Texas OnCourse Sign Up Information

Hi, William,

I’m writing to welcome you to Texas OnCourse Academy! As a registered user, you now have access to over 30 free learning modules with many resources on college and career advising. Earn CPE credits and answer all of your students’ questions – without hours of online research.

Make sure to activate your account to avoid future trouble logging in! Look for an email with the subject line “Registration Confirmation.” You may need to check the spam folder. Here’s a screenshot of what the email looked like for me:

For a comprehensive list of topics covered in the Academy, bookmark the Academy syllabus from our website. You can also click on “Explore modules” when you’re logged into the Academy.   

I’ll check back in a week to see how things are going. In the meantime, feel free to submit any questions or issues with our support team by clicking here.

Thanks for letting Texas OnCourse support your efforts to help students.

Best,

Prepare your students to maximize their scholarship dollars and pave the way for a debt-free future with Texas OnCourse.

Student loan debt in 2020 is at its highest ever. Meanwhile, over $3 million in scholarship money is available for students each year. 

Help your students escape debt with scholarship support from Texas OnCourse. Pledge to join the scholarship challenge. Complete scholarship training in the Texas OnCourse Academy and you’ll receive exclusive resources, including student handouts and activities. Plus, you’ll get a chance to win some cash for yourself!

Take the pledge and get:

• The chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card when you complete our free Scholarship Applications module in the Texas OnCourse Academy for the first time
• Exclusive handouts and resources to help your students maximize their scholarship earnings
• Scholarship tips and best practices from experts
• Opportunities to support and engage with other counselors from around the state

Every penny counts! Prepare students for a debt-free future with the Texas OnCourse scholarship challenge.

Happy National School Counseling Week, William!

We work with the most inspiring people around!

To show how much we appreciate everything you do, here’s a shoutout to just a couple of the impressive educators we work with every day! Brian Galaviz and Erica Blando both won $50 Amazon gift cards for their work in the Texas OnCourse Academy last fall. They are using what they learned to help students find success in high school and beyond.

These Texas OnCourse counselors are helping build better humans.

Erica Blando has been working as a college and career adviser at Hutto High School for the past 7 years. Here’s what she’s most proud of.

Brian Galaviz has been a counselor and teacher for over 15 years. He’s now happy to be a counselor at Dunbar College Prep in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas.

Congratulations to Erica and Brian for winning the contest and taking home an Amazon gift card! You can be a winner, too! Stay tuned next week for our next contest announcement and a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card.

Happy National School Counseling Week! Thank you.

Enjoy this free scholarship worksheet on us – and more like it in our six-week scholarship challenge!

Hi, William,

Like students, scholarships come in all shapes and sizes. We know that it can sometimes be hard for students to keep track of all the scholarships they qualify for, so we made this Scholarship Exploration worksheet for you. Use it with students to identify skills, traits, and interests to explore opportunities and maximize their scholarship earnings.

Want more scholarship resources like this? Our scholarship challenge kicked off this week! Join and get:

• The chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card when you complete our free Scholarship Applications module in the Texas OnCourse Academy for the first time
• Exclusive handouts and resources to help your students maximize their scholarship earnings
• Scholarship tips and best practices from experts
• Opportunities to support and engage with other counselors and advisers from around the state

Effective Advising: Reducing Implicit Bias When Working with Students

Ensuring equity and accessibility for your student population is always important. Virtual advising and social distancing increases our need to focus on equity, especially as these practices can unfortunately exacerbate some of our unconscious biases.

Join us as we learn to reduce implicit bias within your advising practices. In this webinar, we will dig into some valuable research on eradicating bias while working with students and hear how guest speakers and Texas OnCourse leader fellows have made this a priority within their practice.

May 5, 2020, at 10:00 a.m. CT

Hi, William,

With COVID-19 news coming in at warp speed, Texas OnCourse has been working on rounding up the most impactful, trustworthy Coronavirus updates and resources for supporting your students remotely. Bookmark these pages to stay up-to-date on new COVID-19 developments.

Be sure to stay tuned to our blog, where we post COVID-19 updates and learnings from educators around the state twice a week. You can subscribe to receive instant, daily, or monthly email notifications about new blog posts - look for where it says "Subscribe here" on any page of our blog.

Students transitioning to college this year need some extra support! Texas OnCourse helps you have their back.

Hi, William,

Seniors always have a lot to stay on top of. This year we know they're even more stressed out than usual. So Texas OnCourse created this short video to help students navigate deadlines and feel less anxious on the path to college. In it, we walk them through five actionable steps they can use right now to stay on top of college deadlines.

Share the video directly with your students using this link: https://youtu.be/mY6OTAzskVA

Transitioning to college is never easy. Transitioning to college during COVID-19 can be downright nerve-wracking. Share this video with your students to guide them on the top actions to take right now as they prepare for college next year.

Earn reward money for your work in the Texas OnCourse Academy this year

Counselors, 

This has been a challenging year, to say the least. Texas OnCourse would like to recognize your hard work. You now have the opportunity to receive a reward for the learning completed in the Academy from July 15, 2019, through August 31, 2020. Here are the details.

Who is eligible? 

All school counselors who provided direct guidance to students during the 2019-20 academic year. Your Texas OnCourse Academy account must indicate your occupation as a counselor. Here is how to update your registration information with your occupation. 

How does it work?

Eligible counselors can earn $80 for mastering 5 modules, $160 for mastering 10, and so on, for a maximum reward of $480 for mastering all 31 modules. Counselors can request the reward after completing 5 modules, or make a request after completing more, e.g., 10, 15, 20... or 31 modules. 

Interested and eligible? Take these steps. 

1. Confirm that your Texas OnCourse Academy account includes your role as counselor. 
2. Master modules or confirm that you have mastered at least 5 modules between July 15, 2019, and now. 
3. Complete the stipend request form.
4. Look out for an email from UT Austin with instructions for how to get paid. If you have never been paid by Texas OnCourse before, you will need to complete a Payee Information Form (PIF). This form requires you to submit your Social Security number for payment. 
5. Once you complete your PIF, you should expect to receive a payment within 30 days. 

Have more questions? Refer to our support center.

Dear Texas OnCourse community,

Texas OnCourse cares deeply about Texas educators and the students we all serve. This includes the health and well-being of our staff, fellows, and you - the educators who use our resources. Our staff has transitioned to working remotely, and we have suspended work-related travel through April 30.  

We recognize that many Texas schools and districts are moving to online student engagement. We are steadfast in serving educators however we can. The Academy and our curriculum resources remain online and free to all. We are also making plans to support those of you teaching and counseling your students at home in the coming days and weeks. 

To that end, we will be sharing digital resources you can easily provide to students via email, social media, or learning management systems. We'll also curate information and resources that you can trust related to shifting developments in college and career planning. You''ll be able to find those resources on our blog and social media channels. Our Facebook group is a great way to connect not only with us, but with your colleagues during this time. 

If you have questions or suggestions on ways we can help you support your students on their postsecondary futures via remote delivery, please email us. 

Know this: we are here to support you. 

The Texas OnCourse team