As instructors, we are the front line to recognize and address student issues or problems. With the reduction of departments in our school, it is vital instructors support students any way possible and connect them with individuals that can solve their issues.
We have weekly Program Director meetings where we take time to review these two retention factors. Our student service coordinators attend these and after we identify the at-risk students, we develop a plan for contacting and meeting with each individual student to discuss the issues.
We monitor academic progress by frequent quizzes and testing the students understanding of material presented. Students are offered tutoring assistance at the first sign of problems to keep them on track.
Our retention program involves all staff members, from administration to faculty. We look for signs on campus from students who are aimlessly walking around or hanging around outside. We watch for students who are late, leaving early or absent and start paying close attention to these students. We are always reinforcing that our doors are always open and encourage students to talk to any staff members if they have questions or concerns. We have survey boxes throughout the campus and meet the staff open forums monthly.
I consider the ability to listen to what students are really saying to be a critical skill that is necessary to help any student.
Students who are doing well need to feel that they are reaching their goal, or no matter how well they appear to be doing in their classes, they are also "at risk" students who could potentially decide to withdraw.
As the lead in says, Timing is Everything.
As an instructor, everyday is a crucial step in helping students to reach their goal.
By being aware of even minor changes in a student's attendance, lack of participation, attitude changes, and a number of other telling signs, it is always possible to retain a student who might otherwise "give up."
Ned
My school uses attendance as a first step. We use CampusVue as our schools method of tracking, reporting, commenting, etc. for all students, all classes and all instructors as well as admissions, financial aid, and student services. Attendance is not the only criteria, but by calling a student who has missewd your class, you can potentially get an idea of the situation that caused the absence. You can also see if it is all classes or a select few. This is tremendously helpful. If a student is always in my graphic design classes but is absent from English, you can make some early decisions as to the student's possible issues.
No software takes the place of one-on-one, but it helps give you a broad overview of a student's issues.
Also, all faculty and staff are reminded of the services available to all of our students.
I am pleased to say that I feel that the faculty and staff work as a team. The most important part of being an instructor is the student.
Ned
One way that our institution addresses these retention obstacles is by having instructors complete advisements for students that are missing class time and or struggling academically. The advisements are typed up and handed to the students and then discussed privately between the student and instructor to try to find the cause of the problem(s) and some possible solutions.
You start to see the students that are having problems withdraw and disconnect. The challenge is to gain trust and get them to talk to you without feeling you are prying into their personel lives. Once they start to talk about it the problems often seem more managable and there may be solutions available they were not aware of.
Are the stand up meetings held on a regular schedule or are they more of an impromptu nature? Who's involved?
If we see a student whose grades are beginning to drop and this student is normally a very good student. We will take him aside and see if we can find out what the problem is and then send him/her to the appropriate department for help.
It sounds like you're being very proactive. Often it is a challenge to get some faculty to engage on the front line.
How to you get them to accept this challenge and not feel like they are "baby sitting" or dealing with problems that aren't their concern?
Faculty has a lot of impact on Academic Stagnation and Academic Erosion. The faculty member is usually the first to take notice of change in student behavior. If a student that normally does not miss class is suddenly absent three time this month, this is a warning sign. The instructor can ask the student to meet with them after class to discuss any issues that the institution, through our numerous resources, could possibly provide assistance.
We use weekly stand up meetings to communicate concerns about at risk students to various departments. This is a face to face meeting with faculty and the dean to bring situations to light.
We use action reports to communicate real actions that can be taken, by the student, to improve their academic standings. These are given to any student, at mid-term or earlier, that shows attendance or academic problems.
I remind them that if they stick to their original plan of becoming a motorcycle technician that they will have a career and job that most people would love to go to every day.
When a student has missed multiple days at school or seems disengaged I always try and engage them. I begin with letting them vent to me and often times the problems come right out. I then offer a solution on how I can help them or give them alternative help.
As an advisor, myself, I have some concerns about using attendance as the primary gauge in determining whether a student is potentially at risk. Often, if we wait until they start missing class, it is too late--the student has already convinced herself the situation is hopeless and has already started enacting her perceived solution, which is to stop attending school.
We have developed a system whereby instructors notify us if the students are exhibiting any of the warning signs (tardiness, attendance problems, drop in performace, poor grades, attitude changes, etc.). Of course, we have had to really emphasize to our faculty that they are vital in helping us identify these potentially at-risk students, and it is sometimes challenging for them, but since they are on the "front lines" with students, they usually have the best sense of what is going on.
it start at the admission level by tracking the student academic progress and social interaction within the school environment, where the instructor takes a one on one approach through conceling and tutoring. Any special cases are then referred directly to the students services for further evaluation. in many cases a private tutor will be assigned to develop an action plan
and often discuss possible options in order to find any appropriate resolutions.
We have recently instituted a power point presentation that is given at the beginning of class on each Monday. It is geared towards addressing many student issues, such as Academic Erosion, Stagnation by reminding students that help from other students and instructors is always available in the form of study groups and tutoring.
Does the referring faculty member have any trailing responsibility for the next steps? Is the instructor kept up to date on the situation?
Sounds like you're a busy person. How often do you get updates from instructors about students who may be having trouble?
What type of events have been most successful in getting students involved and connected?
Has this policy been effective for you? Many postings have described a similar procedure, but I haven't seen many references to the results.
