Making the transition to college can sometimes be intimidating. Whether you’ve recently finished high school or are looking to go back to school to make a career change, one important factor in choosing the right college are the student services they offer.
In general, a good student services department should be able to do a number of things:
- make the transition to college a simple process
- provide resources for support and assistance throughout your college career
- enrich your college experience
Without a solid student services department, students wouldn’t know where to turn if they had questions about college life, or could use some help with building better study habits. Regardless of your background or the program of study you want to enroll in, the college you choose should understand your needs and help facilitate your success.
Read on to find out a few components that make up a great student services department, so that when you choose a college, you know that help will be there when you need it!
Services to Help You Improve Your Study Skills
When it comes to studying, anyone could benefit from a few tips! Students who are returning to school after having been away for a while may find it helpful to attend workshops or receive individualized support in this area so that they can build study habits that work for them.
Most people know that everyone learns differently and we all have our own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to academics. Because of this, many colleges have started using assessment tools to determine in which areas students could benefit most from when offering them support!
Let’s say, for example, you enroll in a psychiatric nursing program and have difficulty staying motivated to study regularly. A good student services department will help cater to your needs by signing you up for goal-setting workshops! Other ways that student services can help improve your study skills are with lessons in note-taking, time management and concentration techniques.
Life Skills Coaching for Students
Some student services departments offer life skills coaching either in workshop format or in a one-on-one setting. These types of services aim at helping you grow in areas that will not only help you during your time at college, but in your future career as well.
If students are enrolling in a BC nursing school for the first time, life skills coaching can provide benefits in the following ways:
- developing better interpersonal and communication skills
- creating a better classroom community by building on teamwork
- teaching time management
- showing students how to set learning and personal goals
- teaching how to build and maintain relationships with peers and instructors
Support for ESL Students
If you’re a student who’s newly learning English, then you’ll want to pick a college with services available for your specific needs.
In Canada, there are many programs available that go hand-in-hand with ESL courses, such as health care assistant training. When programs are paired with ESL training, you take classes in your chosen program while also attending ongoing English classes to improve your writing, grammar, listening, speaking skills and more!
Some student services departments even offer free prep courses to help you pass English college admission tests, so that when the time comes, you can enroll in your program of choice with confidence!
What other student support services do you think are important when choosing a college?
