When a student misses class, the instructor makes an attempt to contact them - I usually send an email when they miss 1 day and make a phone call if 2 or more days in a row are missed.
I also stress the importance of letting me know when a student will miss - tying it to having a job, which many of my students have. I ask them to send me an email or call if they will miss and at least 95% do.
The ones who do not, I "chat" (meet) with them to stress the importance of attending and lettimg me know if/when they miss. For chronic late/absent students, I can pull the total # of hours/minutes missed in a course to show them, especially for lower grades due to missed assignments or when they did not do well on a quiz/test. This allows the student objective cause/effect and I can assist them in making a plan going forward.
We have a 90% attendnace rule. Students must maintain 90% attendnace in order to continue on in the program. If a student misses more than one day without contacting their instructor, the instructor reaches out to the student to see what's going on. If they can't get ahold of the student, we turn to their emergency contacts given in admissions. Thsi practice has saved many students from dropping. We often hear phrases such as, "I only came back because you care about me."
My institution has a similar policy, but its on a daily basis. Everytime a student is absent a form has to be filled out and a call made to the student to make sure they will be returning to class.
All faculty and staff is responsible for exemplifying school spirit and commitment to students by participating wholeheartedly in school functions and getting students more involved in extra-curricular activities and events.
If a student is absent from class, the instructor will call that student while taking roll.
One thing that are institution does is getting to know each students story. This is done through each student meeting with the director of their program prior to starting and continues to meet with them each term. More importantly, each instructor takes the time to learn each of their names and story throughout the term. This just shows the students that we care. They sometimes feel as if they are the only ones with issues, but having these conversations with them makes them realize that they are not the only ones and can do it. I personally give each student my cell phone number and email address so that they can contact me regarding any issues.
Our institution tries to involve the student and their families in various events aimed at building individual and community pride in our campus.
Our management meets with every new student at Orientation, and from there we make sure that when someone has a question, we know who they need to see. If someone looks lost in the halls, we ask them who they're looking for and follow up with them. Also, our Program directors closely examine the performance of their students on a weekly basis in a scrub meeting. The results of those meetings determines the under performers of that week, and a methodical list of actions (phone calls, meetings with either the Dean, or Director of Student Affairs, etc) takes place.
We make sure that we touch base every student on a weekly basis to make sure that all is good or that they know we are there for them if they need us!
I only teach an evening course but, I do know they are trying to place tutoring programs and I do thing that will be helpful.
One thing is we actually meet our new students prior to them beginning the course. Like this because you can easily put a face to new students
we also practice addressing student by name and make personal for the student
The instructors call the student(s) that did not show up for class and discuss what happened.
My institution contacts any student absent from class daily to find out the cause behind the absence.. This is a daily commitment to keeping our students on track..
We see this dual edged sword as an opportunity to help the student develop personal responsibility and accountability that they may not have at the start of the program. We assist the student a lot in the begining, and at the same time look for opportunitioes to discuss and coach on personal accountability in the workplace and in life in general.
A laudable objective, Lola. Please share some examples of successful events.
Devin, how is the student's story communicated from the director of the program to the instructors?
Tina, what's your connect rate when calling students? What happens if they don't respond?
An interactive seminar sounds like an idea worth exploring, John. What's the next step?
Dawn, is there a point at which a student must be dismissed from the class because they missed too much time?
Mary, is this 90% rule for all programs? Is it linked to state or accreditation standards?
