Pull attendance daily, call all of the absent students to see why they didn't show up to school.
Who is responsible for this at your school, Celesta? How are the results shared? How is the program monitored? What do you do with the information after you get?
Everyone is ultimately responsible for retention at my school. Results are shared at monthly employee meetings, weekly Directors meetings and email communication. For things like student surveys everyone gets the results to see where they can improve.
Do you have a retention committee that co-ordinates the improvement efforts, Celesta?
No we don't, the campus as a whole is always focused on retention.
Input from the students. (As to attendance issues,
some have financial issues and personal problems.)
We need to address these issues by holding meetings, having discussions and brainstorming on ways to improve. Newsletters, guest speakers, field trips, involve students.If it is an academic reason, tutoring done by peers.
Who should attend these meetings and discussions, Maria?
Get a retention committee set up in your schools. Have an instructor from each discipline and once a month hold these meetings for review.
I feel that part of the instructor's job is to at a minimum, identify which students need help and to encourage the students to seek additional assistance to ensure their success. We have set up tutoring sessions with our fulltime faculty so they are available at various times on different days to meet this need.
Loren, two points. First we should be striving to identify situations before they are a a major situation and second I recommend that those unusual problems be handled by upper management and not instructors or staff members. What do you think?
Do you measure the number of referrals for services by your faculty? Have you studied any relationship between referrals and student success?
No question, Aaron, that it's much more desirable to deal with problems when they first surface. Many problems that lead to withdrawals have rather simple solutions if detected in time. Vigilence by everyone is an important part of making that happen.
I also agree with you that unusual problems are best handled by appropriate personnel. In a perfect world, your policy manual provides clear guidance for everyone when dealing with routine issues. However, when unusual circumstances surface, it is important that decisions are being made in a thoughtful way by people who have adequate experience and training. This is particularly important if advice is needed from counselors, lawyers, accountancts, etc.
Hopefully, as these issues are uncovered they become a topic for discussion at senior management meetings.
I find that every student is different we have them in all ages and mind set but I've learned to acknowledge every student everyday or the next and pull them a side i find it makes a bond and they open up easier to me But their are some that don't talk much them i worry about i try meeting with them and i make an effort to ask how there grade are and i ask can i assist them with any tutoring one on one it helps but some time i feel like their scared to do good
Im currently teaching at a technical college. One of the coursees that students are required to take since the beginning is Professional Development. I believe these type of courses are essential for retention. These classes motivate students to find their own motivation in order for them to reach their goals. These classes are also great in helping students feel more confindence within and a good self-esteem. i believe having a good self esteem is vital for retention. Ofcourse, i believe, that the teacher has a huge role on retention. the teacher has to show pride in her teaching in order to motivate students and improve retention.
Please tell me more about the Professional Development course, Mitzi. When is it offered [beginning, middle or end of the program]? What topics are covered? Who teaches it?
100% agreement from me! We are implementing this in a number of ways.
1. Having identified admission reps for our program and meeting regularly with them.
2. Students must read and initial a list of expectations (including time and travel).
3. A required orientation by the program staff before admission.
4. Appropriate admission testing and set requiremnts specific to the program.
Coaching (teaching) should have a personal touch, some large University and Colleges had this problem to get to know who were their student just in and out of the classroom for that lecture hour, may be 3 x a week vs a small program. Instructors were with them all the way through their failure and success, all the up and down in grade through their learning.
sylvia, could you share an example of one of their practices that was particularly effective?
