If a student has an emergency and must miss class, he/she is expected to immediately contact the instructor directly by phone or email to explain the absence and make arrangements to complete any missed assignment or test. Students are made of aware of each instructor’s attendance policy via the course syllabus. The College’s attendance policy may be found in the student handbook.
At times, there are differences in holidays between SCC and the public school systems. Students should be aware of these differences and make appropriate transportation arrangements prior to those days.
With regard to weather delays and closings, Southwestern Community College and the public school systems may have differing schedules. College weather policies are outlined in the student handbook. If the College is open when the public schools are not (i.e., buses are not running), students are still expected to be present in their college class(es). Students should plan ahead and make appropriate transportation arrangements in case of inclement weather. If the conditions present insurmountable transportation issues, students are expected to directly contact their instructors to make arrangements to complete any missed assignment or test.
Southwestern Community College and all Early College High Schools have computers available for students to use. In addition, students may use computers in the Learning Assistance Centers and Holt Library. Holt Library is open extended hours (beyond the regular school day) and also has laptops students may “check out” for use in the Library. Students will have access to all the programs they will need to be successful in all college classes from these computers. If students need additional computer resources, community libraries allow patrons to use their computers and Internet access.
Students may bring their own laptop to school. The College provides free WiFi access to the Internet in all buildings.
If after the first week of the semester, a student begins to struggle with a course, he/she should immediately meet with his/her college advisor (liaison) to discuss the situation. The liaison will work with the student to seek appropriate support resources to help the student succeed in the course. If all support resources have been utilized and the student is still not succeeding in the course, withdrawal may be an option.
- Know the Syllabus: Every college class is required to provide students with a course syllabus. Each instructor will have his/her own syllabus format, but every syllabus will always include the instructor’s contact information (for student-use only), course objectives, material requirements for the course, attendance and assignment policies, due dates for readings and assignments, as well as other pertinent information. Students should always refer to the syllabus when they have questions about course expectations.
- Calendar/Planning: Maintain a family calendar on which students can post their semester projects, tests and other assignments. Major projects, such as 12-page research paper, should be broken down into smaller parts to make the large assignment more manageable for the student. Parents can then help students monitor completion of each step of a large project as well as other smaller assignments.
- Encourage Self-Advocacy: When students rely on themselves to seek help and information from their instructors, tutoring services, and answers to questions they have about their progress in college courses, they prove to be more successful in reaching their academic goals. Not only do college faculty and staff respond to students’ needs when they reach out for help, but a student’s self-advocacy fosters self-confidence and control over their own success.
- Transportation: When differences in schedules occur between the public school systems and the College (i.e., holidays and weather delays/closures), public school busses may not be able to transport students to school. Since students are expected to attend all scheduled college class meetings even if their school bus is not running, alternate transportation arrangements must be in place in order for the students to not miss class. Seek options such as relying on family members, friends, or car-pools to ensure that absences do not affect your student’s success.
- Keep in Touch: Parents are strongly encouraged to communicate with high school teachers, administrators, and liaisons in order to learn more about what students do not mention at home. Early Colleges hold conferences, PTO meetings, and college curriculum events for parents to be “in the know” about their students’ progress. By maintaining regular communication with all of these individuals, parents will become active members of the Early College communities and further help their students’ success at home.
- Monitor Online Course Progress: One benefit to students taking online college classes is that they are always aware of their grades, assignment completion, and progress in those courses. With the students guiding the way, parents can view the “MyGrades” section of all online/Moodle courses to check on their progress.
