College will host SLAC Lab workshops in spring.
By Rachel Cooper
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
This college is recommending that students write a mission statement in ACES to map out their degree plan and long-term goals.
To help them do so, the student success division is planning workshops for faculty, staff and students, said Lisa Alcorta, vice president for student success.
The workshops are still a work in progress and will be a part of the SLAC Lab, she said.
“The mission statement is for students to provide what their goal is, career goals or personal goals,” Alcorta said.
Most students have an idea in their heads of what they want to do, but it can be hard to write down, she said.
The workshop will ask students who they want to be, where they want to go and if they want to help others. Students then write their answers to the questions.
The mission statement is new and became functional this semester.
Students who have already been at this college for a year might not know what a mission statement is.
“It’s new lingo,” she said.
The sessions will inform those students who had missed that information.
“It’s also about being reflective, exploring; it’s most likely going to change over time and there’s not a right or wrong answer for that.”
The sessions will be available in the spring semester and last around 30 minutes, she said.
“We’re going to brown-bag it. I’d love to videotape it so we have it. If people have a question about it, they’re able to click to see what it’s about.”
Eventually faculty could show the video in their classes.
“We’re not there yet,” she said.
Students can submit their mission statement by logging into ACES and clicking on the “Student” tab, “Student” and “My Mission Statement.”
It is located in ACES so students can change it whenever they need, and advisers can easily check if it has been completed.
The personal mission statement will be mentioned in new student orientations and student success courses, Alcorta said.
“Part of the goal for working with our students is working on the degree plan and their individual success plan or ISP.”
Social work freshman Tiana Zakariyyaa said the mission statement is “basically what you’re going to do with your degree and what your plan is, like, lifelong.”
She wants to open a nonprofit organization for homeless teens to help them get their GED and degree, show them how to build a resume, get them work experience and find them housing.
The mission statement has to be three to four sentences.
“It’s not very long at all,” she said.
