FAQ Category: Services

The Placement Assessment is used to determine the mathematics course in which you will have the greatest success. Upon completion of the Placement Assessment, you should meet with your academic advisor to go over your scores. Your advisor will review your scores and help make appropriate recommendations for course registration based on your educational pathway.

ALEKS PPL Steps (PPL = Placement, Preparation, and Learning)

1. Schedule an appointment on the SFCC Testing Center Bookings page to take your first proctored exam. 
2. Bring a valid photo ID and your SFCC login information, i.e., Username and password.
3. Testing Center staff will help you in log into the assessment through your mySFCC home page
4. Before you start the assessment, you will complete a brief survey followed by a Tools tutorial to learn how to use ALEKS. We highly encourage you to take time to complete the entire tutorial so you will be comfortable navigating all the problem types.
5. After you complete the first assessment, check the Math Placement Score Table to see the courses you are eligible for, and schedule an appointment to meet with an advisor. 
6. If you did not earn the proficiency score you think you should, you can use the prep and learning modules to review and retake the assessment up to four more times, within a 12-month period. 
7. If you earned the placement result needed to enroll in a particular course, you are still eligible and encouraged to use the ALEKS PPL learning modules to review and prepare for your math course. 

Be Honest About Your Skill Level

There is no benefit to cheating on the placement assessment- your only benefit will be that you place into a math course higher than your current level of mathematical knowledge. While taking the assessment, please do not access any other website or resource such as formulas, calculator, etc.

ALEKS PPL is a web-based program that uses artificial intelligence to map a student’s strengths and weaknesses. The Assessment is up to 25 open-ended questions and generally takes an hour and 20 minutes to complete. After the Assessment, an individualized Prep and Learning Module is available for students to refresh their knowledge on forgotten topics. Students then can reassess and improve their placement.

ALEKS consists of three parts:

• An initial placement assessment (Required to take proctored in the Testing Center)
• The Prep and Learning Module, an individualized, self-paced online review (Optional)
• Access to four additional Placement Assessments (Optional)

SFCC encourages each student to spend time in the Prep and Learning Module, even if the desired score is achieved, because time spent in ALEKS will lead to better preparation and improved grades.

What is the purpose of placement testing? 

The Placement Assessment results will be used to determine the most appropriate courses for each student as they move forward with college coursework. After taking the ALEKS PPL Assessment, students should meet with their advisor to review their results and enroll in the best classes based on their scores. This is a “Placement Assessment,” not a test. The difference is that a Placement Assessment is designed to determine what a student knows and what a student needs to work on, i.e. their baseline of knowledge. At the end of the ALEKS PPL Assessment, a student will have a much better sense of his/her strengths and weaknesses in math. Students then have a chance to brush on topics that may have been forgotten or have not been practiced recently.

You may only use scratch paper and a pencil provided by the testing center staff. Any personal items brought to the testing center will be placed in a locker. Textbooks, notes, calculators, and other resources, not provided in the ALEKS PPL assessment cannot be used by testing candidates. Using outside resources may lead to improper course placement resulting in subsequent course failure. It is also a violation of SFCC student conduct policy.

The Financial Responsibility Agreement outlines and informs students of the financial obligations and responsibilities associated with enrolling for classes.

The Financial Responsibility Agreement details course registration and payment requirements- if internal collections have failed SFCC may send your account to a collection agency and may be reported to one or more credit bureau reporting services.

Yes.

Yes.

Students applying for federal financial aid must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA) available online at www.fafsa.ed.gov. For complete information regarding financial aid and scholarships, go to the financial aid page or contact the Financial Aid Office at 505-428-1268.

Whether you’ve received a work-study award as part of your financial aid packet or you are hoping to earn a little cash while you go to school, the Student Employment Office will get you started. Contact the Student Employment Office at 505-428-1285 for more information.

SFCC offers numerous support services to students. Go to the Student Services menu link and scroll down to Student Support for a listing of all support services available.

• Accessibility Services:  vaune.hegmann@sfcc.edu
• Admissions: wac@sfcc.edu
• Adult Education: ae@sfcc.edu
• Advisors: advisor@sfcc.edu
• Career Services: career.services@sfcc.edu
• Counseling: counselingservices@sfcc.edu
• Financial Aid: financialaid@sfcc.edu
• Library: library@sfcc.edu
• Registrar: records@sfcc.edu
• Office of Student Development: osd@sfcc.edu
• Testing: testingcenter@sfcc.edu
• TRiO: trio@sfcc.edu
• Tutoring Center: robert.gutierrez@sfcc.edu
• Veterans: krystal.patton@sfcc.edu

Yes, SFCC offers services to qualified students with disabilities. SFCC follows the guidelines outlined in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and provides for reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with documented disabilities. Go to Student Accessibility Services for more information on services available.

Yes, SFCC Counseling Services are available online and in-person and they encourage students to contact them. Students seeking counseling services can schedule an appointment by emailing counselingservices@sfcc.edu.

SFCC’s Tutoring Center provides free individual tutoring on an appointment and walk-in basis for current Santa Fe Community College students. Tutors are available for a variety of subject areas, including reading, writing, speech, mathematics, science, liberal arts, computer science, accounting, media arts, and select computer applications. Tutors can also assist students with general study skills, organization, critical thinking, research, analysis, and assignment comprehension in any area of study, including specialty trade skills, nursing, and the arts. Students can only receive tutoring for credit courses in which they are currently enrolled at SFCC for up to two pre-scheduled appointment hours per week. Students may receive tutoring for the same course for a maximum of two semesters.

Tutoring is now available online through Zoom and in-person at the Tutoring Center. Whether meeting online or in-person, it is important that you arrive at your session with your assignment and the questions you have about it. Prior to an online session, your tutor might reach out to you via email and request additional information in order to prepare for your meeting.

You can expect to guide your session through your questions and statement of needs. Your tutor will look over your assignment and any work you bring to the session. You and your tutor may not get to everything within the 50-minute session and might just focus on a single section or area that represents the whole assignment or task. Your tutor will not do your work for you, give you the answers, or edit your paper. Instead, your tutor will help you find your own answers to move forward outside of the session by asking questions, suggesting strategies, providing resources, and facilitating critical and analytical thinking through active discussion. Your tutor’s goal is to help you learn skills that make you a better student and life-long learner.

One thing to remember about tutors is that although they can help you succeed, they are not required to know the answers to all your questions. Sometimes they will send you back to your instructor for clarification.