Sharron, do you do the Gut Check emails for each course, each academic period? I would think that eventually you would be identifying the same suspects.
The Student Service Department closely monitors attendance habits of students. Telephone calls, emails, and letters are a regular part of their job. It is important that students know you are keeping up with their day to day commitment.
Our school holds regular Campus Life events (monthly), we offer free movie tickets and opportunities to win prizes from time to time.
We also send what we call a Gut Check email to instructors after the first two weeks of class to ask them to give us their first impressions of their new students in order to identify potential issues where we could offer support i.e. ESL, computer skills, time management, study skills or personal coaching. After the Gut Check, instructors can refer students for these services on their own, students can self refer and Student Services can identify and refer students for support sessions.
If a student's absences reach 11%, we send an Attendance Warning letter to the student telling them we are concerned about their attendance, to be careful as they are approaching the maximum allowable 20% absentee rate and to ask if there is a way that we can support them in getting to class (offer resources such as child care referrals, bus tickets etc).
if a student misses two days in a row we call, e mail& text until we hear from them.
Sharon, are there reports submitted that list the calls made and their outcome? Are people held accountable for this practice?
james, could you share some examples of effective practices at your school?
Eric, how do you use Facebook to get connected with your students? Do they accept you, or someone at the school, as a friend? What's the policy for faculty having students as friends? Do some of your faculty have separate accounts for their personal postings?
Kenneth, how are students paired with Student Services staff? Is there a continuity of contact? Do students see the same person on later visits?
What's the student/staff ratio?
The first week of class for new students admissions keeps track to see where missing students are. After that each instructor will call their students that didn't come to class if they haven't heard from the student by phone or
e-mail. That way the students can see that their presence was missed in class.
The school should have a strong program to promote student success. Weekly meetings for staff and instructors on retention is the responsibility of every school. Everyone within the organization must be focused on the student's success. School commitment must work in several ways to moderate attrition. It's a must for school personnel to nurture positive, constructive, and hopeful paradigms among students to give them a positive feeling of self-worth. It's also the responsiblity of the school to teach students how to identify problems, develop alternatives, and communicate solutions are important skills that are invaluable to every student.
With school commitment, we use whatever means possible to find the student. This includes using facebook and twitter as well as calling to find out why a student has been missing class. Our commitment continues after graduation because we have students create a LinkedIn page to stay linked to the school post-graduation.
Our student services departmant meets with students regularly. They discuss student concerns both within and outside of the institution. They offer advice, solutions, and help the students acquire the tools the need to be prepared to overcome obstacles they may face.
We do this the first week of classes and ongoing.
We have the students sign in for the first six days and we call and reach out to them to ensure that they are attending class.
A creative use of technology, Jessica. Facebook postings are a great way to recognize performance in a very public way.
Our school has a Facebook page where we connect with students. On our page we put any awards students receive, contests they win and we often profile graduated students who have been successful. We also post job postings every week so students can see there is a demand in their field.
We are a culinary school and have a strict uniform policy, we have started to have all classrooms line up in one big line before the start of every class. All instructors walk through the line and shake the students hands and let them know if their uniform is out of line. This way it is not just your own instructor saying something but all the instructors. Plus it gets more interaction between instructor and student even if they are not in their class.
Hilary, please tell me a little more about Orientation Week. Is this like the extended orientations found on some traditional campuses where students gather to discuss the upcoming experience and get acclimated to campus?
John , does your institution have an organized early alert system?
Aurora, how do your students respond to a referral for tutoring? Do they show up, particularly on Saturday? Is the tutoring one-to-one or a group presentation?
Aurora, how does this practice work for you? Are you able to positively impact outcomes?
