Chapter Six: Student Services

The 1999 Middle States Review noted several concerns in the area of Student Services. These included: the lack of an adequate CounselingCenter, an antiquated registration process and concerns about staffing, particularly in Academic Standards and Evaluation (academic advising) and Financial Aid Services. Many of these concerns have been addressed in the subsequent years.

CounselingCenter

The College established a CounselingCenter in the Spring 2000 semester to meet the special counseling needs of the Lehman student body. An attractive and appropriate space was created to house the CounselingCenter in the center of campus within the former GymnasiumBuilding. The Center is now staffed by two full time and two part time professional counselors. Services are also provided by a staff of 4-6 graduate interns under the clinical supervision of the Center’s Director. The Center has also implemented a peer counseling program in collaboration with the CareerServicesCenter and the AcademicAdvisingCenter through a Title V grant. Each semester approximately 6 undergraduate students serve as peer counselors in the LehmanCollegeCounselingCenter. In order to serve our extensive part-time, evening, and weekend student body the Center is open four evenings a week until 7 PM and from 10AM to 4 PM on Saturdays.

Since commencing operations, the CounselingCenter has developed and implemented an aggressive campaign to reach out to the campus community to provide high quality services and programs. Individual counseling, group workshops, class presentations, and weekly public education information tables are the primary service delivery methods. Group workshops have included an exploration of issues such as:

  • Overcoming shyness
  • Domestic violence/relationship violence
  • Anger management
  • Living in a multicultural world: issues facing students
  • Freshman group gathering: surviving the semester
  • Building confidence in meeting, greeting, and speaking with others
  • Stress management
  • Club drugs/substance abuse
  • Dealing with depression and anxiety
  • Preparing for exams – dealing with test anxiety
  • Body image
  • Juggling school, work, and social life: handling pressure and managing time
  • The College experience: adjusting and settling in

After September 11, 2001, the CounselingCenter served as a site for a Project Liberty/FEGS (Federation Employment & Guidance Services) Crisis Intervention team. This team was composed of four Lehman graduates and the Director who provided counseling and public education related to the events of 9/11. During the 2002-2003 academic year the Center served 1,270 students.

Registration Process

The course registration process for students has been completely re-engineered since 1999. The College implemented a telephone registration system in 2000 and a web system (known as E-SIMS) in 2001. Virtually all of the transactions that students were previously required to conduct in person on campus at arena registration can now be conducted by telephone or through the Internet from a student’s home or place of employment. Free access to telephones and computers is provided for students at various sites on campus. The bill-paying process associated with registration has also been improved through the College’s acceptance of credit card payments. For students with limited or no state or federal financial aid the introduction of this new service has provided an additional means of financing their education.

The new E-SIMS and telephone registration systems allow students to:

  • identify open sections of a particular course
  • view and print financial aid awards
  • view and print tuition bill and applied balances
  • provide preferred e-mail address to facilitate communication
  • view class schedule and grades
  • view and print an unofficial copy of one’s transcript
  • request a hardship tuition deferment

During the most recent registration, conducted for the Spring 2004 semester, 75% of our students used the Internet to register while an additional 18.4% used the telephone system. Student satisfaction with registration process was measured in a Student Experience Survey conducted in 2002 at Lehman and across the CUNY Colleges. Satisfaction with registration process and procedures at Lehman was among the highest among all of the campuses in the CUNY system. Nonetheless, the College is continuing to explore new ways of making our registration process even more responsive to student needs.

New Student Orientation

A collaborative planning committee was formed to strengthen new student orientation programs involving the Vice President for Student Affairs, the Associate Provost and Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management, and representatives from the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs Divisions.

Following a review of best practices at other institutions and feedback provided by student participants, a revised orientation program was developed. A new program for the family and friends of students was created to increase their awareness of the issues which may emerge for them as a result of the academic challenges, new responsibilities and opportunities that students face. Elements of the program provide family and friends an opportunity to understand college services and procedures and to explore issues regarding role adjustment. Issues explored with friends and families include:

  • Financial Aid Services
  • Career Counseling Services
  • SEEK Program
  • Library Services
  • Personal adjustment issues
  • Managing stress
  • Information Technology Services
  • Student Life opportunities
  • Freshman Year Program

The expanded orientation program now involves faculty who provide students with a sense of a typical classroom experience through lecture and discussion which we describe as “College 101”. An orientation to Library Services and the TechnologyCenter was recently incorporated into the orientation program. Outside consultants have also been utilized to convey important information about transition issues that students must negotiate in order to be successful. These presentations called “Making it Count” by Monster.com Inc. have been very well received by students.

For freshmen the orientation process begins prior to the beginning of the Fall or Spring semester with a day long program and continues through their entire first semester. The orientation program is linked to the Coordinated Freshman Program which all full time freshmen participate in. This ongoing orientation is provided through the entire first semester through a Freshman Seminar Course which meets weekly to explore a series of typical adjustment issues. The FYI Seminar course curriculum engages students in an exploration of the following issues:

  • Time Management: Foundation of Academic Success
  • Active Learning: The Student-Teacher Connection
  • Learning Styles: Discovering How You Learn Best
  • Critical Thinking and Writing: Developing Core Tools
  • Classes: Listening, Note Taking and Participating
  • Reading: Getting the Most Out of Your Assignments
  • Making the Grade: Tests, Memory and Presentations
  • Research: Your Campus Library and Computer Resources
  • Courses and Careers: Utilizing Academic Advisors and Other Resources
  • Relationships: Friends, Family and Campus Involvement
  • Diversity: Celebrating Differences in Age, Gender and Abilities
  • Stress Management: Coping with Tension, Campus Safety and Money Issues
  • Alcohol, Other Drugs and Sexuality

The FYI Seminar course is typically taught by experienced student services professionals. Senior Student Service administrators such as the Vice President for Student Affairs and the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs have also taught the FYI Seminar class.

The College has continued to focus on improving student services across all areas of the institution. A brief summary of salient issues related to other functional service areas follows.

Academic Standards and Evaluation

Academic Information and AdvisementCenter: The 1999 evaluation noted the significant shortage of staff in the advising area for undergraduates. As part of a United States Department of Education Title V Grant, the College was able to hire a new academic advisor in October of 1999 and to build a peer educator program to support academic advising, career services, and counseling. Because the new advisor position released the Director to administer the grant, this hire essentially added one half of an advisor to the office staff. By training peers to help in the initial advising process for freshman as well as to help in the implementation of retention intervention projects, the grant has helped the College to reach more students in a timely manner. In addition, the grant has enabled the College to develop an extensive new technological system that facilitates communication among all of the student services and also between the faculty who advise in the majors and the professional staff in the advising center.

One of the effects of the changing admissions environment has been a reduction in the number of students enrolled in ESL classes. In the summer of 2002, the Coordinator of the ESL program joined the staff of the AdvisementCenter. Although he still has responsibilities related to ESL, he has become essentially an additional full time staff member. This year the College added another position to the unit, partly in response to the need for staff to monitor academic program pursuit under the New York State Financial Aid Regulations. In 1999 the Center was staffed by three full time advisors, two part time advisors, and a Director; currently the staff includes six full time advisors, one part time advisor, and a Director. Although the responsibilities of the Center have increased dramatically with the advent of the new General Education Requirements, the NYS Tuition Assistance Program Audit, and the activities of the Title V project, the increase in staff is still a significant development since the Accreditation report.

Office of Graduate Studies: In the summer of 1999, a full time Graduate Studies Advisor was hired to staff the Office of Graduate Studies, which had just come under the auspices of Academic Standards and Evaluation. Previously the office had been staffed on a part time basis by faculty receiving released time for their work in administration. With the arrival of the full time advisor, Lehman acquired a staff person who would be available on a daily basis to see students, dispense information, and to discuss all matters relevant to graduate study as well as attend related meetings and events on- and off-campus.

Every semester the advisor monitors grade point average and probation as well as matriculation. In recent semesters the Office has taken note of students’ progress toward their degrees as well. The Office of Graduate Studies continues to process applications for transfer of credit, appeals, and extensions of the five-year time limit for graduation. The Office also oversees administrative processes such as changes of grade and permits to take courses at other colleges of the City University of New York (CUNY).

The Office prepares, prints and distributes a Guide for Graduate Students and a periodic newsletter called The Infogram that brings small newsworthy local events and information to the students. Working with the Committee on Graduate Studies, the Office has implemented several new or changed policies and procedures. These include a revamped policy for transfer of graduate credit, a new residency requirement, and implementation of a policy regarding the number of incomplete grades students may carry on their transcripts. The Office has a direct role in seeing that the policies and procedures are accurate and up-to-date whenever the Graduate Bulletin is published.

Financial Aid Services

The Financial Aid Office has placed great emphasis on facilitating the timely submission of financial aid applications by our student body. It is widely recognized that timely and accurate submission of financial aid applications has a critical impact on the delivery of effective financial aid counseling services. A new specialized computer lab has been created to facilitate web-based financial aid filing. The online application process helps minimize filing errors and results in an expedited determination of eligibility and financial aid packaging. The percentage of students using the Internet to file electronically has increased dramatically from 7% in the 1998/99 academic year to 47% in the 2002/2003 academic year.

The staff has also continued to emphasize sound financial planning in their ongoing counseling work with students. Counselors actively discourage unnecessary or excessive reliance on student loans to finance degree completion. Their work contributes to the very low rate of student indebtedness at the College. Indeed, statistics indicate that students who graduate from LehmanCollege have one of the lowest rates of indebtedness among colleges and universities across the country.

The Financial Aid Office has also improved services to students by creating an electronic book voucher program through which students gain access to their financial aid funds to purchase books and needed supplies during the first few days of the semester. This new process facilitates student persistence by providing students with the resources necessary to be engaged in the learning process from the beginning of classes. In the Spring 2004 semester close to 3,000 undergraduates (out of a total of 7,496 full time and part time undergraduates) were provided book vouchers.

For quite some time the College has utilized a hardship tuition deferment program to help students finance their education. This program allows part time and full time students who are experiencing difficulty funding their education, to arrange a no-cost payment plan for up to 50% of their tuition directly with the College. The Financial Aid Office has now made it easier for students to apply for a hardship tuition deferment by incorporating the application process into the telephone registration system and E-SIMS, our web-based registration system. Each Fall and Spring semester approximately 1,200 students participate in the hardship tuition deferment program.

CareerCounselingCenter

The College has rebuilt the career planning and placement service from the time of the 1995 financial crisis that resulted in the non-reappointment of all professional staff in the CareerCenter, with the exception of the Director. The staff now includes three full time counselors, a part time graduate assistant, and a group of peer counselors. Office space has been renovated in the main administrative/student service building to provide a more appropriate professional space for staff, students and employers. Regular evening hours of service are provided and weekend workshops are held each semester to facilitate student access.

A grant from the New York State Senator in whose district the College resides, facilitated the development of the Career Services Computer Lab and Library. Students now have access to a wide range of electronic resources to help them identify potential college majors, explore careers related to their major and identify potential employers who offer part time and full time employment and internship opportunities. The online version of DISCOVER, a nationally-recognized career planning and assessment software program, is now available to Lehman students from any PC with Internet access.

The College recently contracted with an outside vendor to help the College enhance its relationship with potential employers. This new service, provided by the College Central Network Inc, allows employers to list full time and part time and internship opportunities on the College website. Students may apply for these positions electronically by submitting their resume over the internet. The Computer Lab and College Central Network system have proven to be valuable resources to our career counselors in their work with students and employers.

The College has made special efforts to help low-income students through our participation in the CUNY COPE (College Opportunity to Prepare for Employment) program. With funding from the New York City Department of Human Resources, a part-time employment specialist has been assigned to the CareerServicesCenter to conduct outreach to COPE eligible students to encourage participation in the labor market by providing encouragement, job counseling and referral services.

ChildCareCenter

In response to the continued strong demand for on-campus childcare the College has expanded service to include hours of operation on Saturday and Sunday. The LehmanCollegeChildCareCenter is now available to students from 7:30 AM – 9 PM Monday through Thursday, 7:30 AM – 5:30 PM Fridays and 8:30AM – 3:30 on the weekends.

In 2000, the College received a 4-year $380,000 grant from the Department of Education under its Child Care Access Means Parents in School program to support the implementation of toddler care (2-3 years olds) service at the College. The College implemented this new service in the Fall 2003 semester and expects to expand this service in the near future. The Center now serves children from 2 – 10 years of age in its weekday, after-school and weekend programs.

The College has received additional funding from New YorkState to expand the ChildCareCenter by renovating an adjacent existing building. A contractor has been selected and certified by University Board and the State Comptrollers Office. Construction is expected to begin summer 2004. When completed, the expanded ChildCareCenter will double its capacity to serve the children of our students. The LehmanCollegeStudentChildCareCenter was the first CUNY center to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and is now one of only four centers within the CUNY system to have earned this accreditation.