Esperanza Unida’s Student Support Services team works with instructors and managers to recruit, interview, orient, support, and monitor the progress of students in all training programs. Information, referrals, advocacy, and counseling are also organized through this department. The primary role of this office is to assist trainees in working with the various program managers and instructors to successfully complete training and to adjust to their subsequent employment. Support often includes accessing the various auxiliary services and personal supports that each individual student may require. Program instructors and managers from various training businesses then assist each of their students in securing employment as part of the graduation process.

The Student Coordinator organizes recruitment fairs and orientation days to jump-start each training session and to make the programs known to prospective students. These fairs provide interested individuals with an overview of the training programs, each manager’s/instructor’s style, the industry, employment, and wage possibilities. The goal is to provide all prospective students with information to determine their potential involvement, their potential for success, and enable them to enroll with confidence and excitement. 

Another part of the Student Coordinator's role is to facilitate orientation and enrollment sessions before every 12-week session of training begins. Managers and instructors are there to provide program-specific orientation. Syllabi, tours, and individual interviews are part of the orientation. In addition, assessments are administered in the Learning Center during various sessions. The strategy is to have instructors begin to work with the students to determine strengths, weaknesses, barriers to success, and to help students express concerns, become familiar with Esperanza Unida, and get excited about the upcoming 12 weeks and their new jobs.

In order to ensure that our programs are effective for our students even after they've been trained and placed into jobs, the Student Coordination Department updates and maintains the Student Follow-Up System. Elements of the Student Follow-Up System include a formal database tracking program and monthly tracking in each training area of past graduates and current students. Esperanza Unida conducts a minimum of 45, 60, and 90-day follow-ups with the graduates, checking for employment maintenance, job advancement, pay rates, benefits, and additional training needs. The Student Coordinator and program managers utilize this information to evaluate the effectiveness of particular training programs and the organization as a whole. Esperanza Unida always welcomes its graduates back to the organization should they need further support, assistance and/or training.

The following list is the current performance measures that Esperanza Unida utilizes and the Student Support Services Department tracks to evaluate their performance: