Dr. Barbara Donnellan
Lauren Kalabacas
Joseph Stango
Marisa DiMartino
Donna Orleman
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Graduate Students Techniques
For Increasing College Access
 Learn to create programs that promote your school’s
college admissions goals. With these techniques
school counselors will partner with college admissions
professionals and demonstrate the effectiveness of
their programs to stakeholders. Program topics
include on-site admissions, common application, and
more. Leave with plenty of ideas and the skills for
implementation.
Donnellan 2014
The Common Application
Lauren Kalabacas,
NYIT School of Education
School Counseling Graduate
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Goal
 *100% of the 70 students from the senior class will
register and complete the common application,
sign the FERPA and link their common application
account with their Naviance account.
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Sessions
 Sessions 1
 Consultation
 Session 2
 Sign up
 Session 3
 Researching and exploring
 Session 4
 Sign and link
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Outcome
 After 10 weeks 100% of the seniors registered,
completed the common application, signed the FERPA
and linked their accounts.
 * Out of 70 students some students who chose to only
apply to Nassau Community College or enlist into a
branch of the Armed Forces were not included in this
percentage.
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On-Site Admissions Program
Jenna Szwejkowski,
NYIT School of Education
School Counseling Graduate
Presented by: Dr. Donnellan
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Promoting College Access
 Created an area in the guidance office in which students may
acquire any information regarding on-site admissions,
including:
 Signs for each school, with requirements for each
 Supplements required for each
 How to apply to each school (paper versus online)
 Deadlines for handing in applications to counselors
 On-site admission interview dates
 A place in which students can place their applications for
counselor review
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Promoting College Access (Cont.)
 Organized Applications:
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For each school, placed applications in alphabetical order
Created checklists for each (application, essay, resume,
SAT/ACT scores, transcript, and letters of recommendation)
Reviewed each application
 Created an excel spreadsheet:
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Segregated the data by individual college/university
Organized students applying to each college/university
Identified missing documents
Entered students GPA and SAT/ACT scores for comparison to
the school’s requirements for SATs/ACTs and GPA
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The Application Process
 Met with students who were missing information or did
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not meet requirements to sit
Transcripts, SAT/ACT scores and letters of
recommendation
Identified students and scheduled sessions for each
school
Met admissions counselors on day-of, provided them
with a space to work and offered assistance
Provided admissions counselors with take-back
applications (students who were not able to sit for onsites due to requirement discrepancies, but would like
their applications to be reviewed)
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Collecting Data
 Recorded
 Number of students applying to each school
 Number of students applied overall
 Admissions decisions for each student were recorded,
as well as the number of students accepted to each
school
 Application and acceptance rates were calculated
 The amount of scholarships awarded
 These numbers were compared to last year’s numbers
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Positive Outcomes
 92 of 216 (43%) graduating seniors applied to school
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through on-site admissions.
90 of 92 students who applied received a response (2
remain pending mid-year grades)
88 of 90 students (98%) who received a response were
accepted to at least one school.
88 of 216 (41%) of graduating seniors were accepted to
schools via on-site admissions.
The acceptance rate was 98% compared to last year’s
96%.
The overall percentage of students accepted was 41%
(88 of 216 compared to 69 of 181)
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Stress Management & Coping Skills
Group
Tamara Kaloyeva,
NYIT School of Education
School Counseling Graduate
Presented by: Joe Stango
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Participants
 22 participants (12 Freshmen and 10 Sophomore
female students
 All in the Institute Program - lowest overall GPA
was 95.8%
 All involved in at least 2 extracurricular activities
 Marching band, SING (Theater) and/or on
sports teams.
 6 scheduled sessions: Meeting for 45 minutes each
week.
 Students took pre and post-tests for assessment.
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Purpose
 Understand the negative impact of stress on the body.
 Identify the stressors.
 Manage and cope with daily stress.
 Identify learning style.
 Relaxation techniques and skill building.
 Promote healthy eating habits.
 Getting physically active.
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Goal
 To reduce overall student stress level by at least 5
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points based on pre and post tests.
To assist students with developing coping skills and to
better manage stress
Develop a better understanding of a balanced diet
Become aware of the negative affects of stress
Improve organizational skills
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Sessions
 Pre-test for evaluation of stress level
 Learning style assessment
 Healthy eating and exercise
 Time management
 Indentifying stressors
 Copying skills – breathing exercises
 Journal entries
 Relationship building (healthy/independent)
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Research
“Results from research studies have revealed that the factors
most strongly associated with high stress tolerance is a strong
social network, which many young college students lose
upon their initial transition to college” (Welle & Graf,p.97,
2011)
“…stressors had to do with demands of the academic
environment (pressure to do well in school, beginning
college, difficulty in identifying a major) and the pressures of
new social environment (not dating, difficulty with
roommates).” (Welle & Graf,p. 102, 2011)
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Results
 Sophomores
 6 exceeded the 5 points
 4 had a 5 point reduction
 Freshmen
 7 exceeded the 5 points
 4 had a 5 point reduction
 1 had a 2 point reduction
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College and Career Discovery
Group
Amanda Press,
NYIT School of Education
School Counseling Graduate
Presented by: Marisa DiMartino
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Participants
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10th grade PSAT takers
30 students took the PSAT exam
10 consent forms were given based off availability
5-6 students will start the group in January
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The Process
 Goal: Increase students knowledge by 10% in financial
aid, career awareness and post secondary options
 Pre and Post-Tests Assessment
 Approximately 10% of the sophomore class took the
PSAT
 5 Pre-Test were completed
 Of those, 65% have little or no knowledge about college,
career or financial aid
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Sessions
 Group 1: PSAT Scores Overview
 Group 2: Personality Test
 Group 3: Career BINGO!
 Group 4: Financial Aid
 Group 5: Final Meeting-Jeopardy!!
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Results
 Pre and Post tests were administered to sophomore
students to determine their knowledge of college, career
and financial aid. The Likert scales ranged from 1 to 5 (no
knowledge to fully knowledgeable.)
 100% of the participants increased in their awareness and
currently feel that they have some knowledge in those 3
specified areas. No students showed to be fully
knowledgeable.
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Results (Cont.)
Prior to the group, 5 out of 6 group members had little
to no knowledge on post secondary options, career or
financial aid.
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Impacting Student College
and Career Readiness
Veronica Valencia
NYIT School of Education
School Counseling Graduate
Presented by: Donna Orleman
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Purpose
 Increase high school graduation rate and college
going rate by 2% for the 2013/2014 academic year.
 The assessment was measured using a baseline
data of 41.2% for college going rate and 74%
graduation rate
 Create an informed student population where
students feel supported and confident about
college or other post-secondary option choice.
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College Enrollment, Graduation and
Attendance Trend
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Implementation
 In-classroom guidance lessons
 Workshops
 One-on-one student check-ins
 ongoing sessions with students to monitor progress in the college
process and transitioning to college
 Collaboration with community agencies/supporters
 College Summit
 Collegeboard
 New York State Youth Leadership Council
 NYIT
 NYS Department of Labor, Bureau of Workforce Innovation
(Careerzone)
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Results
 85% percent of students applied to college
 74% of students fulfilled requirements for graduation
 Effective strategies
College and career information workshops
 College partners and guest speakers
 One-on-one student sessions
 Positive outcomes
 Students have become proactive in examining their
post-secondary options
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References
 Smith, M., Segal , R., & Segal, J. (2013, July). Stress symptoms, signs & causes:
The effects of stress overload and what you can do about it.
Retrieved from
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.htm
 Stone, C. & Dahir, C. (2011). Schoolcounselor accountability: A MEASURE of
student success. Cengage/Pearson
 Welle, P. D., & Graf, H. M. (2011). American journal of health education.
42(2), 96-105. Retrieved from
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19325037.2011.10599177#.U
3JcUPldWa8
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Summary Page
 For additional information an any of the presenters
and their evidenced-based interventions, please email
Dr. Donnellan
Coordinator of Guidance,
Lindenhurst Public Schools
Bdonnell@nyit.edu
 These NYIT graduates have conducted extensive
research and have contributed to improving their
internship site’s school environment. They are ready to
embark on a new journey as the new generation of
transformed school counselors.
Donnellan 2014