Cosumnes River College faculty and staff members have implemented Student Success Teams to provide extra resources to first year students.

Each Career and Academic Community has implemented an SST. Each SST consists of counselors, specialists, peer mentors and faculty, according to the CRC website. 

“We’re trying to see what we can do as a college to break down barriers and make school more approachable,” said Student Support Specialist Julie Olson.

Olson said as of right now, SSTs only affect new students during their first academic year and that it shouldn’t be that challenging to go to school.

Olson’s job as a success coach is to help students through the onboarding process, filling out the college application and getting the classes students need while helping them register for them.

Incoming students are added to a Canvas page which connects them with their respective CAC, and gives them access to an SST. 

“SSTs will reach out to first year students and help them schedule their first appointment with a counselor so that they can quickly carve out a comprehensive education plan,” said Social and Behavioral Sciences Counselor Paolo Soriano.

“I was kind of winging it, I didn’t feel like there was much of a foundation to build on,” said Julius Field-Ridley, a 21-year-old music major. “I believe I would have benefitted from a program like this during my first semester.”

Hannah Holly, a 20-year-old liberal arts major said she wishes there was someone to help you figure out what you are interested in, and what classes would be a good start.

The SSTs are still “brand new,” and in the future the goal is to bring these services to all students, said Olson.

Joey Bates, a 20-year-old chemistry major said, “I would love to have someone that I can ask random questions about school and careers.”

SSTs are a part of the Guided Pathways program, which was implemented to increase completion rates of community colleges in California.

“Guided Pathways provide students with a clear path towards their educational goal,” said Soriano. “In an effort to do this, it is important for inter-departmental collaboration, and that’s where SSTs come in.”

SSTs plan on offering more than just educational plans and may offer career workshops, study groups, scholarship information and more.

“There’s a huge paradigm shift going on here at CRC, and this shift is an all in effort to make sure we support students in their educational and personal goals,” said Soriano. “We provide them support from day one all the way through the end.”