When striking out on a road, it’s good to have a clear idea of where one is going. That was the theme of “Guided Pathways to Success: The Game Changer,” a program presented by the Counseling and Advising Office in late September.
“This was an outreach to high school counselors, social workers and people from various agencies that support our college,” said Rosemarie Hammon, assistant director of counseling and advising at TCC South. “Our objective was to let them know about the CTE (Career and Technical Education) programs at TCC South and throughout the District, and also to tell them about what our counselors, advisors and success coaches do.”
The object of Guided Pathways is to work with students, basing their educational decisions on long-term goals. “The idea is to find out first what the student’s career goal is,” said Donna Gohlke, academic advisor to South’s CTE programs. “We can then use that information to help the student choose a major and then select the proper courses and use the available resources to gain the skills leading to that career.”
In addition to TCC professionals, speakers included experts from outside agencies, including Gary Tomerlin, a former TCC faculty and staff member who is now deputy assistant commissioner for workforce at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.