Austin College Bulletin 2022-2023
Counseling Services
Counseling services on a short-term basis are available to assist students in dealing with personal issues and emotional concerns. Individual counseling sessions, self-help resources, and workshops on various topics are offered on campus to assist students with their psychological well-being and individual development. Students may use this service by making a confidential appointment at Adams Center. There are no fees for these services. The counselor also is available as a resource for referral information on area professionals for long-term counseling.
Academic Skills Center
The Academic Skills Center (ASC) is committed to promoting an environment that fosters academic and personal growth. Services assist students to meet challenges in specific coursework as well as provide opportunities for skill development required for graduation and professional school admission. The ASC provides educational guidance through course-specific tutoring and personal academic coaching, as well as programs and services for students with disabilities and students in transition.
Free individual tutoring, group study sessions, and workshops designed to strengthen reading, organizational, and study skills are some of the ASC-sponsored services available to all Austin College students. Content-area tutoring is available in courses such as biology, chemistry, calculus, economics, foreign language, and more. The professional staff of the ASC offers academic coaching to help students develop class management techniques, organizational skills, and other strategies needed to persist in an academic environment.
The ASC also facilitates orientation and other programming efforts for transfer students. Support for the academic interests of students in transition offered through ASC-sponsored activities is designed to connect them to campus resources that encourage persistence.
The center’s director is responsible for coordinating support for students with documented disabilities in compliance with Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act-Amendments Act. The goal of the disability support program is to develop students’ self-advocacy skills required for academic and personal success.
All programs and services offered through the ASC help students cultivate the learning skills and study habits they need to be successful. Any student, regardless of classification or level of accomplishment, can benefit from the services provided by the Academic Skills Center.
Lemuel Scarbrough Center for Writing
The Lemuel Scarbrough Center for Writing supports a culture of writing at Austin College. Located in Abell Library Center, the Scarbrough Center for Writing (SCW) provides free, peer writing assistance, writing workshops and resources, and support for the teaching of writing across campus. Working collaboratively with students and faculty, the center aims to cultivate deep engagement with the writing and thinking practices that drive intellectual inquiry, civic engagement, and professional endeavors. Appointments can be scheduled online or on a walk-in basis.
Center for Career & Professional Development
The Center for Career & Professional Development encourages students to begin their career/life planning process in their first year of college, continuing over the course of their academic career. However, students can rest assured that it is never too late to start! By working with career center staff, students will learn and develop the career and life planning skills to help them be competitive in applying for employment and graduate or professional school.
In addition to individual advising, the career center offers regularly scheduled workshops and sessions tailored to students’ needs using specifically designed programs for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The Career & Professional Development Action Plan offers students guidance on different ways to engage in career planning throughout their time at Austin College.
Career resources include career development literature, an informative website, and specific job and internship listings posted on Handshake, a career portal that personalizes student’s career recommendations and connects students—no matter where they live—to local, national, and international companies, as well as Austin College alumni. The career center also provides access to PathwayU On-Line Career Management System. This program is available online and assists in assessing interests, personality, values, and skills identifying possible career matches related to a student’s profile. The career center coordinates visits by employment recruiters and graduate/professional schools, giving undergraduates, employers, and schools a forum for interaction and discussion. In addition, the center conducts studies in employment patterns of graduates to assist current students in predicting what opportunities may be available for them.
Applied learning opportunities are an integral way for students to gain insight into the world of work, explore vocation, and participate in servant leadership. Through the career center, students may receive assistance in developing these off-campus experiences through the Career Study Off-Campus program, an academic internship program, and the GO Global Outreach Fellowship, an opportunity to serve abroad in the summer.
Additionally, the service provides guidance on finding additional internship opportunities. More information about these unique experiential programs may be found under Off-Campus Opportunities of this Bulletin.
Health Services
Health Services in Adams Center is staffed by a registered nurse to assist Austin College students in meeting their health needs. There is no charge for office visits with the nurse. Local physicians conduct medical clinics in Adams Center. Specialties include family medicine, dermatology, and GYN. There is a small charge for a physician appointment. The physician clinic schedule is available on the Austin College website. Students are responsible for the cost of any prescription medications, laboratory, x-ray, or other outpatient services ordered.
Health Form Policy: The health forms packet is sent after the admission deposit is paid and must be completed and returned to Adams Center, Suite 61629, by June 15 for new or returning students who have missed semesters. This packet includes the following:
- Comprehensive Student Health and Disability Form
- Documentation of a Physical Exam completed during the previous year
- Documentation of the Required Immunizations, including proof of meningitis vaccination and a negative TB test within one year of entry (if positive TB test, confirmation of negative chest x-ray or treatment is required).
- Family and Personal Health History
- Authorization
- Insurance Waiver
- Insurance Brochure
Texas State Law (effective 1/1/12) requires all New and Transfer Students to have documentation of receiving a Meningitis Vaccine at least 10 days prior to the start of the semester. A booster is required if immunization was more than five years prior. The only exceptions to this State Law are 1) the student is 22 years of age or older (effective 1/1/2014) or 2) by declination affidavit. More information about a possible exemption can be found on the Austin College Health Services website.
Each student is required to submit proof of health insurance. A family policy may provide this coverage, in which case a waiver must be submitted online. When family health coverage is not available, Austin College offers a policy through a third-party vendor. Information about student health insurance is available on the Austin College Health Services website. The student’s account will automatically be billed for the health insurance policy if proof of insurance is not provided prior to matriculation. Contact Health Services at 903.813.2247 with questions regarding insurance.