Perhaps if the refusing parties were reminded of their dreams and values that brought them into their chosen careers, it might re-ignite the fires of participation.
It needs to be clearly explained to all new faculty and staff that running a school is a team effort. Better yet, they need to feel as if they are part of the team. If not, you will encounter the very problem you described above.
Its really noce to have departments that can be used for interventions. We have the ability to send some of our students to different departments to help solve problems...job related....housing and so on.
I truely believe retenting students is a faculty issue. Don't throw stones at me just yet. I believe that students judge a school by the instructors. So, if I have new faculty, I always mentor them for optimal performance.
I also believe that retaining students is closely tied to the advising and the relationships students have with their academic advisors and instructors. We have had some issues with advisors not responding to students or not properly advising and many of those students have left or threatened to leave. It has been difficult to get the advisors who have worked at my University for a long time to care because of old practices. We now have a weekly Intervention meeting that is run through Student Services but ensures the advisors are aware of the issues our students are facing so that they can get more actively involved.
