Group G: District Finances on July 9, 2007.

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