Student Support Service Programme (SSSP)

The provision of student support services including personal and financial counselling, careers guidance and support for students with disabilities is an established part of the support available to students in all higher education institutions (HEIs) The Student Support Services Program (SSSP) is a federally funded comprehensive support service designed to provide academic assistance and advising, personal counselling, and cultural enrichment opportunities for eligible students at the Colleges. The goals of SSS are students are to maintain good academic standing, persist in college, and graduate with a baccalaureate degree. As an SSSP, student will have the opportunity to use group and individual tutoring services, work with a peer mentor, participate in workshops, and travel to attend regional and local cultural events. SSSP is a program that will help Students to achieve academically while encouraging to grow personally. The mission is to create a supportive that will make College experience a positive one.

When students enter a new learning environment, they must successfully adapt to their new surroundings to effectively learn. For some students, adaptation is as simple as becoming accustomed to a new physical environment. For others, such as those with language-learning needs, physical handicaps, or developmental delays, adaptation is a much more complicated process. To ensure that the education you provide to your pupils is optimal, you must help them adapt to the learning setting as quickly as possible.

Role of SSSP

• Assess student needs, both mental and physical. Use observation and formal assessments such as diagnostic tests to determine what your students may need. Make note of any student that appears to require special adaptation assistance, such as those with physical disabilities or learning difficulties.
• Select group or individual accommodations to allow for the overcoming of obstacles. Create a plan for helping students overcome their struggles. If the entire class has the same difficulty, create a group accommodation. If individual students need assistance, plan educational modifications specifically for them.
• Observe the effectiveness of accommodations. If the students appear to be acclimating well, continue with the accommodation. If they continue to struggle, devise a different plan as this struggle indicates that the accommodation is ineffective.
• Discuss difficulties with students. If you notice a student struggling more than his peers, discuss his difficulties with him candidly. He can likely tell you what he finds difficult, enabling you to better assist him in overcoming these struggles.
• Make changes to the instructional plan as necessary to support student needs. Revisit your adaptation plan throughout the year, modifying it as necessary. Once students have fully adapted, gradually remove your accommodations and allow students to continue through the year unassisted.

Skills or attributes are needed to work in student support services?

The skills necessary to be outstanding when working in student support services are a great love and respect for students, effective interpersonal skills when working with administrators, faculties, parents, and students. In addition, a support worker must be a team player and be proficient in the specific area of undertaking.

The Student Support Services Program is design to equip students with the skills and support necessary to succeed in college.
• Academic counselling and advising
• Personal counselling
• Peer mentoring
• Free individual and group tutoring
• Assistance in applying for financial aid
• Educational workshops
• Free social and cultural events
• Innovative co-curriculum activities

Six Factors for Success

When reviewed collectively, this research also indicates that students are more likely to succeed when:
(1) They have a goal and a path leading to this goal, (2) they stay motivated to achieve this outcome, (3) they are engaged in the classroom, (4) they feel connected to the college community, (5) they believe that their success matters to others and (6) they feel they are contributing positively to the college culture and community. The RP Group summarized these factors as “directed,” “focused,” “engaged,” “connected,” “nurtured” and “valued.” We define these factors—from the students’ perspective—as:

• Directed: students have a goal and know how to achieve it
• Focused: students stay on track—keeping their eyes on the prize
• Engaged: students actively participate in class and extracurricular activities
• Connected: students feel connected to the college
• Nurtured: students feel somebody wants them to succeed and helps them to do so
• Valued: students feel what they have to contribute to the college is valued

An examination of promising practices and approaches, coupled with insights gathered in interviews with practitioners and researchers, highlighted how these six factors for success contribute to an institutional culture where all community college students can thrive.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Because so many college students spend limited time on campus, they have fewer opportunities to make use of all of these services. Colleges can address this challenge by taking steps to integrate support services, using technology where appropriate, into other activities and experiences that students have on campus. Additionally, attempts are being made to offer support services through a more centralized approach, rather than in the decentralized fashion that is customary at many institutions. In a study of effective strategies for student service programs at colleges, it was recommended that institutions offer more “enhanced student services. “Such programs would then be linked to other services, but also integrated into existing campus-wide reform strategies, thereby allowing student services to be offered, in a coordinated fashion and over an extended period of time. Since many students encounter ongoing challenges throughout their academic career – related to academic, social, and financial needs – it is imperative to offer students linked and sustained services in all areas of the college. SSS is an educational program that provides first-generation students with opportunities that help them successfully complete their degrees/credentials, offering academic development, counselling, financial guidance, and career development opportunities. Colleges have also experimented with the one-stop approach to student services.
This article has highlighted some efforts and strategies related to student success, particularly in the area of student support services. Due to space limitations, the paper does not provide an exhaustive list of examples, but highlights promising practices that support key areas of research. However, the examples highlighted here – as well as those not included – confirm that what we think should help college students – in fact, “does.” However, these institutions are resource constrained and often have to make tough decisions and trade-offs simply to stay afloat. For additional information or resources, please feel free to contact the staff at the Institute for Higher Education Policy.

Conclusion :

Students also indicate that they are making use of drop-in study skills support and this is a useful consideration as some colleges move towards ‘embedded study skills’ in the curriculum. The other findings concern the disparity in the provision of student support services on the different campuses of the colleges and the issues this raises in relation to accessibility of these services to all students as well as the quality of these services in meeting the needs of the students. Finally, students offer some suggestions for improving the nature of induction to the college, including making it more of a process than an ‘event’.

 
References :

• Avramidis, E. & Skidmore, D. (2004) Reappraising learning support in higher education. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 9(1) pp. 63-82.
• Casey, L., Quinn, J., Slack, K. & Thomas, L. (2003) Student services project: effective approaches to retaining students in higher education - directory of practice. London: DfES.
• Hill, Y., Lomas, L. & McGregor, J. (2003) Students' perceptions of quality in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education 11(1) pp.15-20.
• Lea, S.J. & Farbus, L. (2000) Student support: Educational necessity or mawkish indulgence? Psychology Teaching Review, 9 (1) pp. 16-25.
• Martinez, P., & Munday, F. (1998) 9,000 Voices: Student Persistence and Drop-Out in Further Education. FEDA Report 2 (7). London: Further Education Development Agency. 
• McInnis, C., James, R. & Hartley, R. (2000) Trends in the first year experience in Australian universities, in Prebble, T. et al. (2004) Impact of Student Support Services and Academic
• Development Programmes on Student Outcomes in Undergraduate Tertiary Study: A Synthesis of the Research. Report to the Ministry of Education in New Zealand. Part IV pp51 –86.

The author of this article is Asst. Professor, Pioneer Institute of Professional Studies, Indore