Student Success Center
The Student Success Center provides services in the areas of academic advising, career exploration and guidance counseling. The mission of the Student Success Center is to encourage student persistence and support the attainment of academic and career goals. To fulfill this mission, a team of academic advisors and counselors coordinate and facilitate all services and efforts at both college campuses.
The Student Success Center offers academic advising in two forms: in person and online. Students who prefer to seek advising services in person are welcome to visit the Student Success Center at either college campus on a walk-in basis. Students should plan to arrive at the Student Success Center well before closing to allow enough time for the advising session. The Student Success Center at Ft. McIntosh is located in the Lerma Peña Building, room 201, and at the South Campus it is located in the Billy Hall Student Center, room 131. Students who cannot meet with an advisor in-person or who would prefer a scheduled appointment may opt to seek online advising, which is facilitated via email or virtual chat room. To access email advising, type the following URL in the address bar of any web browser: www.laredo.edu/e-advising. To schedule a virtual appointment with an advisor, type the following URL in the address bar of any web browser: www.laredo.edu/advisorchat.
Academic Advising Services
Laredo College requires all students to meet with an academic or faculty advisor at least once a semester prior to the registration of their courses. Specifically, students who have not met requirements of the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) or who are pursuing an Associate of Arts or Science (AA/AS) degree must meet with an academic advisor at the Student Success Center. Students who are pursuing a workforce program, such as a certificate or Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree, and those who are Art, Dance or Kinesiology majors, must meet with a faculty advisor at the department of their declared major. Additional college programs that offer academic advising for their students include Honors, L.E.A.P.S., T.R.I.O. and Building Scholars. Advisors provide students with guidance in assessment score interpretation, course placement, course recommendations, degree evaluations, review of institutional policies and assist with the transfer process.
Career Exploration Services
Career Exploration is the process of examining and learning about oneself, identifying careers or occupations that best fit the individual, and developing an effective plan of action to accomplish career and occupational goals. Academic advisors at the Student Success Center guide, mentor and direct students to the appropriate resources that lead to the development of a realistic and attainable academic and career plan. Career exploration services are typically facilitated through the use of computer-based interest, skills, and career exploration inventories and a variety of internet-based resource libraries.
Guidance Counseling Services
Guidance counseling is the process of helping students adjust from a secondary to post-secondary education environment while fostering and promoting the intellectual, emotional, social, and cultural development and well-being of individual students. By employing a variety of campus services, community services, and online resources, counselors can coordinate referrals that will provide individual students with the support and guidance needed to ensure a healthy and enriching college experience. Counselors are available at both campuses and are located at the Student Success Center.
Special Services Center
The Special Services Center offers specialized services to students with disabilities to ensure them equal access to college programs and services as mandated by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, as amended, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Under ADA, an individual with a disability is regarded as one who meets any of the following: has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has record of such impairment, or is regarded as having such impairment. The types of services provided by the Special Services Center include but are not limited to academic and testing accommodations, interpreters, note-takers, readers, scribes, auxiliary aids and equipment loans in the form of digital recorders, low vision equipment, specialized reading software, and calculators.
Students interested in requesting services must apply at the Special Services Center. Application requires submission of current documentation that supports disability; however, students who are unable to provide documentation should request to meet with the Special Services Counselor to discuss options. The Special Services Center is located in the Kazen Student Center Room 132 at the Ft. McIntosh Campus. Appointments and other services are available at the South Campus upon request.