Counseling and Guidance

Western Texas College Counseling Services provides students with a range of resources to assist them in formulating plans and making decisions in various phases of their academic, personal and vocational development.

Academic Advising

Western Texas College encourages all students to participate in academic advisement throughout their tenure here.  The Academic Advisement process includes meeting with a counselor or faculty advisor to choose courses and make appropriate decisions concerning students’ academic goals.  The following populations of students are required to be advised each semester prior to registration:

• Students enrolling at WTC for the first time
• Students who are not TSI met
• Students on scholastic probation
• Student athletes

The Counseling Services staff, as well as faculty advisors, is available year round to guide students regarding prerequisites, course transferability, career choices, and many other aspects that concern student development.   Information is also available at the Counseling Center in printed form on drug and alcohol abuse, study skills, AIDS, pregnancy, military service, and many other concerns.

Assessment/Placement

Texas Success Initiative
General Information

The 78th Texas State Legislature repealed TASP (Texas Academic Skills Program) as of September 1, 2003. The Texas Success Initiative (TSI) is the state-mandated replacement for TASP laws.

The program is intended to asses a student’s COLLEGE READINESS for first year college-level academic courses. It requires an assessment of the student’s basic academic skills in math, reading, and writing. Approved placement tests include these three sections as well as an essay in the writing section.

As part of the TSI, all students are required to take an approval placement test unless exempt by the criteria listed below. Western Texas College will note if a student is COLLEGE READINESS CLEAR (meaning student has passed all three academic areas of reading, writing, and math, or student is exempt from taking test) or NOT CLEAR (meaning student has not passed all three academic skill areas).

Western Texas College offers the Accuplacer and Compass Test and the regularly scheduled THEA test. Accuplacer and Compass are state approved computerized placement tests. They are offered in the WTC Counseling office by appointment only.

Western Texas College will accept scores of other state-approved placement tests, including Quick THEA, ASSET, ACCUPLACER and COMPASS. When a student has taken two or more different placement test, WTC will accept test results that best benefit the individual student.

Accuplacer, Compass and THEA Exams

The Accuplacer and Compass exams are approved college entrance placement test. They are designed to test your level of skills in reading, writing (includes an essay), and math. Accuplacer and Compass are completely computerized and results are immediate. The test is untimed, but usually takes 2-2 ½ hours to test all sections. Please allow at least 3 hours for test completion.

The fee is $30 for all 3 sections. Re-test fee is $10 per individual section. Pay by check, money order or cash (bring exact amount).

If you do not pass all sections, you may retest every 2 weeks.

A picture ID is mandatory to test. It can be in the form of a driver’s license, student ID, military ID, or passport.

If you take a state approved placement test and do not pass all 3 sections you can still attend WTC. Students who have not passed all 3 sections of a placement test are required to be enrolled in a developmental course for the area that they have not passed. A counselor will complete a Developmental Plan with the student outlining what developmental courses the student will be required to take.

Please contact the Western Texas College Student Services Office if you have any questions regarding the Texas Success Initiative (TSI) and your College Readiness status. 

To request a score report:
If you took the Accuplacer or Compass at WTC and you need a score report sent to your college/university, download the Request for Score Report form, print it, and mail along with $5 fee to the address on the form.

Online Counseling

To assist students in making good choices, WTC provides an Online counselor to help with topics such as course transfer, degree planning, and general questions about the student’s educational program. The Online counselor can also be contacted at times the campus is closed such as holidays and weekends. To visit with the Online counselor, contact dosborn@wtc.edu. Note that services are for academic advising only and do not include Psychological Counseling.