Higher education, specifically the California community colleges, is being inundated with a large new generation of students called millennials. They are the majority student group enrolled in record numbers at California Community Colleges. California community colleges continue to evolve in order to accommodate millennial generation college students. A phenomenological design was utilized, using face-to-face interviews. This research explores the phenomenon of “millennial college students (millennials)” through the lived experiences of California community college counseling faculty who interact with them. Their observations and experiences could prove to be informative and help advance the purpose of this research. The following are the research questions that guided this study. What type of experiences have California community college counseling faculty encountered while providing counseling services to millennial college students? What type of experiences have California community college counseling faculty encountered while teaching millennial college students? Have California community college counseling faculty modified their counseling or teaching practices to better serve millennial college students? Will the observations and experiences of California community college counseling faculty closely align with the literature in describing millennial college students?

Despite California community college counseling faculty having unique roles on their campuses due to their faculty status and their proximity to students, there is a lack of research related to the experiences of counseling faculty and how they can be supported by local and statewide leaders to best meet the needs of the diverse student populations that are currently being served within the California community college system. This qualitative research study utilized narrative inquiry to examine the current onboarding and mentoring experiences of California community college counseling faculty to evaluate both best practices as well as institutional gaps that negatively impact counseling faculty and the students they serve. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) ecological systems theory as a framework, this study intentionally centered counseling faculty development while examining three main questions: (a) how do the onboarding and mentoring of community college counseling faculty reflect an institution's support of diverse student populations, (b) what policies and practices exist, from the counseling faculty perspective, that effectively support the onboarding and mentoring of counseling faculty, and (c) how can an ecological framework assist in identifying recommendations on what supports for counseling faculty are necessary for institutions to be successful in their mission to support diverse students? Five counseling faculty were selected as participants, who provided data through journal responses, artifact submission, and narrative inquiry interviews. Findings indicated that a primary challenge for new counseling faculty was the need to “freeway fly” while working at multiple campuses part-time, leading to inconsistent onboarding support, increased stress, and a lack of sense of belonging on campus. Additionally, onboarding opportunities that intentionally combined technical training with cultural competencies were considered most valuable. Finally, informal mentoring was seen as a key component of onboarding as faculty sought out relationships that helped fill institutional gaps in professional development. The findings point to the need for a reimagined approach to onboarding and mentoring counseling faculty in ways that center faculty perspectives to better align with California’s mission to support the diverse needs of community college students.

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

University of Macau / Faculty of Education

University of Macau / Faculty of Education