Many instructors like to incorporate humor into there classroom environment. Is humor a good or bad tool to use in a classroom environment? What is enough and what is too much?

Does anyone have good practices for changing student behavior or attitudes. We have many students who grew up in a culture that is truly not acceptable in society or the work place. Many have criminal backgrounds or grew up in the streets with no parential guidance or support. They feel their actions and behavior is acceptable because that's all they know. It's hard for faculty at times to relate to the lifestyle that many of our students come from.

How do you help individuals know if this is the correct time in their life to be in school. Many of our students attend school, homeless, no job, no tranportation, single parent and some all of the above. Is this the right time to invest alot of money in school and potentially not be successful and encure unwanted debt.

I treat my students in the same way I treat my own kids. I do not do anything differant, I think before I speak and treat each situation as it comes about.

It is very importance to cover whatthe learning objectives are as many time what the student thinks he needs to learn is different than what the job requires.

I believe we need to help prepare the student more before they start class. Orientation is too late to find out what the schools policies are, to find a job and a place to live. We are working to be more pro-active 6 months out to educate the new student about the life skills needed to be successful as a student. They need to be aware of the schools polices, job opportunities, housing and budget needs. The future student would benifit from a checklist of items to make their transition into school life more positive. This early attention will result in a positive way for future retention.

I think that our admissions department could benefit from this lesson. Everything makes sense. I feel that my companies admissions department is just pushing students into the program and because of that we have a large# of students that do not complete. I will try to add some of these techniques into my teaching

Improving your placement program at your school can be very effective if the students are inform or introduce from the very start date , and true their time during school about their future into the real world .(what to expect after you are finish with your school)

An effective and yet successful plan of retention would be to have always high end activities like clubs, guess speaker, outdoor events,open labs, field trips, demonstrations etc. Not just only for freshman's but all student body ,faculty and staff.

Of all the parts involved in student retention such as: student involvement in campus activities, career planning so that students will have clear career plans, to quality orientation programs Is there a way to measure which is the greater contributor to retention efforts?

One thing I believe always helps with retention is being able to provide students with a sense of belonging in their chosen school. In High School, students have a strong sense of ownership and belonging. The schools have school colors. There are school sports teams. Clubs and other organizations provide students with a way to represent their school, and feel that they are represented by their school. Most public or "land-grant" universities have fraternities and sororities. They have sports teams which compete nationwide and provide the students with an opportunity to show pride in their school at sporting events, or fraternity/sorority meetings. Unfortunately, with most private colleges it is very difficult to take advantage of these types of opportunities. Private colleges don't have dormatories or fraternities/sororities. These types of schools don't have the ability to sponsor sports teams on the scale that public universities do. Private colleges are typically focused solely on the education they provide. This is not a bad thing, as these schools understand that the students who attend private colleges are typically there for that very reason. These students are not usually there for sports or fraternities. They are there to get through school, graduate, get the degree, and begin their careers. However, if a private college can determine a way to create a similar sense of pride, and a sense of belonging in the culture of the college, then this could go a long way in improving the retention of the school's students. Stephen Lee Campbell

From reading this material, I got from it that we as Teachers/Instructors should be treating our students as humans. When I walk through the Campus, I greet everyone, even if I do not know them. So, business as usual for me.

At our institution it becomes generally known that on the first day of each new rotation, the rules of our school will be reviewed. This sets up an attitude that they can miss this day and not miss any of the corriculum. This bores the heck out of the students after they have heard it several times. Now when it comes to my class it has become known that I spend minimal time on this rule procedure and launch into the subject to be learned very rapidly. Thus they do not have this time to become bored. Also on day two the ones who did not show are informed that it is thier responsibility to catch them selves up on what was missed.

Recently, my school eliminated all positions but the director, in the Student Services Department. Each program chair in academics was then required to identify one or more menbers of the faculty to take on the role of "Academic Advisor" These advisors are required to perform the tasks which used to be managed by members of the student services department. While I definitely understand the thought process behind giving the students a person to go to who is a member of their faculty, and theoretically, this person will be their advisor for the student's entire time at school, this can and does present a couple of issues. Faculty members are specialists in the knowledge areas for which they teach. Teachers are a student's contact point in the classroom. Often times an instructor becomes an authority figure in the classroom, and this carries over to outside the classroom as well. A person in the role of Academic Advisor needs to be able to be a friend and confident, as well as an authoritarian. When a student goes to student services to discuss a problem or issue they are having, they want to be able to talk to someone wh can come down to their level. In order to maintain proper classroom conditions, an instructor can not do this! It can weaken the dynamic of the classroom. Another point to consider is that when a student goes to student services to discuss something, they want to feel that they are going to someone who's job and responsibility it is to help and handle the students issues. All students know that when instructors take on the role of academic advisor, it is an "extra" duty on top of their regular job requirements. They tend to not see the same level of expertise in an instructor performing the role of advisor, as they would in someone who is an employee of the student services department. Now, my school has had some really good results as a result of this change. I personnally feel that this is due to the dedication level of the particular instructors who are doing the job. The instructors chosen have been the type who would do anything to ensure that the students are properly and effectively taken care of. (Sometimes at the cost of classroom time, and DEFINITELY at the cost of their own personal time!!!) I am presenting this posting for two reasons. First, I feel it is important for any school concerned with retention to try alternative methods of reaching the students. Even if it does mean more involvement by the instructors. But second, I think that a Dedicated, specific staff of student services employees can provide a level of confidence to any student who comes to see them with an issue or a problem. Thank you.

Retention metrics are useful & helpful only if they can actually have an impact on retention initiatives. With that in mind, essential retention stats might include data from checklists used by both the student and admissions personnel. In addition, how effective would admission and retention benchmarking interviews be? For example interviews such as offer rejected/accepted, post acceptance interviews, drop out interviews etc. may also hold valuable data that can be measured and used to improve retention statistics.

One thing I have learned is that there is a certain amount of stress that is required to cause someone to be successful. If a student is in a school situation where there is absolutely no stress created by challenge or competition, then the student will have nothing to "rise to". A certain level of stress is necessary to bring out the best in people. As instructors, we should always try to alleviate the negative stress, and reduce the amount of unrealistic stress on our students. But we should also strive to encourage a positive reaction to the stress that Should exist in a classroom. Every student needs to understand that college is supposed to be a preperation scenario for life in the industry of their studies. If college is too easy, we are setting our students up for failure in their chosen field. Obvoiusly the opposite is true as well... if school is too hard, the students will give up trying due to being overwhelmed. However, as facilitators of LIFE education, instructors in college situations need to make sure that the students understand that life is difficult. Life is stressful. And it is better for students to learn these lessons in school, which is a safer environment, and where there are teachers and support personnal to assist them, than to "skate" through college, only to "Hit a Wall" once they graduate and realize that there ARE challenges out there. There IS competition for Everything! People are going to stress you out, just for the purpose of watching your reaction, because they enjoy it. So, as teachers, we need to educate our students about the reality of stress, and assist them in overcomming it. NOT try to eliminate it!!!!!

I have long believed that a students perception of the quality of the school will contribute heavily to a student's dedication to completing a program of study. Schools like Harvard, MIT, Yale, and other such Ivy league schools do not have serious problems with retention and attrition. In my opinion, a prime reason for this is the stringent guidelines and requirements necessary for acceptance into the school. A person can't just walk in off the street, and start classes the following Monday... Any perspective student of one of these schools must first meet the entry guidelines, and then complete any and all of the entry requirements. Like an ENTRANCE EXAM!!!!!!! Any schoolo that does not put a requirement on students entering the school is GOING to have difficulty with students leaving the school. I have found that a good majority of the students who start college are NOT actually prepared for what is expected of them! Regardless of how well a school attempts to meet the expectations of the students, the students' must be made to meet the expectations of the school!!! Until this changes, retention will Always be a problem in private, post-secondary education.

in order to succeed with you mentoring program at your school; we must have all that It's required from both formal and informal programs ,tool's proper and professional training, dedicated candidates who can perform with devotion !

When working on an issue with a student and consequently referring them to a licensed practioner, do we continue through the eight stages of the intervention process? Does my work go from four to seven?

What monitoring approaches or tips can you provide to make this process less abrasive? I think that sometimes students feel overwhelmed and may become unresponsive to monitoring. I have to remind myself they are "young adults" and following procedures is the last thing on their minds.