The California Community Colleges System hosted the first annual Student Services All Directors Training April 23 – 25 at the San Francisco Airport Hyatt Regency. Cerritos College deans and directors from several student service programs attended the training, which was entitled “Student Services, the Key to Success,” and featured specific workshops on program collaboration, legal compliance and innovative practices.

 

Those attending on behalf of the college were Coordinator of CalWorks Services Norma Rodriguez; Dean of Disabled Students Programs and Services (DSPS) Dr. Lucinda Aborn; Interim Dean of Student Support Services Kim Westby; and Dean of Counseling Services Renée DeLong Chomiak. More than 300 student services personnel from the 109 state community colleges attended the event. 

 

“The training provided an opportunity to informally network with deans from other programs and colleges," said DeLong Chomiak, "and the training’s underlying theme was collaboration.” 

 

Rodriguez said she enjoyed the opportunity to learn from other college’s best practices in serving welfare recipients and ensuring better transition to employment, while Westby found that the training was "most educational on common topics such as program standards, legislation and student learning outcomes.”

During the conference, Aborn presented a workshop on “Mentoring and Resources for New Professionals.” The workshop provided information on mentoring new program staff and on-line resources for DSPS. 

 

“Increasing numbers of new DSPS professionals are entering the community college system,” she explained. 

 

“There are many online resources available to these professionals. Mentoring is also an excellent opportunity to share best practices with DSPS professionals of all levels of experience.” 

The conference included several keynote presenters providing motivational speeches on communication techniques and collaboration.  Exhibitors at the event also distributed information on services and products related to student services.

For information on Cerritos College’s many student services, please visit http://www.cerritos.edu/students.asp. Additionally, further information about the conference training will be posted on the California Community Colleges System Office website www.cccco.edu.

 

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