Spring 2025 — Contemporary and Social Issues in School Counseling Course Registration
The Contemporary and Social Issues in School Counseling course is designed for school counselors, college and career advisors, and other educators. This course will review current events, ideas, opinions, and topics relevant to the school counseling profession today. Participants will acquire inquiry skills to examine issues across policy, research, and practices that impact their work with students, families, staff, and community partners. Whether it be gender equality, poverty and homelessness, immigration, healthcare, critical race theory, teacher and counselor shortages, or the ramifications of COVID, participants will explore how these issues impact college and career counseling, postsecondary planning, and develop plans to address the concerns in their own community.
This course will begin January 24th and run through May 9th. The course comprises five modules, each with specific deliverables. Registrants should anticipate spending a total of 30 hours on this course over the span of the semester, which is reflected in the awarding of SCECHs. Six hours will be spent in the monthly meetings, and the remaining 24 hours will be spent doing independent online coursework between meetings. This breaks down to about six hours a month. Virtual meeting dates and times can be found below. If registrants are unable to make the monthly meetings live, they will be recorded and available to watch for credit at a later time.
Meeting dates:
All sessions will be 2-3 p.m.
Jan. 24 — Orientation and Welcome
Feb. 14 — Module 1
March 7 — Module 2
March — Module 3
April 18 — Module 4
May 9 — Module 5
The course will be facilitated by Dr. Laura Owen, school counselor educator and Director of the Center for Equity and Postsecondary Attainment at San Diego State University, with support from the Michigan College Access Network team. After successful completion of the full course you will be a Michigan College Access Network Trained Counselor.
Please complete the form below to formally state your interest in participating in the Contemporary and Social Issues in School Counseling course. There are a limited number of seats available for the course. Participants will be selected on a first-come first-serve basis, with priority given to school counselors. All course participants and will be awarded a $250 scholarship to cover the costs of the course; this will be paid directly to our partners at SDSU.
We anticipate 15 SCECHs in career exploration and 15 SCECHs in college preparation will be awarded to individuals who complete the full course, including participation in all virtual sessions (either live or recorded). Reduced SCECHs for partial completion will not be awarded.
The deadline to apply to the course is January 17.
If you have previously completed this course, please do not register for it again. Other opportunities will be available for you this winter and spring. If you are a currently serving AmeriCorps member, you are not eligible for this course.
Questions: Contact Kiersten Nolan, MCAN Strategy Assistant for High School Innovation, at kiersten@micollegeaccess.org or 517-896-1678.