How do you do the reach out to the students, Kimberly? Is this done as a discussion in the class or on a personal basis?
Bravo, Anna. How often do you do this? Do all academic programs participate? I have to believe that this has helped reduce student and staff dissatisfaction.
Loren Kroh
At the end of each term, the students take the student surveys. These, if properly completed, can reveal if student expectations are being met.
Multiple surveys are giving to our students, plus I reach out to my students over the class phase to ask how they like or dislike school so far. I try to build that rapport with each student so they feel comfortable with that discussion.
We have student evaluation of each instructor.
One of the things that is done is a Faculty meeting with the Admission Department. The purpose of this is to educate Admissions on course requirements & workforce expectations. This has lead to a better fit of student to specific course of study.
Expecting students to have thought about alternative solution or options is a great practice - and a great skill for students to develop. They are the ones ultimately responsible for finding a solution.
Students are encouraged to seek assistance and utilize the open-door policy for any discussions they believe will assist them to succeed. Therefore, seeing a student in my office or having a student visit an instructor is a norm, so to speak. It is an expectation that they also come with an alternative solution or options when troubleshooting an issue or recommending an idea that may help them.
In addition, not only can they physically visit us, but they can also utilize the school's email to connect with any of us anytime.
They begin at the student admissions process. They interview students to assess their areas of interest and will actually provide input as to what they would suggest as a satisfactory academic program for the student.
Students are also encouraged to talk with any of the faculty or staff on the campus with questions or concern. While the facutly is their first point of contact and has them in class on a daily basis, in some cases students may have developed a relationship with their admissions representativei or student services coordinator and is more comfortable talking their issues over with them.
We also have students complete surveys at the end of their classes and make an effort to be fully engaged with students at all times in an effort to stay abreast of any issues that may arise.
Lastly, when a student graduates they are provided a survey at the exit interview to, again, survey their feedback about the school and academic programs.
"Visit" in the context of taking advantage of the open door policy - certainly not a social visit outside the academic construct. I was using social in connection with norms, peer pressure not to seek additional help from an instructor. The question focused on how you overcome that and get students to seek the help they may need.
Loren,
I would like to think that the "social visit" you are referring to will be at the Campus, right? If this is the case, I do not see the disadvantage of using this strategy. This will somehow allow our students to see the "human" side of us, so to speak.
Most students see me to obtain formation or clarify a protocol or policy. This is a good time for me to probe the other things happening to them.
Edna, do you have any techniques that you have found useful in getting students to actually visit an instructor? There seems to be a strong social norm against doing that.
Loren Kroh
DeAnn, how often do students take advantage of your open door? What ways do you encourage your students to visit?
Loren Kroh
Student Satisfaction Survey is one of the tools used to assure that student expectations are being met and that they are satisfied.
Like what most of my peers have stated already, students are not always proactive and would rather wait until the issue has reached its terminal stage prior to addressing it or asking for assistance. This leads me to another strategy in meeting student satisfaction, which is a policy that I strongly recommend to students from Day 1-- utilizing the open-door policy. This policy encourages the student to go directly to the course instructor in question to resolve an issue or just merely ask a question. If the student is not satisfied after doing step 1 that the proper chain of command is followed timely.
We have student surveys they fill out to see what areas they feel we need to improve upon. As well as open door policy to discuss any problem areas with any instructor they feel comfortable with.
At our institution we try to clearly lay out all of the expectations for the course and all of the criteria required to pass the course. I feel that when the students know what will be expected of them and how we will be evaluating their work it helps with retention.
They have change the recruiting methods to insure the students are getting what they are told they will receive such as housing and finding a job. As instructor we also help out by talking with students that show signs of stress/depression. We can not do much but we listen to them then we try to get them to see a student consulor, which can talk to them and figure out what the issues are. The school also has a food pantry and an account that we use to help students in need. Of course the account is not used freely, there does have to be circumstances that warrant thwe help such as: not having food to feed there children or pay the rent, or if there only means of transportation breaks down the school will help out. Whatever it takes to make sure the student has the oppurtunity to stay in school. Sad thing is even though we give them the oppurtunity to stay in school by helping, sometimes they will take the help and say its not enough and still quit.
Loren -
I will suggest financial plans to the FA department. If they are resistent, I can work them into the first class but that seems too late.
I like your idea of providing FA contact information. Names and numbers is a good idea.
Thanks!
Hello Loren,
Thank you for your reply and your questions. Instructors reactions vary, as you might expect. Speaking for myself, I look at instructor surveys and faculty evaluations by students as an opportunity to reexamine how I conduct my courses, and to think about ways for improvement.
My sense is that it does improve our performance. But as one instructor, I don't have access to the data. Just the same, it is part of a serious initiative to improve faculty performance and retention overall.
Best wishes,
Michael Luzius
The school make sure that students are interest in their education, prior before enrollment The students go through orientation, issue Rules and Regulations of what is required of them, and given their syllabus of their course.
