The school places a strong emphasis on creating an environment where students, staff, and faculty interact frequently. Executive level management has regular meetings with students to demonstrate interest and to learn about current concerns.
Our campus demonstrates School Commitment by providing faculty advisors and contacting students who have missed class but also by providing one-on-one peer tutoring and other academic help through the Library Resource Center. These students are often refered to the Library by their instructors.
How will this advisor system be monitored? One of the potential shortcomings of this type of system is the inconsistent delivery of services. Some faculty members may be more responsive than others, leaving some students under served. Careful oversight is very important to making it work.
Good luck.
At our school we have set up and advisor-advisee program. Instead of the students just having a counselor to speak to, they have been carefully matched to an instructor. Someone who is "in the trenches" and knows what they are going through, has knowledge of personal relationships among the students and is basically there to offer an objective and confidential ear. As a faculty we make periodic contact with our list of students just so they know we are an option available to them in case they need us.
We have faculty avaialble before and after class. Student services are available from morning throughout the day till night. Tutoring is always available. We arrange for guest speakers to adress the students. We have different events to agknowledge success of studetns. We have a volunteer rewards program in place.
We have a program in place where we have actual instructors that students have actually had in classes and or frequently see in hallways. The program is referred to as SSI's ( student services instructor )how it works is when a instructor of a class notices that a student's grades are falling or is having attendance issues,he will alert an SSI via e-mail titled " AT RISK" and the SSI will set up a meeting with the student one on one to see what the problem is and if he can help them.
I should add that prayer is a power tool in my commitment shed. Because we are a Christian university, I feel that it is important to begin each course I teach with more than just the required short "devotion" time and a brief prayer. I take prayer requests at the beginning of each session. Students tend to look forward to this time and depend so much on its value that they are more motivated to be on time and participate. I have heard from students over and over that this experience with my personal/spiritual commitment to them is extremely valuable.
Two particular "School Commitment" practices come to mind in response to this thread. First, many of the marketing materials developed for our undergraduate program in particular are based around a theme of "You CAN do it!" While that message is not always articulated directly, all of our materials portray a university that is eager to help students at each phase of their relationship with us, from inquiry, to graduation, and even beyond. Generally speaking, I think we do take a solidly helpful, solutions-based approach in most circumstances. I think our advertising is honest. We really do try to help students find ways of accessing the education we offer. In my role as an instructor, as well as in my student services role, I try very hard to extend this commitment so that students develop early a sense that I am an ally--a strong resource--and eager to see students succeed. We talk early and often about the kinds of challenges that can put their academic success in jeopardy. We discuss in advance appropriate modes and timing of communicating concerns. We talk about my general practices in responding to student crises. To that end, my students feel "safe" in sharing their stressors with me, and I try hard to consistently go the extra mile for them in an effort to move students from crisis to confidence. My students, more often than not, reflect my spirit of openness, fairness, and honesty in their communications with me.
In one of the first classes the students take, College Success and Career Portfolio, we reinforce all the resources that students have available to help them be successful. For example, the instructor reviews academic policies, Student Services visits and discusses ways students can get involved in school and resources to tap into such as outside counseling. Also, these students are visited by the Financial Aid team to discuss their role in helping students stay enrolled. In short we use this class as an extended orientation course because we know that a lot of information is lost during orientation. Additionally, we introduce students to different learning styles, how to leverage this information in classes and then we also help them develop a resume and practice interviewing skills. We find that students develop stress around money and if we can motivate them to find part time industry jobs this will minimize the problem of not having money for school and also connect their classroom learning to real-life experiences.
I have been out of the office I apologize for the late response. Our Assistant Academic Dean is extremely talented in putting things together on short notice. She usually will establish and promote the fund raiser on a certain date and within two weeks it will happen. For example we just had a fund raiser for Haiti where tee-shirts were purchase and if anyone bought a tee-shirt they were able to wear jeans last Wednesday for free however, if a student could not afford a tee-shirt then they could pay just two dollars to be able to wear jeans. It was a successful endeavor. This is just one example in many.
For the toys At Christmas we actually set up a store of sorts and allow the students to come in and choose the toys for their child/children and food for Christmas dinner. Of course, it was set up as a first come first serve basis and the students were provided with times and locations. The food that was left over was given to a student that other students suggested needed assistance and the left over toys were given to a charity outside the school.
How did it go? Were you able to offer a wide of variety of styles and sizes? Did the students pay for the items? Did you limit the number of purchases?
What variables would you propose to screen? Would the results be grounds for not accepting an applicant?
How do you see this being used by your students, Reyba?
We have just had a Professional Career Day that was to provide students with Professional clothing / attire . This was done by having any and all staff make donations of clothing from their closets. Then students could shop for their selections. This was done in preparation for job interviews. Dress for Success!
Students are called or text messaged or both when absent to determine cause and advise student of class activites. There is no limit.
By possible pre screening during enrollment or during students first phase of course perhaps this will make for a good prevention method.
I am currently working with a non-profit organization in our coummunity that provides a meal program for children.
As soon as all information is sent to me I'll be sharing this with our Retention Officers.
How often do you have these type of events? How well attended are they?
How successful are school personnel in actually talking with students who have problems? Is there a standard for the number of messages left before giving up?
Could you suggest another resource for intervention?
