John Mazi

When I first started teaching, I figured I was supposed to do what my college professors always did on the first day: hand out the syllabus and send them home. Then I remembered that I often skipped the first day of school in college, because I figured I could pick up the syllabus on the second day. Since I don't want students skipping my class, I am always careful to plan relaxed but beneficial activities on the first day.

I feel that this is a very important aspect of retention. We seem to focus so much on ensuring the new students get to know functional managers while forgetting that their most important interactions will be with their instructors on a daily basis. Instructors shape the student's opinion on the institution everytime they step into a classroom. To be honest, I cannot remember anything about the financial aid department or program chairs from my collegiate experience, but I list 5-10 instructors/professors who shaped my career path.

I agree with the concept of sending the enrollee home from orientation as a "student". At my law school orientation (6 months before the first day of class), we were given a reading list and reading assignments expected to be completed BEFORE the first day of class. A bit extreme in our career college environment, but I definitely left feeling like a student. Distributing books, ID's, uniforms, etc., is a great way of accomplishing the same idea.

I firmly believe that a career college's instructors have the greatest impact on retention. Its my experience that instructors that can strike a balance in acting as a role model for students and providing the best knowledge to assist the student with their career goals, all while treating the students with the respect of a future peer in their chosen career field have the best retention rates.

Negative energy can kill any organization, but it is essential to minimize negativity in our business more than most. We are promising to change futures and change lives, which will only come with a positive, forward-thinking attitude.