2019-2020 Catalog and Handbook 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2019-2020 Catalog and Handbook [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Student Support Services


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  800.247.0789
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Student Support Services

The function of Student Support Services occurs prior to, during, and after the student enrolls at the institution. These functions include a wide range of services including career development, diagnostic testing, various types of educational placement assessments, admissions, orientation, housing assistance, advisement, the graduation process, job search and placement, and records management.

Counseling

Choosing a career and meeting life’s challenges can be difficult.  To help students meet these challenges, Southeast Tech provides both Career/Academic and Personal Counseling services.

Career and Academic Counseling

Because much of a person’s lifetime is spent at work, career satisfaction is very important. Feeling challenged, satisfied, and rewarded in a job can mean that work and personal needs are being met which contributes to one’s sense of well being. Sound career decisions are based upon information and personal choice. Counselors/advisors are ready to assist prospective students with one of life’s most important decisions.

Personal Counseling

Southeast Tech offers professional Mental Health Counseling services to meet the various needs of students on campus. Free Mental Health Assessments and Counseling are available when life’s issues get in the way of personal and/or academic success. There are two counselors available on campus, one located in the Sullivan Health Science Center, Room 200G and one in the Mickelson Center, Room 122. Counselors can be contacted via email, phone or walk-ins, and the services provided range from traditional, face-to-face counseling to distance counseling methods (email and telephonic). Please call 605.367.7466 for additional information.

Please note: Students requesting/receiving counseling services need to inform the counselors of any/all legal involvement as a provision of services. Recommendations and reports, as requested by the student, attorneys, and/or court of law are beyond the scope of practice provided by counselors here at Southeast Tech. Students must be located in the State of South Dakota at the time of the counseling session in order to receive services as Southeast Technical Institute currently employs counselors licensed in the State of South Dakota.

Southeast Tech Student Advisors

At Southeast Tech students have two advisors: Academic Program Advisors and Student Success Advisors.  These two advisors work together to assist students in meeting their educational goals.

Academic Program Advisors

Each student enrolled in a program is assigned a faculty Academic Program Advisor from the student’s program of study. Students should meet regularly with their Academic Program Advisor to plan their program and review their progress toward attainment of their academic goals.

Student Success Advisors

All Southeast Tech students are assigned a Student Success Advisor once they have registered for classes. The Student Success Advisor serves as the student’s institutional-level advisor by helping students navigate institutional as well as personal concerns. Student Success Advisors encourage and support students in completing their courses and program(s) at Southeast Technical Institute.   

Student Success Center

A student’s first year at Southeast Tech is filled with many opportunities and choices. The Student Success Center can guide students in making their academic journey a success! Also known as a “one stop shop”, the Student Success Center is home to several programs and services to assist students in their transition to post-secondary education. Services include advising, counseling, disability and tutoring services, job placement, housing, library services, student government and student activities, and more! The Student Success Center resources provide a support system to help students navigate to graduation.

Student Success Seminar

All new Southeast Tech students are required to successfully complete a Student Success Seminar course taught by a Student Success Advisor. The course develops academic success skills (note-taking, reading, study skills, etc.), assists students in connecting with other students on campus, and instructs students on what Southeast Tech services are available for them. The course also covers important life and employability skills (time management, communication skills, financial responsibility, etc.) and shows students how to access required processes and institutional information on STInet. Lastly, Southeast Tech policies, rules, and procedures are covered in the course.

Note: Students who have successfully completed a minimum of 9 post-secondary credits with a 2.0 or higher GPA at another college or university are not required to take the Student Success Seminar course.  However, all students entering Southeast Tech directly from high school are required to take the seminar course regardless of post-secondary course completion.

Southeast Tech Cares Referral System

Southeast Tech cares about your success inside and outside of the classroom.  We understand how closely the two are connected. Additionally we know that there are many things that can obstruct your path to successful degree completion.

To help you navigate those obstacles we utilize an early alert system – Southeast Tech Cares. Cares is a system that allows faculty and staff to better communicate with each other when students might need some additional assistance.  When a Southeast Tech faculty or staff person  has concerns about a student they can submit a referral which quickly gets routed to the appropriate personnel to assist that student.

What is a Care referral?

A Care referral is a message, or early alert, sent by faculty and staff through the referral system to the retention team in Student Success.  Referrals alert the appropriate staff member of concerns that might be hindering a student’s success.  Our goal is to connect students to the right resources in a timely manner.  Follow-up is assigned to the student’s Success or program advisor who works with the student to connect them to appropriate resources and develop a game plan to be successful. 

When are referrals submitted?

Here are just a few of the referral types submitted by faculty and staff:

  • Poor attendance or missing a class without notice
  • Missing assignments or exams
  • Poor performance on an assignment or exam
  • Issue with classroom or textbook technology
  • Changes in behavior
  • Other academic or personal obstacles that might be interfering with a student’s success

Housing

Southeast Tech offers an on-campus housing option for full-time students through an apartment complex adjacent to the Technology Center. The 52-unit complex houses 202 students in a 4-bedroom apartment setting. Students who would like more information about Southeast Tech Housing can contact housing staff at 605.367.5769, e-mail housing@southeasttech.edu, or visit Southeast Tech’s Housing’s website at http://www.housing.southeasttech.edu

Students who wish to live in an off-campus setting are responsible for making their own living arrangements. Southeast Tech does have information to help students find off-campus housing but does not approve nor recommend any specific off-campus housing facilities for student use.

Students should begin their housing search early to ensure that suitable accommodations can be found. Those students who move to Sioux Falls or the surrounding area in order to attend Southeast Tech are advised to register their new address with the Admissions Office.

Career Center Services

The purpose of Southeast Tech is to provide educational experiences to prepare persons for employment. Once these skills are acquired, it is the function of the Career Center Office to assist in the student’s transition from school to work. However, it is the responsibility of the student to commit personal effort in searching for employment opportunities.

The Career Center Office assists students and alumni by informing them of employment opportunities and assisting them in presenting themselves effectively as job candidates.

The Career Center Office also assists employers in finding qualified candidates to meet their employment needs. Each year, numerous representatives from business, industry, health, and government contact the Career Center Office to list full and part-time job openings.

For full or part-time placement assistance, students should contact the Career Center Office located in the Student Success Center in the Mickelson building.

Walk-In and Online Tutoring Services

Southeast Tech’s Walk-In Tutoring Service offers free tutoring.  The service is designed to give individualized attention to students who want to improve in their coursework. Southeast Tech’s tutoring program is a peer-to-peer tutoring program and uses top notch students as tutors.  No appointments are necessary– just stop by and pick up a tutor schedule or check the STInet to see when the next tutoring session is being held.     

Southeast Tech also provides 10 hours of free online tutoring for students who cannot come to campus or wish to have access to tutors from their home. Students can connect to live tutors from any computer that has internet access. No special software installation or equipment is required. 

For more information about Walk-In Tutoring or NetTutor, our online tutoring service, please call 605.367.5691 or locate the information on the STInet under Student Support Services & Activities.

Adult Education and Literacy Services

The Hovland Learning Center offers free, individualized instruction and teacher-directed classes for GED preparation, English Language Acquisition and basic skill development in reading, math and English.  The Apire2Tech division of the AEL program offers tuition free courses focused on sector-specific terminology, processes and safety practices through instruction developed to improve reading, writing and math skills.  Courses currently offered through Aspire2Tech are: Introduction to Business, Introduction to General Industry Safety, Introduction to Childcare, and Introduction to Healthcare.  These classes are not credit bearing.  Contact the Hovland Learning Center at 605.367.7997 for more information.

Disability Services

Students with documented disabilities may be eligible for certain classroom accommodations. Disabilities may include hearing, visual, physical, psychological and learning impairments. Accommodations may include additional testing time, private testing rooms, readers, note takers, interpreters, and taped/digital texts. Students must provide the Disability Services Coordinator with recent written documentation of a disability before qualifying for services. Contact the Disability Services Coordinator at 605.367.4450 for more information.