As of early this semester, three new counselors will be hired onto the Diablo Valley College staff. To anyone who has experienced the lifetime spent in lines for drop-ins, or glitchy system online or on calls, this comes as exciting news.

Counseling Department Chair Dennis Franco stated that according to the Student Success and Support Act of 2012, all students in California are required to have an education plan to apply for enrollment at most universities. This includes DVC students.

Extra counselors will be needed to help coordinate students’ education. Some counselors will be retiring at the end of the fall semester, and replacements will be needed to pick up where they will leave off.

Twenty-one-year-old DVC student Amanda Morales, believes new counselors will be very helpful.

“If they hire new counselors, it will be easier for the office to spend more time helping students,” she said.

Johan Kustandi, a 19-year-old freshman, would like to see counselors with special training in specific situations such as mental health relief.

DVC, along with most community colleges, will hire “generalists” for the counseling positions, according to Franco. A “generalist” is an applicant with a broad range of experience and no specific academic speciality. They will provide academic counseling to DVC students.

This may disappoint students who wanted crisis counseling or counselors with backgrounds in specific majors. However, Franco would like to address these situations as well.

“The mental well-being of our students is very important, and is given fair consideration by counseling,” said Franco. “There are people the DVC counselors will refer to in such situations, like Beth Hanis at the Contra Costa Mental Health Agency. The counseling department is also looking for strategies to increase the number of students visiting a day, and improve help given to students.”

Franco believes it is a grand idea to hire new counselors. Hiring will begin in December, and continue into spring semester.