Student Services
Swedish Institute wants every student to stay in school, complete their program, get licensed or certified and successfully launch his or her new career. To that end the school provides a variety of student support services.
Academic Advisement and Tutoring
The academic administration carefully tracks student attendance and grades and acts quickly to help students keep pace with their course work. Should a student start falling behind, the following options are available:
Academic advisement: Instructors are ready to provide extra assistance upon request. In addition, each program has a dean and/or one or more department chairs, lead instructors and coordinators. These administrators have time available to advise students from all courses in their areas of expertise. The Director of Massage Therapy Academic Support Services is also available for direct advisement.
Tutoring: The Director of Student Services coordinates a program of group and individual tutoring that provides assistance to students.
Massage Therapy faculty tutorials and make-up work: To meet New York Massage Therapy Board attendance requirements, students may need to make up individual lessons. This can be done by sitting in on the same class at a different time or by arranging a tutorial with a faculty member. The Student Services Director and the Director of Massage Therapy Academic Support Services oversee the sit-in and tutorial program. Fees apply for faculty tutorials and make-ups.
Licensing and certification exam preparation: All technical program courses are designed to prepare students to take licensure or certification exams immediately upon graduation. Courses in the last semester may include practice examinations to enhance preparation. In addition, some programs provide additional workshops and/or computer tutorials and the college library has “test prep” hand- books for most programs. Individual program deans should be consulted for more information.
Study skills workshops: Workshops aimed at helping students with time management, test-taking, and study skills are offered periodically. Dates and times will be posted.
Personal Advisement
Personal circumstances may interfere with student academic progress. These may include job loss, personal or family illness, death in a family and any number of problems associated with daycare, finances, housing, child or spousal abuse, substance abuse, legal problems and psychological issues. Students are encouraged to seek assistance through the Director of Student Services as soon as problems develop. Referrals can be provided to community service organizations, government agencies, social workers or counselors who can help the student navigate such problems. The Director of Student Services can also work with instructors to provide homework assignments and other assistance in an effort to keep students on track.
The Financial Aid Office can provide guidance as to additional financial resources that may be available to assist students experiencing financial problems and the Alumni Services office occasionally posts part-time job opportunities that may be suitable for students.
Library services
All students receive an orientation to library services including the ebrary, ProQuest and other electronic collections. Some programs include an information literacy course that provides detailed instruction on using Internet resources for academic and professional purposes. The librarian is always available to assist students with their research projects and professional searches, and the library contains a number of career guides.
Alumni and Career Services
The Office of Alumni Services provides assistance for students preparing to enter their new careers including workshops and advisement concerning resume preparation, interview techniques and job search strategies. The Office helps graduating students navigate the licensure and certification process and provides resources that can help students prepare for exams.
The Office also maintains an extensive alumni network for graduates that includes job listings, referral services, continuing education courses being offered by Swedish Institute for professional advancement and many networking opportunities.
Student Advisory Council
Swedish Institute encourages input from students and regularly surveys students for their opinion of instruction and services. In addition, a Student Advisory Council representing all programs meets regularly to develop constructive suggestions for improvement. The Director of Student Services serves as the coordinator for the Council.
Student Handbooks
Each program publishes a Student Handbook that provides information about services, policies and procedures related to the specific program. The Handbook also provides further information about how to access school services.
