Bryon--
Having students share their aspirations is a great thing...and in the midst of their anxiety over exams, etc. that happen later in their educational career its good to have them remember why they started. Keeping them focused on their desired outcome is a key to great retention.
Susan
We have students in orientation interview each other and introduce them to the other students. At times we will mix it up and just toss a beach ball out into the crowd. The person that catches the ball has to tell us a little about themselves. Name, city, what program they are enrolled in, pets, etc. That person then tosses the ball out and it continues.
This sounds like fun! I imagine it works best with a medium size group, yes? How many student usually attend your orientation?
Susan
This is a fantastic idea! One that I will implement at our next orientation.
I believe our admissions department is completing a questionaire and from that questionaire, develop a conversation that encompasses the desires of the prospect as well as the barriers to starting/completing school. All of the information collected by admissions is in the academic file but I don't think our faculty are utilizing it. This is a great tool that we are under utilizing, one that I intend to bring up to our director of education and program directors.
Great idea and I bet it's fun. In one activity during our orientation we have the students meet as many fellow students as possible (like speed dating)and then later they do a similar activity where they meet and exchage more personal information with one particular student and then introduce them to the group. However, I like the ball.
Are groups are usually around 35 to 40 students. We encourage all to bring family and children with them for support. If the group looks as if it will be too big we break into two groups.
Melanie--
Excellent point. Admissions personnel spend a great deal of time finding out important information and assisting students in resolving potential barriers to beginning school. These issues don't go away after they start, and having faculty utilize this information can significantly jump start retention.
Susan
To be perfectly honest, I know our admissions team collects information that could be valuable but that information is not transferred.
When I first came to work for this school admissions wrote information on index cards that were transferred to the education department. The cards would have information such as what motivated you to attend? Where do you currently work? Why do you want to change career paths? Why do you feel you need additional schooling to obtain employment? Marital status. Do you have chilren? There were many questions that gave insight into that persons personal experience.
When I think about it now I think it would be a good idea to start doing that again and I will bring it to the attention of my director and see if she agrees.
What I have noticed at my school that I think done more formally could be a great retention tool is admissions, as first point of contact, finding out the concerns, fears, interest, goals and passions of potential students and putting that student in contact with the appropriate staff or faculty right away(during orientation would be awesome). I work as the Retention Coordinator at my school and it helps a great deal for me to know as much about a new student as early as possible.
For example, if a student is having transportation problems I can run a report based on their zip code and put them in contact with students that live in their area for carpooling options before their attendance becomes a problem.
I think that actual datasheets on students from the beginning would help the Education Department to be more proactive in our retention efforts instead of trying to put out fires later.
Melanie,
I agree that the questionnaire can definitely be an important retention tool for both staff and faculty. I think that retention is a school wide effort and staff and faculty are all valuable resources that can be used throughout different stages of the student’s academic careers to help retain them. It is important for staff and faculty to first be aware of what tools they have available to them and how they work. Maybe an in-house workshop could help to better explain available retention tools and potential uses.
We normally try to limit each group to 30 and some of the students bring their significant others with them. The smaller groups are easier to coordinate activities and are more personal.
If a student is unsure if they are enrolling in the correct program, we will have a member of the faculty speak with them. This helps the potential student determine if this is indeed the correct program.
We don't currently have a Dean of Faculty or a position of any sort that bridges the gap between Admissions and Instruction. I was quite pleased to learn about the potential to structure our lines of communication through the last module of Institutional Connectivity. We are working on developing a position that would encompass Staff and Development so more learning opportunities such as this one can be brought back to our staff and faculty.
Currently the faculty is constantly learning about their students on an ongoing basis and any information that is learned in admissions is not something that is shared with the faculty formally; only if we happen to be discussing a student situation and someone from admissions happens to be near enough to overhear a name will they drop information pertinent to the resolution of a situation.
Good question Matthew. I am currious about the same thing. It is really challenging to get our instrutors out of class to do this.
No we don't have a formal handoff in the way of notes for the instructors to use. This is a great idea and something I am definately looking forward to putting into practice.
You know, we've had instances in class where the instructor didn't have any information sharing prior to class start. This ended up with a student having a rare type of seizure in class and the instructor, not being aware of what the symptoms were to precursor this seizure, didn't recognize it. Had she known what to look for, as this was a very undetectible seizure, she may have been more prepared and been able to anticipate its' going further. The situation ended up fine but nevertheless...not only does this information shareing help with retention but it also helps with safety.
This is always a difficult thing...but scheduling orientation at a time 'in between' classes (e.g. prior to night classes or just before/after lunch period) sometimes allows faculty to at least pop in and participate. They do not have to be involved in the entire program if they are unable, but having them attend and interact with new students is important if you can arrange the schedule appropriately.
Susan
Some institutions have a 'retention committee' of sorts where faculty, admissions and other appropriate individuals (e.g. financial aid) may meet to discuss students they feel are at risk. This is another way to share information across the board as each department tends to know bits and pieces concerning individual students. Getting the 'whole picture' often helps us be more effective in retaining students.
Susan
I think any learning disabilities would be a great one to let instructors know. We as instructors could help ahead of time to make the student feel better. Also any big fears the student may have. I could address these the first day of class.
