(Ankeny, IA) -- Des Moines Area Community College is hiring counselors, to help teens transition to college. DMACC is using a 50-thousand dollar state grant to pay for eight counselors. The counselors will help students in 14-central Iowa high schools choose colleges or other post high school education plans.
DMACC is one of Six Community Colleges to Each Receive a $50,000 Grant from the Iowa DOE and Iowa College Aid. The New Counselors will Spend Four Days Per Week at the High Schools and One Day Per Week at DMACC.
“Expanding College and Career Transition Counselor roles will help more students explore opportunities and take steps for continued success beyond high school,” said Iowa Department of Education Director Ann Lebo. “I commend our community colleges and school district partners for their commitment to ensuring students identify their future goals and stay on a path to gain the education and skills needed for rewarding careers.”
DMACC College and Career Transition Coordinator Gail Zehr says each counselor will work with about 300 students so the population of students they work with will vary by high school. The positions will serve the following districts.
Van Meter and Interstate 35
West Des Moines and Johnston
Ames and Collins-Maxwell
Southeast Polk
Prairie City-Monroe (PCM) and Knoxville
Ankeny (Ankeny High and Ankeny Centennial)
Boone and Ogden
Adel-DeSoto-Minburn (ADM) and Perry
“Our research shows that about 1 in 5 high school seniors who intend to start college don’t actually get there,” said Iowa College Aid Executive Director Mark Wiederspan. “These counseling positions will be crucial to helping more young Iowans follow through on their college plans.”
Zehr says the new positions will help reach more of those students by assisting and supplementing the work that current high school counselors are providing to their students right now.
“The CCTCs are going to be able to help students and families by supporting them through the transition from high school to college, apprenticeships, military and other educational opportunities,” Zehr said. “The CCTCs will be helping the students become aware of all of the post-secondary options they have and how to navigate the search process as they prepare to graduate from high school.”
Zehr said the positions are designed to work primarily with high school juniors and seniors, as well as college freshmen. The grant is for three years with DMACC receiving $40,000 for the first year, $7,500 for the second year and $2,500 for the third year. She says DMACC will be hiring these positions by this summer with all being licensed high school counselors.
The program will include outreach to special populations in each class, such as English Language Learner (ELL), first generation, and low-income students, along with students with disabilities.
The other Iowa community colleges receiving the grant include: Hawkeye Community College, Iowa Lakes Community College, Iowa Valley Community College District, Kirkwood Community College and Western Iowa Tech Community College.