Please note: This course will be offered again in the spring 2024 session. Details and registration will be posted at a later date. If you have further questions, please contact Kiersten Nolan, strategy assistant for high school innovation.
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 practice 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.
The course requires independent online work and five online meetings, which take place monthly.
The Contemporary and Social Issues in School Counseling 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. Five (5) hours will be spent in the monthly meetings, and the remaining 25 hours will be spent doing independent online coursework between meetings. This breaks down to about 6 hours a month.
MCAN and the Center for Equity and Postsecondary Attainment at San Diego State University (CEPA) are co-hosting the training, which will be facilitated by Dr. Laura Owen, school counselor educator and director of CEPA.
For the Spring 2023 course, 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.
This course is open to all school counselors, college and career advisers, and educators. Currently serving AmeriCorps members are not eligible to register. 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. Registrants who secure a seat will be awarded a $250 scholarship to access the course at no cost. This scholarship will be paid directly to the institution.