Professional Learning

Foundational Beliefs

We believe In the strength of the individual. We believe our counselor and scholars are inherently worthy, apart from any metric or measurement. We take an asset-based, culturally sustaining approach in all of our resources.
We believe that building a career and college going identity is a developmental process.
We believe that counseling and advising is an art and a science. Yes, we use a lot of data-informed advising practices in our resources, and we emphasize that it’s really the background and experiences of the practitioner in their community that adds texture and understanding to the advising relationship.
And finally, we believe that postsecondary credentialing matters, and there’s a program or institution for everyone.

Live Workshops

Contigo Ed is getting counselors and advisors what they need, when they need it. Our professional learning offerings and specialized partnerships with acclaimed organizations and content experts, ensures that we are your one-stop-shop for all your counselor and advisor learning and development.

Contigo Ed offers customized and comprehensive professional development and support in all aspects of postsecondary access and success and leadership development. Workshops are live and can be delivered and accessed either virtually or in-person. Each workshop includes a pre-workshop consultation and post-workshop follow-up.

Contigo Ed Facilitated Workshop and Outcomes

60 minute session minimum. Can be a standalone session or bundled with College Match and/or College Fit for a comprehensive half-day experience.
✏️ Common types of postsecondary credentialing. “I know what kind of jobs require what types of credentialing across popular industries.”
✏️ Linking a student’s interest with potential jobs and careers. “I know how to help my students explore different careers based on their aptitudes and interests.”
✏️ Helping students explore a particular job or career of interest. “I know how to help students search for jobs and credentialing programs / institutions based on their aptitudes and interests.”
90 minute session minimum. Can be a standalone session or bundled with Future Plans and/or College Fit for a comprehensive half-day experience.
✏️ Define college match and fit.
✏️ Explain how college wishlists are created, with an emphasis on match.
✏️ Compare college and university admission criteria to academic credentials to determine eligibility.
✏️ Role play common advising scenarios using college match language
✏️ Explore high impact resources and tools.
60 minute session minimum. Is NOT a standalone session. To activate this session, practitioners must have experienced the College Match session. This session is often bundled with Future Plans and/or College Fit for a comprehensive half-day experience.
✏️ Define college fit.
✏️ Explore various aspects of college fit.
✏️ Evaluate colleges for individual fit.
60 minute session minimum. Is NOT a session that we actively or openly market. We will, however, offer this session as an add-on for inquiring partners.
✏️ Explain the purpose of the counselor recommendation.
✏️ Contrast the purpose of the teacher recommendation with the counselor recommendation.
✏️ Identify the elements of counselor recommendations.
✏️ Develop approaches and strategies for writing effective letters and for staying energized as a counselor.
90 minute session minimum. Is NOT a session that we actively or openly market. We will, however, offer this session as an add-on for inquiring partners.
Individual Advising
✏️ Design high impact advising sessions. Prepare self and students for each session.
✏️ Create a process and a schedule for having one-on-one advising sessions.
✏️ Create systems and space for capturing notes and next steps.
Group Advising
✏️ Activate high impact resources like lesson plans, handouts and PowerPoints.
✏️ Preview and practice techniques for
1. Establishing and maintaining high behavioral expectations.
2. Establishing routines and procedures.
3. Instilling a sense of purpose and focus.
120 minute session
✏️ Identify common, potential challenges to college matriculation.
✏️ Address challenges with research-based strategies to promote matriculation.
✏️ Match challenges from case study students with high-impact strategies.
90 minute session
✏️ Define Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
✏️ List the requirements to keep financial aid once securing it.
✏️ Determine reasons why students might be in danger of losing their financial aid.
✏️ List proactive strategies to maintain aid eligibility.
✏️Identify appropriate strategies to maintain financial aid eligibility once a student fails to meet SAP or other policies.
120 minute session. This can be broken up into a 60 minute session and 2 subsequent 30 minute sessions for writing a transparency statement and writing a belonging statement. This session(s) draws from the research of Dr. David Yeager, University of Texas, Austin on the science of motivating young people. This session(s) pairs effectively with our Future Plans, College Match and College Fit sessions.
✏️ Write Enforcer and Protector responses to common student responses about career and college.
✏️ Write affirming statements for case study students.
✏️ Write a Transparency Statement.
✏️ Write a Belonging Statement.
✏️Apply key principles of the Mentor Mindset research.

In-person workshops would involve Contigo Ed team members conducting a live, in-person workshop or consultation at a physical location of your choosing. Fees and charges will apply.

Contigo Ed Co-Hosted Workshops with Partners

When it comes to training and resources around college affordability and financial assistance, uAspire is a go-to expert and provider to support this important work. Contigo Ed is excited to partner with uAspire to help ensure counselors and advisors have all the info and resources they need to assist students and families in understanding and completing their financial aid requirements.

uAspire believes that every student should have equitable access to postsecondary education to live the life they envision. uAspire is a national nonprofit that helps underrepresented students access capital from which they can build a better future, and they do that through their advising, training, policy and consulting services.
Workshop Offerings:
- FAFSA Completion (180 minutes)
- CSS Profile Completion (180 minutes)
- FAFSA Follow-up & Verification (90 minutes)
- Financial Aid Offer Review (90 minutes)
- Summer Steps for Financial Aid (90 minutes)
The Motivate Lab is a research-practice partnership that improves lives, particularly in education and work, by researching and applying mindset interventions. They use evidence-based strategies, such as growth mindset and sense of belonging, to enhance motivation, persistence, and success.
Workshop Offerings:
- Learning Mindsets 101 (90 minutes, can be combined with Learning Mindsets 201 for one half-day session) - This workshop provides a foundational understanding of learning mindsets, which are our beliefs and perceptions about learning. Learning mindsets shape how we interpret difficulty, and research indicates they are critical predictors of academic performance, persistence, and motivation, which is essential for college and career success. Participants will learn a practical framework to understand learning mindsets and build fluency with the framework to consider how small shifts in communication, routines, and engagement strategies can build student confidence, increase persistence, and better prepare students for the transition to their long-term education and career plans.
- Learning Mindsets 201 (120 minutes, can be combined with Learning Mindsets 101 for one half-day session) - Building upon content from Learning Mindsets 101, this workshop explores the power of the Educator Mindset and how advising professionals from a variety of settings can apply these principles to enhance students’ learning mindsets within their advising programs. Advising professionals will engage in motivational planning to incorporate learning mindset-supportive strategies that bolster students’ well-being and successful transition to postsecondary education and career environments.
- Connecting the Dots: Motivation and Values in Postsecondary Planning (90 minute session) - Do your students ever feel disconnected from their postsecondary plans? This workshop introduces an activity that prompts students to connect their personal values to their postsecondary plans. Research shows that this activity helped students affirm their sense of self, decrease their belonging uncertainty, and find purpose and relevance in their postsecondary plans. This session can be adapted specifically for dual enrollment programs.
- The Easy to Follow 4-Paragraph Method of Writing College Essays with Rob Mooring (60 minutes)
- Family Engagement: Four Essential Communication Styles with Mayra Valle (60 minutes)