Academic advising services are available to guide students through their educational experiences. All students on the three campuses are strongly encouraged to see a faculty advisor. Faculty at East and Grant are assigned a specific faculty member. Ammerman campus students are allowed to choose a faculty member of their choice. Each campus' counseling center sends specific academic advisement information directly to faculty prior to priority registration. Students can make arrangements to meet with a counselor through their individual counseling offices.

Effective advisement does result in improved student performance, persistence, and achievement of personal and professional goals. Faculty can provide a wealth of valuable information to students beyond just choosing a class. Future career paths, transfer information, and current job/career information can all be possible topics for continued discussion. To help guide the large number of students on each campus, each classroom full-time faculty member, per the union contract, is to provide eight (8) hours of student advisement per semester in addition to his/her teaching duties.

At the beginning of classes each semester, the campus Student Activities Office sponsors an orientation program. The college's orientation program is twofold in nature. One of its purposes is to ease the transition process of new students into the environs of the institution, and the second is to heighten their awareness of all educational opportunities available at the institution. For further information, please refer to the Programs Offered web site.

THE COLLEGE SUCCESS PROGRAM

The College Success Program will help students successfully manage the demands of the first year college experience, promote their retention by the institution, and contribute to their overall success in college.

Students who have the attitude and potential to succeed in college, and who have been placed in two pre-college courses (English, reading, or math), will be encouraged to participate in this program. The program goals include helping students to enhance their academic skills, identify their educational goals, and prepare for college-level work. Additional benefits to students in the program include faculty advisors, peer mentors, specialized counseling and individualized career and educational planning.

In August, students who are selected for the program will enroll in an intensive course titled "College Success Seminar", OS43, at no additional cost beyond the college's regular tuition and fees. This class continues during the fall semester as an additional point of support for the cohort. Students follow a full-time schedule of courses during the regular academic year.

The summer component of the College Success program, OS43, runs for three weeks in August, meeting for 14 sessions of 3 hours each. Afternoon and evening sessions will be piloted for the 2006 class of College Success students.

COOPERATIVE EDUCATION

Students in selected majors have the opportunity to earn college credit through supervised internship and cooperative education programs. Internship and co-op seminars enable students to integrate on-campus academic studies with applied experiences at a variety of on-campus and external placement sites.

Cooperative education (Co-op) combines classroom study with practical work assignments relevant to a student's major and/or career goals. Classroom theory is blended with practical, paid work experience at various locations throughout the region. Through a required weekly seminar, co-op students receive instruction in group dynamics, ethics, communication, and other topics related to the workplace.

Internship classes enable students to participate in learning activities at a variety of off-campus field placements. Through internships, students can gain exposure to contemporary practices and conduct research in their fields of interest. This firsthand insight is combined with weekly on-campus seminars to promote and enrich the academic experience. For further information, please refer to the Cooperative Education and Internship Program web site.

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Suffolk County Community College has always considered that its role extends beyond providing associate degree curricula and college-credit courses. Thus, it has offered a wide variety of special non-credit educational programs to meet community, governmental, and industrial needs.

Non-credit courses focus on special skills, vocational pursuits, health and wellness, finance, personal enrichment, and special populations.

Some Continuing Education courses have included the following:

1. courses for those who work with the developmentally disabled and in food service;
2. 2. courses for personal development including stress management, assertiveness training, career exploration for women, holistic health, personal investment management;
3. 3. courses for personal enrichment including photography, calligraphy, stained glass craft, city art tours; and
4. 4. courses designed to aid vocational pursuits including medical billing, health and education certification, software applications, and entrepreneurial endeavors.

Some of these community service programs are closely related to programs offered at the college, although many are in fields having no counterpart in the regular curriculum. Many courses are taught by regular full-time faculty members or by adjunct faculty who bring unique skills and experiences from the business world to enrich the program.

For further information, please refer to the following web sites:

• Continuing Education Main Page
• SCCC - Continuing Education Programs

Suffolk County Community College offers a wide variety of special, non-credit educational programs to meet community, governmental, and industrial needs. Non-credit courses focus on special skills, vocational pursuits, health and wellness, finance, personal enrichment, and special populations.

Continuing Education courses have included the following:

1. courses for those who work with the developmentally disabled and in food service;
2. courses for personal development including stress management, assertiveness training, career exploration for women, holistic health, personal investment management;
3. courses for personal enrichment including photography, calligraphy, stained glass craft, city art tours; and
4. courses designed to aid vocational pursuits including medical billing, health and education certification, software applications, and entrepreneurial endeavors.

Some of these community service programs are closely related to programs offered at the college, although many are in fields having no counterpart in the regular curriculum. Many courses are taught by regular, full-time faculty members, and others are taught by adjunct faculty who bring unique skills and experiences from the business world to enrich the program.

For further information, please refer to the Continuing Education Web site.

DEVELOPMENTAL STUDIES PROGRAM

The College offers a program of study that provides intensive assistance to help students prepare for college-level course work. After students are admitted and assigned a matriculated status, they are contacted to arrange a time to take the Computerized Placement Test (CPT). On the basis of the placement tests and high school courses and grades, students are enrolled in college-level courses or some level of the Developmental Program. Students transferring from another college who can demonstrate that they have successfully completed the appropriate college-level courses may have the placement test requirement waived.

While in the Developmental Program, students may register for no more than 14 hours/credits and make changes in courses only with the approval of an appropriate academic administrator or counselor. Students are required to successfully complete any developmental courses into which they are placed. These do not carry credit toward a degree and may lengthen the time required to complete a degree. However, the college believes that a Developmental Program can improve scholastic ability, promote a smooth transition to the traditional academic programs at Suffolk, and ultimately save students time. For further information, please refer to the Developmental Studies Program web site.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM (EOP)

The Education Opportunity Program (EOP) is designed to provide academic support and some financial assistance to students enrolled full-time in a curriculum program at the college. The program is offered to students who have been New York state residents for twelve months prior to attending the college; have received a high school diploma or its equivalent with 79 or less high school average in major subjects; register full-time and meet NYS legislated income guidelines.

Students enrolled in the EOP receive academic, career and personal advisement. In addition, students receive a stipend each semester to assist with the cost of books and personal expenses.

Students who are enrolled in the program are eligible for EOP transfer student status. Those EOP students that reach a GPA of 3.0 or above for two consecutive semesters are eligible for membership in the Delta Mu chapter of the Chi Alpha Epsilon National Honor Society. For further information, please refer to the Educational Opportunity Program web site.

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE

English as a Second Language (ESL) courses offer instruction in listening, speaking, reading and writing skills to students whose native language is not English. The aim of these courses is to provide limited-English-proficient students with the necessary communication skills to effectively interact in English in a social, vocational and academic environment. All courses have a required lab component.

An extensive selection of English as a Second Language courses is available at each of the campuses through three programs: Non-Credit (six levels, pre-beginner through high intermediate) The Intensive English Program (full-time, three levels, beginner, intermediate and advanced) or the Developmental Studies Program (high intermediate through advanced).

Information on the programs is available through the college's ESL Office located on the Grant Campus (851-6519), or from the campus representatives on the Ammerman (451-4707) and Eastern (548-2645) campuses. Additionally, program and course descriptions are detailed in the college catalog. For further information, please refer to the English as a Second Language (ESL) web site.

EXPERIENTIAL AND NON-TRADITIONAL ACADEMIC OPTIONS

The college maintains a number of programs designed to facilitate students' progress toward the goal of earning an associate degree or one-year certificate, to recognize non-classroom learning which is equivalent to college course work, and to provide alternatives for those who wish to supplement classroom instruction with less traditional learning experiences. Students who are awarded credit must still satisfy the requirement that they complete at least 30 credit hours of academic course work at Suffolk County Community College for the associate degree and 15 credit hours of academic course work at SCCC for a one-year certificate. They may also be subject to additional limitations. For more information about non-traditional academic options, contact the Adult Learner Office at 451-4696 or refer to the Experiential Non-Traditional Academic Options web site.

HONORS PROGRAM

The Honors Program is an interdisciplinary program for academically talented and highly motivated students. The program is grounded in the traditions of the liberal arts and focuses on the fundamental processes by which knowledge is acquired. Emphasis is placed upon the connections among various disciplines and the tools of artistic and intellectual creativity.

Participating students enroll in the curriculum of their choice. To complete the Honors Diploma Sequence, they take a minimum of 22 credit hours of Honors courses, chosen to satisfy various curricular requirements, or they may choose to complete an Honors Recognition Sequence, which is satisfied by completing 12 to 21 credit hours of Honors courses. Qualified students may also choose to enroll in just one or two Honors courses on a space-available basis. Most participants in the Honors Program take at least two Honors courses during any single semester and are expected to maintain a 3.2 GPA or higher.