Time is money, or so the saying goes.
If that’s the case, then San Joaquin Delta College’s counseling center seems to know how to waste both, in our view.
Getting an appointment to see a counselor is one of the hardest things to do on campus.
We’ve heard issues from members of our staff and the regular student population.
One Collegian staff member tried to get into the counseling office several times over the summer. The counseling staff told him to come back later because there were no walk-in appointments available. A second trip was made at an earlier time and there were still no appointments.
Another visit was equally unsuccessful. The office stopped letting people through after a bulk group of students got through.
After numerous attempts he still did not get an appointment.
We’ve heard similar experiences from other students on campus, including nearly the exact same sequence of events from a female student here at Delta.
By that time it was back to square one with the allotted number of students having already been served for the day.
It is clear the counseling center has numerous problems within the system.
Have you called to make an appointment?
We agree the process isn’t working when the staff is in such a rush to get through the messages they don’t even listen to what has been requested.
There have been several instances where students have called and left a message only to not hear back about their appointment.
There are other times the call is returned only to be told they did not leave their student identification number or the name of the counselor they wanted.
It is clear the counseling center is understaffed otherwise this wouldn’t be an issue.
Could money be invested in hiring more counselors to serve the large student population? We think that would be a good idea.
If more students were seen and received the guidance they needed for classes, transferring, and graduation, they would be able to graduate or transfer on time for a change.
Students are not getting what they need from the counseling center.
Something needs to be done.