College and Career Advising for Special Population Students  — Fall 2024

This course, developed for practicing professional school counselors, pre-service school counselors, and college access professionals, includes four sessions that address the skills and knowledge required to help special population students prepare for college and careers. As a participant in this course, you will be engaged in building knowledge and skills in several areas, including understanding and identifying special populations, building support systems, academic planning and record keeping, and building the self-advocacy skills necessary for success in college and careers.

What are Special Population Students?

Special population students, as defined by Perkins IV are:

• Individuals with disabilities
• Individuals from economically disadvantaged families, including foster children
• Individuals preparing for nontraditional training and employment
• Single parents, including single pregnant women
• Individuals with other barriers to educational achievement, including individuals with limited English proficiency

As you work through this course, you may want to consider how the material you are learning applies to students such as:

• Homeless students
• Students in foster care and wards of the court
• Students with disabilities
• LGBTQIA+ students
• Migrant or undocumented students
• Refugee students
• Court-involved youth

This class is made up of four sessions, culminating in a Final Action Plan. We estimate that the workload for these courses is around four hours per week, which is reflected in the awarding of SCECHs. 

• Session 1: Understanding and Advocating for Special Populations
• Session 2: Building Support Systems For Special Populations
• Session 3: Helping Students Build Resilience and Self-Advocacy Skills
• Session 4: Academic Progress and Planning

Meeting Dates

The course is five weeks long, beginning Oct. 14 and ending Nov. 17, with a one-hour virtual meeting every week (hosted Mondays 1-2 p.m.); the fifth meeting is optional office hours if you need help with your final assignment. Attending meetings is not mandatory but highly encouraged; SCECHs will be reduced if any meetings are missed, but it will not affect your standing in the course. The meeting schedule is as follows: 

• Oct. 14, 1-2 p.m.
• Oct. 21, 1-2 p.m.
• Oct. 28, 1-2 p.m.
• Nov. 4, 1-2 p.m.
• Nov. 11, 1-2 p.m. (optional office hours, no SCECH credit attached)

Availability and Cost

MCAN is offering this mini-course in partnership with College Futures and Go Alliance. We are offering one section of this course, facilitated by Rebekah Ward. There is a MAXIMUM of 30 seats available. Those who register after we reach 30 seats will be waitlisted. Priority consideration will be granted to school counselors.

The course is open to all school counselors, college and career advisers (except AmeriCorps members), and educators. However, a limited number of seats are available and priority consideration will be granted to school counselors. Remaining seats will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Additional names will be placed on a waiting list. Registrants who secure a seat will receive a $250 scholarship to access the course at no cost.

SCECH Information

We anticipate offering 10 SCECHs in college prep and selection and 10 SCECHs in career exploration upon successful completion of the course. The maximum amount of 20 total SCECHs will be awarded to individuals who complete the entire course, including participation in all live virtual sessions. Reduced SCECHs for partial completion of coursework will not be awarded.

The deadline to register is Monday, Oct. 7th, 2024.