Counselor (2021-16)

Sierra College is a Community College located near Sacramento, California where a heavy emphasis is placed on academic excellence and student success. Since its founding in 1936, Sierra College has focused on quality instruction and meeting the evolving needs of the students and communities that it serves. The Sierra Community College District covers more than 3,200 square miles and serves the Northern California foothill counties of Placer and Nevada, as well as parts of El Dorado and Sacramento. We serve over 18,000 students throughout the region in both on-ground and online courses, including students at our main Rocklin Campus as well as at three centers located in Grass Valley, Tahoe/Truckee, and Roseville. Our District prides itself on academic excellence, having been named an Aspen Prize for College Excellence eligible institution for 2019.

Sierra College has a strong commitment to the achievement of equity and inclusion among its faculty, staff, and students and values the rich, diverse backgrounds that make up the campus community. A strong candidate for this position must demonstrate a profound understanding of and experience with successfully supporting individuals with varying backgrounds. This includes persons with disabilities, various gender identities and sexual orientations, as well as individuals from historically underrepresented communities and other groups. Our District is committed to providing strategies for success and proactive student-centered practices and policies focused on eliminating equity gaps to ensure the District provides an inclusive educational and employment environment focused on strategies for success and equitable outcomes for all.

As an institution, Sierra College is committed to eliminating the equity gap in all student populations with dynamic, learner-centered practices and policies that fully engage the college community. The ideal candidate will share the College’s commitment to helping its racially and socioeconomically diverse students succeed in their degree and career objectives. Currently, Sierra College enrolls 18,300 students per term, where approximately: 21% of Sierra College’s students are Latino/a/x, 3% are African-American, 3% are Filipino, 6% are Asian-American, 1% are Native American, 1% are Pacific Islander, 7% are multiracial and 57% are White.

The successful candidate will join a College dedicated to the use of culturally responsive teaching strategies and methods that meet the varying needs of our students and ensure a successful learning environment. Sierra College demonstrates its commitment to equity by supporting ongoing professional development for students, faculty, and staff. These opportunities include trainings and workshops on equity and inclusion, a Faculty Equity and Inclusion Certificate, SC4 (Sierra College Community, Creativity, Culture, and Collaboration Training), active Academic Senate standing committees concerned with student success and equity, a Presidential Equity Advisory Committee (PEAC), culturally responsive student engagement centers, support for our undocumented and AB540 students, campus-wide equity summits, a robust set of programs, events, and conferences related to equity-mindedness and supporting the success of our diverse students.

Under general direction of an educational administrator, to provide counseling a diverse student population regarding personal, educational, career development/vocational choice, psychological testing, and other matters, utilizing various assessment techniques, to provide orientation and outreach efforts and crisis intervention and emergency counseling, to function as liaison between students and District faculty members, secondary schools, other post-secondary educational institutions, and the community, and to do related work, as required.

To see the full scope of duties and responsibilities, please visit Counselor | Job Details tab | Career Pages (schooljobs.com).

 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

CCC MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS HANDBOOK 

Master’s in counseling, rehabilitation counseling, clinical psychology, counseling psychology, guidance counseling, educational counseling, social work, career development, marriage and family therapy or marriage, family and child counseling OR the equivalent.

 

NOTE: A bachelor’s degree in one of the listed degrees and a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT) is an alternative qualification for this discipline.

 

 

REQUIRED APPLICATION DOCUMENTS
There are five (5) required documents to apply for this position:

1. Sierra College Employment Applications
2. Resume or Curriculum Vitae,
3. Cover Letter that addresses the  responsibilities and qualifications listed above, including:
   • The transferable experience, knowledge, skills, and abilities for college-level counseling;
   • Experience and expertise in culturally-responsive counseling methods, particularly as it relates to career, personal, and academic counseling.
   • Evidence of responsiveness to and understanding of the racial, socioeconomic, academic, and cultural diversity within the community college student population, including students with different ability statuses (e.g., physical and/or learning) as these factors relate to the need for equity-minded practices within counseling, the classroom, Student Services, and the campus community.
4. Applicable Transcripts showing degree and date conferred/awarded,
5. Counseling Philosophy Statement that must include discussion of the following questions:
   • Describe how your background and experiences have prepared you to work in a diverse academic environment where the student body varies widely with regard to socioeconomics, cultural/ethnic backgrounds, linguistics and physical/developmental disabilities.
   • Describe how your counseling approach has changed/evolved since you began counseling. Provide examples of what motivated the change(s).
   • What role should counseling faculty play in student success? How might that differ, be similar or integrate with the role of teaching faculty as related to student success?
   • Describe how your education, training, experience, and/or professional activities enable you to do the job which you are applying. Please use specific examples.