Retention begins with recruiting
If students come in with false expectations about what the courses entail, and the degree of difficulty, you are already down in the count.
It is essential that recruiters know the curriculum and what is expected of the students. And the instructors must remember that the student is the customer and treat the student with appropriate respect.
Rick, what's the process for identifying changes that are appropriate and who is responsible for implementing them? Do you make an effort to make sure that students know that their survey input was instrumental in making positive changes?
Our Institution incorporates both the findings of an advisory committee and the results of student satisfaction surveys. When either of these systems points out where change is necessary the school takes it very seriously.
Good points, Debra. How much interaction is there at your institution between admissions and education? Do faculty members update admissions personnel about curriculum changes? Is there a committee to review applications?
I believe the most crucial factor for retention is being honest and truthful in every element of recruitment -- of course, motivating the candidate to reach for and surpass known achievements, but without stressing what it really takes to reach the goals is not safeguarding the integrity of the institution, but it certainly borders on criminality -- both financially to the prospective student, but also emotionally and perhaps even physically. "If the student doesn't have clear, realistic expectations, you are sowing the seeds of discontent . . .," which will most assuredly manifest in some way sooner or later.
It would be unfortunate if an institution is training students for outdated skills. This can be avoided by having a program advisory committee that routinely reviews course objectives.
Graduate satisfaction surveys could be used to validate training outcomes, too.
I also think that in many cases, the institution is so focused on bringing in the business (students) that they don't thoroughly look at their program offerings and adjust it to make it up do date for present day. A technical school may invest hundreds of thousands of dollars for new machines. But if the trend in the real world no longer calls for that specific process, or if that process is now handled by someone else, it is the institution's responsibility to update their program accordingly. We want our students to be best equipped to enter the workforce with skills necessary for their job requirements of today, not 10 years ago.
You're right, Anthony, that recruiters must know the curriculum. What does your institution do to assure they are fully informed about what it takes for them to be successful?
