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Counseling

Drop-In Virtual Lobby Appointments are only available for the first two weeks of the semester.

To ensure we are able to reach you about your scheduled appointment, please be sure you provide a phone number and email address that are active.

General Education Worksheets
Merritt Course Catalog

Click to view Merritt's Course Catalog for the current academic year

2026 Summer Academic Calendar

Click to view the 2026 Summer semester academic calendar

ConexEd Student Resources

Enroll yourself into the FREE ConexED Student Resources Canvas page by clicking on the link above to view additional handouts and video tutorials

Merritt College counselors provide academic, career, and personal counseling services to help students identify educational, career, and personal goals. Counselors help students develop their educational plans to achieve their goals. Students are encouraged to meet with counselors early in the educational process to plan their program of study. Some counseling services are available on a Remote drop-in basis, while others require a scheduled appointment. We also offer e-counseling for specific situations. If you are having trouble scheduling an appointment, please contact the counseling department at 510-436-2475 for assistance.

Please keep in mind that drop-in services are for quick 10-15 minute counseling sessions only.

Quick 10-15 minute drop-in appointments only

Appointments that require a 1-hour appointment, no exceptions
  • General Questions (program/transfer information)
  • Excess Units Requests
  • Prerequisite Clearance Requests
  • English, ESOL, or Math course placement
  • Steps for New Students
  • College policy and procedures questions
  • Developing a Student Education Plan
  • Degree Petition
  • Financial Aid Appeals (SAP)
  • Major Exploration
  • Probation/Dismissal Hold
  • Transcript Evaluation
  • Degree/Transfer Requirements
  • Progress check

If it is determined that your needs require more time to be properly addressed, we are happy to assist you in scheduling a full counseling appointment. Your success is important to us, and we want to ensure that your needs are addressed properly in the given time frame.

Make an appointment online! Click here or scan the QR code below

Merritt College Counseling Appointment QR Code

 

Other Counseling Services

Other Counseling Services

The Merritt College Counseling Department provides specialized services to students who qualify for CalWORKS, Cooperative Agencies Resources for Education (CARE), Extended Opportunity Programs & Services (EOPS), NextUP, Student Accessibility Services (SAS), Veterans Services Program, and other services listed below. For more information about these programs, please visit the following websites:

Service Area Outcomes

SAO #1: Identify and Record Goal(s).

Students will be able to clearly state their academic and/or career goal(s) and record them in a Student Educational Plan (SEP) or other appropriate document as one outcome of a counseling session.

SAO #2: Utilize Educational Resources.

Students will be able to identify, access and use educational resources (electronic and otherwise) to plan and pursue their academic, career and personal goals.

SAO #3: Access Support Services

Students will be able to identify and access campus resources available to meet their individual needs and to support them as they pursue their academic, career and personal goals.

Articulation/General Education Worksheets

Overview

Articulation is the process that connects courses at two educational institutions to help students make a smooth transition from one to the other without having to complete duplicate coursework. The process identifies courses at the sending institution that are accepted by the receiving institution.  This allows students to fulfill a receiving institution requirement at the sending institution before transfer.  For more information, please see the FAQs below.

Forms

Merritt AA/AS Degree GE Pattern

Cal-GETC GE Pattern (for transfer)

FAQs

What is articulation at Merritt College?
Articulation is the process of establishing which Merritt College courses are acceptable in lieu of courses offered at 4-year institutions. Merritt has articulation agreements with all public universities in California, including all campuses of the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU). Merritt also has articulation agreements with private and independent colleges and universities in and outside California. The goal of articulation is to create a clear pathway for students to transfer from Merritt College to a 4-year institution without having to repeat courses after transfer that they’ve already taken and passed.

What is an articulation agreement?
Each 4-year institution has its own admission, general education, graduation, and major requirements. An articulation agreement is an agreement that specifies which Merritt College course(s) will fulfill one or more of these requirements.

Transfer Course Agreements. These agreements list courses that will be accepted for credit by the 4-year institution. Courses that are approved for transfer credit may or may not count toward general education, major, or graduation requirements.  Merritt College courses that transfer for credit to CSU or to UC are identified in the Merritt College catalog at the end of each course description and/or on the ASSIST website (see below).

Course-to-Course Agreements. A course-to-course agreement lists Merritt College courses that are acceptable in lieu of specific courses at a 4-year institution.

General Education Agreements. There are different GE patterns:

  • Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) is a general education pattern that lists Merritt College courses that fulfill lower-division GE requirements at either a UC or a CSU.  IGETC is usually not recommended for high-unit majors like Engineering, Computer Science, Biology, and Business.
  • CSU General Education-Breadth (CSU GE) is a general education pattern that lists Merritt College courses that fulfill lower-division GE requirements at all CSUs.
  • Campus-specific GE agreements are those at a specific 4-year institution that a student may opt to fulfill instead of system-wide GE patterns like IGETC and CSU GE that fulfill GE requirements at all UC and/or CSU campuses.

Major Preparation. Major preparation agreements list courses that fulfill specific lower-division requirements for different majors at 4-year institutions.

Course Identification Numbering System (C-ID).  C-ID is a statewide numbering system that can be used to determine course equivalency between California Community Colleges (CCCs) and CSUs. If a course at a CCC has an approved C-ID designation, it can be considered comparable to a course at either another CCC or at a CSU with the same C-ID designation. However, just because a Merritt College course shares a C-ID designation with a course at a CSU doesn’t mean it will fulfill admission, general education, major preparation, or graduation requirements.  Merritt College courses that have been approved for C-ID to date are listed at https://www.c-id.net/. See a counselor or contact the transfer institution for more information.

How can I learn more about articulation agreements?
One source of articulation information is the Articulation System Stimulating Interinstitutional Student Transfer (ASSIST). ASSIST is the official repository of articulation agreements for public higher education institutions in California (CCCs, CSUs, and UCs). These agreements have been reviewed and approved by the faculty at these institutions and identify how CCC courses will fulfill admission, transfer, general education, major preparation, and graduation requirements at CSUs and UCs. Students planning to transfer should become familiar with articulation agreements found on ASSIST at https://www.assist.org/ and on other sites. Students are strongly encouraged to see a counselor and to visit the Merritt College Transfer Center for more information.

Counseling Faculty

Counseling Faculty

To schedule counseling appointments, please call (510) 436-2475 or e-mail counseling.merritt@peralta.edu. If you have general questions, please call (510) 436-2475, and we will route your message to a Counselor who will return your call.

Full-Time Faculty

Sara Alturk
Counseling Department Tri-Chair
General Counselor
salturk@peralta.edu
Rosa S. Perez
Counseling Department Tri-Chair
General Counselor
rperezflores@peralta.edu
Edwin Towle
Counseling Department Tri-Chair
General Counselor
etowle@peralta.edu
Judit Trinidad Lopez
Puente/General Counselor
jtlopez@peralta.edu
Derrick Ross
General Counselor
dlross@peralta.edu
Lesley Scurry
General Counselor
lscurry@peralta.edu

Part-Time Faculty

Carlos McLean
General Counselor
cmclean@peralta.edu
Chelsea Kubischta
General Counselor
ckubischta@peralta.edu
Leanna Jack
Veterans/General Counselor
ljack@peralta.edu
Lorenzo Ubungen
General Counselor
lubungen@peralta.edu
Marty Zielke, M.S., Ed. D.
SLOAC/General Counselor
mzielke@peralta.edu
Mayra Macias
General Counselor
mmacias@peralta.edu

Quiana Easter
General Counselor
qeaster@peralta.edu

Roniqua Cook-Greene
General Counselor
rcgreene@peralta.edu
Omar Sanchez
General Counselor
osanchez@peralta.edu
Emil Margolis
General Counselor
emargolis@peralta.edu
Angela Chang
General Counselor
angelachang@peralta.edu
Jasmine Broome
General/Sankofa/Umoja Counselor
jbroome@peralta.edu
Cliff Flamer
Career/General Counselor
cflamer@peralta.edu
Hideo Nakano-Hiraki
Veterans/General Counselor
hnakanohiraki@peralta.edu
Sergio Castaneda
HSI/General Counselors
castaneda@peralta.edu
 

 

Summer Academic counseling hours (June 1, 2026 to July 30, 2026):
Monday-Thursday
8am-4:30pm
Closed Fridays

Extended Hours During Enrollment Periods:
Monday-Wednesday 9am-4pm
Thursday 9am-6pm
Friday 9am-12pm

Contact Information

Location:
Counseling Center
R Building, Room 109

Main Number:
(510) 436-2475

Email:
counseling.merritt@peralta.edu

Sara-Alturk-Counselor-Merritt-College-Staff-Photos-Apr-7-2020

Counseling Department Tri-Chair
General Counselor

Sara Alturk
salturk@peralta.edu
Rosa-S.-Perez

Counseling Department Tri-Chair
General Counselor
Rosa S. Perez
rperezflores@peralta.edu

headshot

Counseling Department Tri-Chair
Counseling Co-Chair
General Counselor
Edwin Towle
etowle@peralta.edu

Maria Spencer

Student Services Specialist
Maria Spencer
mspencer@peralta.edu

4eccefa7-7441-4432-8ff4-dd12c98959fb-bcc_web_update_file_2-IMG_0723-1

Staff Assistant
Skye Nikaidoh
snikaidoh@peralta.edu

Merritt-College-Campus-2

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