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Volume 1 Issue 2December 1997

Virtual Counseling at Rancho Santiago Community College District

Lynne Stedman, Ph.D
Dean of Counseling, Santa Ana College

The Rancho Santiago Community College District (RSCCD) is in the process of implementing virtual counseling services.

First, the complete college catalog and a counseling web site will be put on the Internet so that students can access information about the college and counseling online. Second, an e-mail address for the counseling department will be added to the web site so students can ask questions and counselors can respond to their requests. Third, one-on-one counseling sessions via videoconferencing between the two RSCCD colleges (Santa Ana campus and Orange campus) and two continuing education centers will be provided for students making the transition from non-credit programs and classes to college credit classes.

RSCCD has a huge pool of potential college students enrolled at our continuing education centers. Our Continuing Education Division counselors are overburdened with the volume of students they must serve, and cannot provide the kind of counseling students need to focus their educational efforts. With our proposed program we will be able to accommodate one of the most underserved populations in the state: non-credit students. To facilitate successful distance counseling sessions, faculty will have the opportunity to be trained by an expert communications consultant. Those initially trained will train another in an "each one, teach one" format.

As of November, we have successfully added the current college catalog online. Members of the counseling staff are designing the counseling web site , and we are currently receiving e-mail from potential students, some as far away as Japan. Once the counseling web site is ready, our goal is to have links to most frequently asked questions, counselors' individual e-mail pages with their pictures on-line, a marketing link thatpublicizes counseling courses, workshops, film services and seminars, as well as links to information on careers, jobs, and university home pages.