Brenda, is your grade book/student portal developed specifically for your institution or is commercially available? If so, which system are you using?
We get the students to come in early when we see the student has missed a day we telephone the student to find out the reason and see if the cause is something we can prevent in the future such as transporation. In our city wee have ride to work program which includes vocational schools and doesn't cost the student anything.
We track each student daily through their first course at our campus. The instructor reports on their progress and behavior patterns in class that day at a faculty meeting. Any student identified as having a risk factor (or stressor) present in their lives is contacted personally and offered community or campus resources, as appropriate, to assist them with their stressor. It is specifically communicated to each student at orientation, on the first day of class, and at several other points in their enrollment that we are an important part of their support system, and that they do not need to put their goals on hold because "life is getting in the way." We not only tell them, but also show them that we will do everything in our power to help them work through the stress they are encountering, and that we truly do care about their success.
We phone our students if they miss two days in a row to see what is going on. We also make sure that all students know that we have an open door policy- all instructors do. We also have a Student Services department. If a student is having trouble with finances, babysitting, transportation, etc. we refer them there. They have the resources to help students out. We also have a Career Services department which no only helps students find jobs after graduation, but can also help them find part time jobs during school to help them out financially.
I believe that the required school uniforms are reflective of both pride and commitment to my school and to the student's future. Medical students wear scrubs with our name patch in the corner and business students wear a polo shirt with the school name and logo. It is important for the students to begin looking and feeling professional from the beginning of this journey.
I'd like to thank you for sharing these initiatives. They seemed to me effective and mostly, they demonstrate a genuine interest in the student's overall learning experience.
Two practices our institution implements that demonstrate School Commitment directly involve the faculty. First, we have a clear mandate that whenever a student is absent, we attempt to make contact with them by phone or e-mail. This practice is designed to obviously encourage attendance but also has other intrinsic benefits. When the student knows to expect instructor follow-up, he is held accountable for that absence. Having said that, we clearly outline the need for regular attendance from an academic success standpoint at the beginning of the quarter, but as students may be absent, they realize that instructors will be following up as a matter of course; this tends to open the door for the student to communicate any issues or "stressors" which may be affecting attendance. They know we are committed to having them present in class because we expect them to learn.
Secondly, we involve instructors and Program Directors in telephone follow-up calls for all curriculum provisional students. Often these calls are made by instructors from outside their specific program to ensure students are able to respond freely without fear of reprisal. We have had excellent response with student response and frank honesty about program/instructional issues and concerns. These calls are made during the provisional period as students are progressing through the program to encourage their success and assess factors that are encouraging or inhibiting that success.
The institue that i work at, requires that we call the student everyday that they are not in class. I think that gives the student the feeling that someone cares about the academic progress.
Education,making sure that The students are getting The Best.
Hello Loren,
In my school, instructors routinely reach out to students who seem to be falling behind in their work. We first contact students who are slow in accessing the virtual classroom at the beginning of the session. The emails we send are encouraging and offer support. Another situation in which we offer support occurs when students are late in submitting their assignments. Instructors then send out friendly reminders to students letting them know which assignments they are missing, and encouraging them to submit those assignments. The instructor includes a sentence or two offering help.
Best wishes,
Michael Luzius
We have biweekly meetings to discuss school activities as well as students and how they are doing attendance wise and also academics. We have monthly evaluations with the students and discuss their grades and attendance with them as well.
Stephanie, what are the results of this calling policy?
Loren Kroh
juanita , is "The Best" one size fits all or is the best defined individually?
Loren Kroh
You describe an approach to late assignments that is quite different than any I have experienced. It seems instructors are more likely to go punitive on late assignments. How did you institution make this cultural change? Is it universal?
Loren Kroh
Hello Loren,
Although not all instructors in my institution do incorporate those practices in their classes, a large number do. In general, instructors are expected to make an effort to reach out to students who seem to be lagging behind.
Each week, all instructors are expected to send out friendly reminders to students with outstanding assignments. In addition, we are encouraged to send invitations to attend chats to students who haven't logged in regularly.
I am not sure when these inititatives began since they have been a feature of our efforts since I have been with the organization.
Best wishes,
Michael Luzius
Tutoring Procedures are in place where students are provided immediate assistance as soon as they assess their learning needs and/or earned less than the minimum grade per test or evaluation. In addition, the student is provided an advising on how she or he can improve including but not limited to study skills, testing strategies etc.
We have a student counselor who is always available for students who are having problems and need assistance. The school is very small so he is easily accessible. We also have a culture of helping the students succeed.
9 times out of 10, it gives the student the push that they need to get to class.
We all need that extra push sometimes.
Michael, are you teaching an online course? Anyone offering online chats for students enrolled in traditional classes?
Loren Kroh
Is there a separate tutoring center that serves all programs or is tutoring delivered by subject specialists? How do you evaluate the effectiveness of this program?
Loren Kroh
