Academic Counseling Services

What is Academic Counseling?

"Academic Counseling involves meeting with an ASK professional to have your academic strengths and weaknesses assessed. Possible outcomes of academic counseling include suggestions for adjustments in study methods and techniques, as well as continued instruction and supervised practice in writing, reading, and general learning strategies."

Why do Keuka students need academic counseling?

"Successful Keuka students realize that learning is life-long. They know that varieties of demands are placed upon their academic skills during their stay at Keuka. Learning more about their individual academic strengths and weakness gives them the opportunity to build the skills necessary to become successful and confident students. Freshmen, especially, need academic counseling to assist them in making the transition from high school to college."

What kind of college student accesses academic counseling?

"While Keuka students come in for academic counseling for many reasons, the one thing they all have in common is a desire to be successful. The students that seek and use our services are diverse. They include honor students, students with learning differences, students who speak English as a second language, adult students, or simply students interested in strengthening and maintaining their academic skills."

How can I, as a Keuka student, access academic counseling services?

"There are several ways a student can access academic counseling services. You can stop by the Academic Support Program office in Hegeman 301 and make an appointment, you can call the office at 5636, or you can ask your advisor or professor to refer you to a professional on staff. Academic counseling is open to all students enrolled in a Keuka program."

What specific services are provided?

"The Academic Support Program offers a variety of academic counseling services. Helping each student to recognize his/her personal learning style is an important step in the academic counseling process. We teach students about the principles of learning, memory techniques, organizational skills, and about how to use technology to improve study habits"

Specifically, skills and strategy instruction might focus on one or more of the following areas:

What is the difference between college and high school?

HIGH SCHOOL TEACHERS
COLLEGE PROFESSORS
Teachers provide you with information you missed when you were absent. Professors expect you to get from classmates any notes from classes you missed.
Teachers check your completed homework. Professors may not always check completed homework, but they will assume you can perform the same tasks on their tests.
Teachers approach you if they believe you need assistance. Professors expect you to approach them if you need assistance, and most are very open and helpful.
Teachers are often available for conversation before, during, or after class. Professors expect and want you to attend their scheduled office hours.
Teachers have been trained in teaching methods to assist in imparting knowledge to students. Professors have been trained as experts in their particular areas of research.
Teachers present material to help you understand the material in the textbook. Professors may not follow the textbook. Instead, to amplify the text, they may give illustrations, provide background information, or discuss research about the topic you are studying. Or they may expect you to relate the classes to the textbook readings.
Teachers often write information on the board to be copied in your notes. Professors may lecture nonstop, expecting you to identify the important points in your notes. When professors write on the board, it may be to amplify the lecture, not to summarize it. Good notes are a must.
Teachers impart knowledge and facts, sometimes drawing direct connections and leading you through the thinking process. Professors expect you to think about and synthesize seemingly unrelated topics.
Teachers will often take time to remind you of assignments and due dates. Professors expect you to read, save and consult the course syllabus (outline); the syllabus spells out exactly what is expected of you, when it is due, and how you will be graded.

 

STUDYING
IN HIGH SCHOOL
STUDYING
IN COLLEGE
You may study outside of class as little as 0 to 2 hours a week, and this may be mostly last-minute test preparation.
You need to study at least 2 to 3 hours outside of class for each hour in class.
You often need to read or hear presentations only once to learn all you need to learn about them. You plan regular reviews of notes and text material.
You are expected to read short assignments that are then discussed, and often re-taught, in class. You are assigned substantial amounts of reading and writing which may not be directly addressed in class.
Guiding principle: You will usually be told in class what you needed to learn from assigned readings. Guiding principle: It's up to you to read and understand the assigned material. Then you're ready to start the real work.

 

TESTS
IN HIGH SCHOOL
TESTS
IN COLLEGE
Testing is frequent and covers small amounts of material. Testing is usually infrequent and may be cumulative, covering large amounts of material. You, not the professor, need to organize the material to prepare for the test. A particular course may have only 2 or 3 tests in a whole semester.
Makeup tests are often available. Makeup tests are seldom an option; if they are, you need to request them.
Teachers frequently adjust test dates to avoid conflict with school events. Professors in different courses may schedule tests on the same date, especially during midterms and finals.
Teachers frequently have review sessions, pointing out the most important concepts. Professors rarely have review sessions, and when they do, they expect you to be an active participant. Come prepared with questions.
Mastery is usually seen as the ability to reproduce what you were taught in the form in which it was presented to you or to solve the kinds of problems you were shown how to solve. Mastery is often seen as the ability to apply what you've learned to new situations or to solve new kinds of problems.

 

GRADES
IN HIGH SCHOOL
GRADES
IN COLLEGE
Grades are given for most assigned work. Grades may not be provided for all assigned work.
A baseline of homework grades may help raise your overall grade when test grades are low. Grades on tests and major papers usually provide most of the course grade.
Extra credit projects are often available to help you raise your grade. Extra credit projects cannot, generally speaking, be used to raise a grade in a college course.
Initial test grades, especially when they are low, may not have an adverse effect on your final grade. Watch out for your first tests. These are usually "wake-up calls" to let you know what is expected. You may be shocked when you get your grades. If you receive notice of low grades on either an Early-Term or a Mid-Semester Progress Report, see your academic advisor and/or visit the Academic Support Center.
Graduation may occur as long as you have passed all required courses with a grade of D or higher. Graduation occurs only if your average in classes meets the departmental standard¾typically a 2.0 or C. In addition, you must also meet academic standards set by Keuka College in order to maintain your academic standing.
Guiding principle: "Effort counts." Courses are usually structured to reward a "good-faith effort." Guiding principle: "Results count." Though "good-faith effort" is important in regard to the professor's willingness to help you achieve good results, it will not substitute for results in the grading process.

What Skills Do I Need to be Successful?

"Experience is determined by yourself -
not the circumstances of your life." -Gita Bellin

What Are Some Strategies I Could Use to Build My Academic Skills?

"It is good to have an end to journey towards,
but it is the journey that matters in the end." -Ursula Le Guin

Being Self-Responsible in the Classroom

Being self-responsible in your classes means behaving in ways that are respectful and likely to leave your professor/instructor with a good impression of you. Here are some hints for accomplishing this goal.

Excerpted from
Petrie, Trent A., Lisa Pinkenburg Landry, and Kimberly Bobinski Edwards. Achieving Personal and Academic Success: Fall 1999. Denton, Texas, RonJon Publishing, Inc. 1998. 253.

Establish Reasonable Goals

Goals are an integral part of the foundation for success in all areas in life. Therefore, an important initial task is to state the reasons why you are at Keuka College. These reasons may change over time, but articulating them early can help your motivation and make the experience more meaningful.

It is crucial that you as a Keuka College freshmen master the art of goal setting, objective writing, and motivation building. The most important thing you must understand is that it can't be taught to you. Your professors and/or academic advisor can show you how to write a goal, how to construct an objective list, but beyond that, your professor and/or advisor has no control or power. You Are In Control!!!

No one can write your goals for you. No one can live your life for you. No one can finish your education for you. No one can motivate you except yourself. Remember "you are never given a wish without the power to make it come true."

Excerpted from
Petrie, Trent A., Lisa Pinkenburg Landry, and Kimberly Bobinski Edwards. Achieving Personal and Academic Success: Fall 1999. Denton, Texas, RonJon Publishing, Inc. 1998. 14.

Sherfield, Robert M., James C. Williamson, Debra A. McCandrew. Roadways To Success. Needham, MA, Allyn and Bacon. 1997. 55.