Retention Basics
I believe that it is both the administration and the faculties responsibilities to keep retention numbers high. Administration needs to be up front when getting students in the institution enrolled and it is faculties responsibility to make sure that what we are teaching is relevant to what is needed in the field
There is a lot of emphasis to keep our students enrolled where I work. A lot of time is spent in communicating with the students about persistence and graduation. Most faculty here are onboard with communicating with the students when problems arise about persistence no matter what the issue is. I believe it is what makes a stronger community in our school and a stronger persistence rate.
"Right fit" is always a big challenge. Do you have any thoughts about how to achieve a good fit?
The student also has to be the "right fit" for the program. With being in medical, not everyone is suited for dealing with patients and doing injections. At the sametime with proper assistance it can be worked on.
I agree w/ you Becka. I believe that retention needs to be a collective effort. Retention is a large role played in the Student Services office where I work. However I do rely on the faculty and staff to inform me of at-risk students. As we all know, students soemtimes do not come asking for assistance until its too late. I can provide resources to students who are struggling and need additional support like tutoring. The goal for my office is to make all our stduents graduates, and that should be everyone elses goal as well.
“Being easy will keep students; being tough will run students off.†Hopefully, most instructors challenge students to improve themselves with challenging activities or checkpoints. There is a huge difference between being tough, from a disciplinary standpoint, and being a challenging instructor to reinforce appropriate criteria.
