I will be more aware of how the students are doing academically, and also pay attention to those "warning signs" when a student may be having trouble and try to help them right away to keep them engauged in the classroom. Also monitor progress to let them know how they are doing academically. I can also make a point of how important attendance is, and how that makes a difference being in class and on time every day.
At our institution we:
1. The program directors call students who are absent
2. Faculty use a form tht identifies at-risk students
3. For new students, the program directors meet with them within the first 30 days of their start.
1. I will try to secure a guest speaker(s) for each of my classes to share their experiences with my students.
2. I will continue ongoing training via MaxKnowledge and other continuing education as these opportunities become available.
3. I will continue using interactive resourses such as LearnSmart to help motivate students as they learn the material.
1.direct student to appropriate faculty
2.listen to students
3.offer extra hours of availability for students who may need help
SurveyMonkey is a great tool for a wide variety of questionnaires. You can make them a fun addition to a class or make them as serious as you need to be for other topics. It might be interesting to administer one as a part of a quarterly program meeting just to get a sense of your students as a group.
1. Meet with the Director of Education to discuss current retention rates and how we can publicize those in a broader context.
2. Volunteer to work on school initiatives to build team spirit such as upcoming cook out and social events.
3.Perform an analysis of students who have dropped from my class to determine reasons they left - will work with admission reps to follow through on this.
1. I'll continue to stress the availability of extra help in mastering course material.
2. I'll make more connections between my education at the school subsequent career developments (keep the dream alive).
3. I'll ensure that they remain aware that I am there to help them succeed.
There are several different ways to improve retention. 1.having a Open House. Students love this and its a great way to interact with each other. 2.Evaluations from the students, this is also a good way to make sure that the students expectations are being met. 3. Just making sure that if the student has come to you with an issue that we follow up on it. Alot of the times just showing them that you care enough to ask (that you remembered) they really then believe that WOW they do care. That in itself would make me want to keep returning!
1. Communicate more with our retention coordinator
2. Encourage student on a class daily basis and reward them for their persistance
3. Call the students when they are absent to let them know they are not just a number but they mean alot to us and we are concern.
This survey instrument designed to gage or measure student satisfaction surveys is usually given at the same time, when the instructor evaluation is being used as an end result. We and up with a particular time at the end of the semester when the student is constantly filling out forms with answers to questions which sometimes I wonder if anyone really understands what the questions are.
The survey instrument should be designed aware as everyone should be able to understand what the question is asking. Example of this is a question that says is your textbook adequate graded on a level 1 to 5. Obviously an answer is required, but are we getting a real answer or the answer that the students anticipate what we want to hear. Additionally how are these surveys tabulated and how soon is the information made available to the college at large. One practice which I learned at a particular university was to have each instructor respond on the website to his class to some of the general observations that were made on the survey. It certainly did make a difference with the level of interest answers which were produced in that this student's who knew that someone was going to respond to their particular suggestion, probable, or outcome.
You know, that's a very good point, training, as we as have always given that of service is the act of giving a particular skill set to a group of individuals, which may not be at the same particular level. What what I'm trying to say is that we need to train our entire staff on the objectives and the outcomes of retention, as well as the overall success of having a high retention rate. There are many topics which of course could be addressed and this could be done during a general in-service day with individual breakout groups designed to cover the specific areas. Attendance at these breakout groups should be categorized as being required to rotate through the different breakout groups. At the end of the day all of the groups come together and would provide a synopsis of what transpired in their session. This would act as a demand generator and then they would be carried in the spirit of retention throughout the institution.
Having a pep rally for instructors is a fantastic idea. The . The objective of pep rally is to bring about a level of excitement on a particular topic. If we have a pep rally with their instructors, that's designed to generate enthusiasm for success in the classroom as an example, this should, by its very nature carryforward to the student body. Why not have a pep rally for the students to gain an overall excitement for the institution or the particular degree program that they're in. Having students participate actively in career fairs for their particular discipline automatically brings about a high level of enthusiasm and a general rationale for remaining within the program.
Placing the burden of retention solely on faculty is a very regular, but yet unfair practice of many schools, and within our nation. If we look abroad to other schools and what they do about retention, you'll quickly find out that retention is addressed by all individuals at the particular college or university. It then becomes everyone's responsibility to take time out to show a particular student of the way to a particular building. We may not view this as an important task, but yet if you take it from the student perspective. Finding out where to go for their first class or where to go if they have a question or problem is very important for them to get an immediate answer
For schools and colleges that have regularly scheduled in-service programs. It's a great idea to make retention. One of these topics. S an even better idea to scour the nation and look to those schools that boast a very high retention rate and possibly bring in one of their members of the institution to address the faculty as well as the administrators or even better yet, the entire staff of the institution on how they have managed to maintain such a high retention rate.
1. Improve communication between Student Services and Instructors in order to catch at risk students even sooner.
2. Improve communication between staff and students through newsletters, bulletin boards, orientation packets, etc.
3. Implement more activities (cook outs, contests, etc.), more field trips and seminars that remind them why they are here and what their goals are.
To improve retention at our institution we will implement the following:
Include in staff and faculty meetings and item regarding the resources we have available for the students, how they are helpful in the students’ retention. Also include them in our monthly news letter that reaches not only staff, faculty but the students.
Start training all staff and Faculty to engaging in a retention improvement plan.
As an early intervention practice, implement the survey method and the vertical probe in our approach to the students, especially when they come with issues and complaints regarding their class and instructor.
All of these keeping in mind “the student success†as a measure of the “Institutional successâ€
Develop and follow a clear, easy to understand syllabus for each of my classes (many instuctors pass them out but never follow them), research life/career appropriate connections for each topic, find ways to make classes fun.
The three specific steps that I will take to improve student retention are:
1. Email any student that is falling behind / seems to be disinterested in participation of class actives and email all students about upcoming events / assignments.
2. Review all assignments for specific issues and provide a link to specific resources that will help them.
3. Demonstrate enthusiasm for the course material.
In addition to the three steps listed above, I will also demonstrate areas of the campus where students can connect to other students with similar interests.
Help the students stay focused on the end results after they graduate. Not just getting a job but making it a career.
Discussing the problems that come up during the classes.
Letting them know not to take things so personal and take one day at a time.
1. Giving my new students a questionaire on first day of class I developed to help me get to know them a little more.
2. Continue calling my students when absent.
3. Telling students I am available and giving them my set time for discussions and talking if they need.
