Joel Campbell

I had the fortune to experience a culture/group of individuals that served as a mentor for me in Graduate School. The entire Department's focus was on learning rather than GPA, modeling behavior, and mentoring new teachers in all of the ways the course describes. Each instructor cared about every student in the program and went above and beyond to prepare us. They also took the time to get to know us an people.

I have experienced the exact same scenario Jerry. In many cases students papers are not cited correctly which leads to a heightened similarity percentage. The similarity report is a starting point but each paper should be examined individually to determine if the items plagiarized intentionally.

Plagiarism is a major concern in our online classes. Fortunately there are resources such as Turnitin.com to catch offenders. The question we struggle with is how much similarity (measure by percentage plagiarized) constitutes cheating? For example, some instructors argue that only 0% is acceptable, other contend that anything under 15-20% is allowed. Thoughts?

I have designed websites and thought the site was "logically" organized based on my interpretation, but feedback from users was quite different. How much effort should be placed on soliciting feedback from users and then incorporating suggestions into the layout of the course? After all isn't it more important that the "look and feel" of the course work for the student rather than the designer?

I believe it is important to consider how courses fit into the overall curriculum/program. Courses should not be taught in isolation and scaffolding happens not just within a course but obviously accross courses.

Good placement rates absolutely drive retention..it keeps students eye on the prize. Placements should be shared with students on a regular basis and serve as a constant reminder of why they are in school.

Particularly at Career colleges where students are coming and going often and have busy lives school websites can create a common place where students get information such as important dates, events, and activities. It is a "hub" for students to connect with the school from home, work; anywhere. A well designed, informative website can improve retention as well.

The biggest challenge for an mentoring programs is organization, especially with a large student body.How do you facilitate a program with 600,800, or 1000 students?

Although students obviously use transfer credits as a basis for enrollment, I typically steer them in the direction of "Would you enroll in the program if you were NOT receiving credits?" other schools have used transfer of credits as a means of misrepresenting the competing institution, stating their credits will not transfer. Much of this confusion comes from little understanding of the transfer credit process and inconsitencies granting requests. If you educate the students on the process/rules and are educate them that ALL institutions make their own rules with regards to transfer credits, it takes the guesswork out of it.