Sulma Rivas

Connecting with students from the start is so important. Setting up a good comfortable environment for them to learn is very important. Everyone in the school should be welcoming to the students and try to connect with them to help them achieve their goals. I try to do my best in learning stories about my students to get to know them and better help them. 

Mentoring students from the start is very important so that they can succeed. Orientations should be planned out to inform students of everything. Having faculty and staff involved in Orientation should be a key to welcome and provide new students with mentors. I even like the idea of including senior students involved. Having an informal mentoring program in place is also a good idea to help retention- these could work for smaller school. 

The first week of classes is very important for all administrators and faculty to keep an eye on all new students. This week is where we can identify the students that may not make it and these are the ones that we need to give extra support to. Having an informative first week is important to keep all new students engaged and excited about them having made a good choice to enroll in the school. Having a start class picture to hang on a wall would be a good idea to give new students a send of belonging. Late enrolled… >>>

A well planned Orientation will help student retention and provide support to students. I like the idea that the Director of the Education should take the lead in planning a good Orientation, but have the support of faculty and administrative staff to make it a fun and successful Orientation. Faculty members are crucial for students to meet at Orientations. I do love the idea of having a picture taken when students start and hang it for them to feel like they belong. 

Building credibility is very important for schools to grow and for students to believe that they have made a good choice.  Orientations should be well planned out and they should not be boring. 

Students are very smart shoppers when it comes to educations. When attending private schools the expect a good service from everyone in the college. The experience they receive in admissions should be the same with everyone on campus. It is a great idea to think as a student. 

It is so important to have staff that care for the students to succeed and to reach their career goals. Staff needs to be trained to better provide the services the school needs to implement. There are so many resources that can be used to learn on how to better serve students such as surveys, work shops, exit interviews. 

It is very important to understand what students may be dealing with to understand how they behave. If student trust school administrators they will feel comfortable to share what they feel. If they choose to seek help, we need to be ready to Listen! When this happens, we need to be ready to take the 8 necessary steps - Pre-work, Greeting, Connecting, Discussing and Listening, Reflecting and creating options, Contracting, Follow up and launching. 

It is very important for a school to have faculty and staff in place ready to honestly care for all the students. Instructors are not the only ones that should be directly dealing with the stress students may be going through. Administrators should be able to communicate with instructors to provide resources to those students that may need them.  Students deal with stress in different ways and having administrators willing to help them is very important. Understanding the General Adaptation Syndrome is important. 

It is important to protect the student personal information and school officials should be aware who the students allows to provide their information too.