Posted: Nov. 18, 2015 | Written by Crystal Olmedo

ASRCC Supreme Court holds open forum featuring representatives from Counseling and Student Financial Services

Among the buzzing of conversations of students in the Riverside City College cafeteria, college representatives answered questions about transferring to four-year universities, scholarships and counseling.

Associated Students of Riverside City College Supreme Court held open forum for students to ask questions about the resources available to them on Nov 17 from 12-2 p.m.

Court members passed out slips of paper for students to write their questions on.

As they sorted through the questions, members such as Patricia MacAdam, Supreme Court justice and Adam C. Molina, Supreme Court pro tempore shared their struggles and positive  experiences with transferring and related issues.

Question topics ranged from transfer specifics to the definition of a grant.

A panel of representatives from the Transfer Center, Student Financial Services and Counseling department gave their expert advice. The panel included Paula Farish, Student Financial Services analyst, Monica Delgadillo, Transfer Center coordinator, Kheesa Salughter, Educational Advisor for the Transfer Center and Elizabeth Iglecias, counselor and associate professor.

Christian Solano, Supreme Court chief justice served as the moderator and read the questions

Question topics ranged from transfer specifics to the definition of a grant.

A panel of representatives from the Transfer Center, Student Financial Services and Counseling department gave their expert advice. The panel included Paula Farish, Student Financial Services analyst, Monica Delgadillo, Transfer Center coordinator, Kheesa Salughter, Educational Advisor for the Transfer Center and Elizabeth Iglecias, counselor and associate professor.

Christian Solano, Supreme Court chief justice served as the moderator and read the questions as ASRCC members collected them from students in attendance.

“It’s a collaborative effort so everyone that is in student government is helping,” Solano said.

Solano repeated the purpose of the open forum every few minutes for students who may have joined in late.

A student asked about whether to transfer after receiving the required amount of credits or to do an extra year of community college and how that would affect their eligibility for scholarships. Elizabeth Iglecias, RCC counselor and associate professor said that most universities will only accept about 70 transferable credits, so transferring with 100 credits will not exactly put a student ahead of the curve.

RCC Financial Aid analyst Paula Farish reminded students that there is a limitation to the amount of years a student can receive federal aid such as the Pell Grant.

RCCD student Tandy Dang, who attends all three campuses in the district to make sure he stays on track with his general education courses, was one of many in attendance.

Dang previously served as ASRCC Supreme Court Justice and said he found the forum helpful.

“I came to show my support for ASRCC. I’ve done a few open forums with Paula Farish. I just came to check up on these guys and I also learned a few things,” Dang said. “I asked a question about transfer workshops and found out that there are two more for the semester one on the 18th and one on the 30th.”

Doug Graham, coordinator of Student Activities shared his thoughts about the event.

“It’s wonderful to have faculty and managers from the departments … so that students can put a face to the names so they know who they need to talk to,” Graham said. “I think it’s really beneficial and I’m glad that they are willing to participate.”