Do you find that the same intervention practices used to retain students also work to retain employees? Instructors leave this career for stressors that would sometimes seem to be able to be reduced if expectations and focus are properly applied.

I have found that many of our instructors have little or no empathy for our students under stress. I believe this is largely because they see themselves as coming up the "hard way" and are somewhat resentful of our students opportunities. Is this common among career schools?

It is sometimes difficult for school employees to understand that in one way or another we are all responsible for the retention of the students. This is realized through how we interact with them on a daily basis. It can be as easy as asking how someone is doing or as difficult as a coaching session that requires specialized assignments to help individuals succeed.

The 3 M's is what we call a TSI = Total School Involvement plan.

We have not tried this. Sounds like it could be an effective way to help new students make connections with the institution and other students. Has anyone tried having the Student Council involved in this type of activity?

Many of us think of our jobs as a "have to". What a difference it would make in our daily lives if we could think about working as a "want to"! Well, we all work in education, which should make the transition really easy. How wonderful is it to think that you have made a positive difference in someone's life? And, if we do our jobs well, we can accomplish something toward that end every day -- a real reason to want to come to work and to do our best.

Intervention does not have to be one-on-one interaction behind closed doors, it can be public display. Create an Interactive bulletin board with common and not so common issues. Allow your population to help us help them. We are not and can not be the saviors of everyone but we can open the door to knowledge. Create a monitored school blog where your students can discuss and find solutions to their issues. Just a few ideas...

Some would say that this is your best Instructor and if we had more like him/her we wouldn't have a retention problem! I say that there is a 98% chance that he/she is the root of your retention problem. I'm not saying that we don't have GREAT instructors in the business but I would bet if you really dig into the numbers you will find out that this instructor has a high grade average as well. If this is the case, then this instructor is doing you more harm then good. What happens is that this instructor falsely builds students self-esteem in believing that they can pass hard courses without studying or showing up to class and sets them up for failure in the near future. I welcome discussion to my opinion

In reading the posts on this forum, it reminded of the saying "it takes a whole village to raise a child." In our schools, it takes the involvement of all departments to identify and assist at-risk students. For example, a collector in the finance department notices that they are sending a past due notice to a student. Passing along that information to the DOE or program chair would provide an opportunity for us to talk with the student and perhaps refer them to career services for a part-time job. Or an instructor who notes that a student is frequently absent because he/she lacks transportation or child care, could contact student services to see if there are resources available. One of the ways in which our campus management team tries to accomplish this is to have weekly meetings (Education with Finance, Career Services with Education, Finance with Admissions, and so on) at which we can discuss students that are having some issue that may result in withdrawal from school. Something I would like to do is organize a retention committee with representatives from all departments; I would appreciate any comments that folks may have on the impact of retention committees.

The motto at our school is "Every Student - Every Day - Every Time." For instructors, this means making a personal connection with every student in class every day. Making that connection can be as simple as greeting the student by name as he/she walks into class. Telephone calls to absent students to touch base with them, let them know what they missed, and letting them know they were missed! For educational administrative staff, getting into the classrooms daily even if only for a few minutes to see what is going on, asking questions of students, participating briefly in a discussion, gives the students a sense of those they can go to when life starts to get in the way of school. For other staff and managers, getting out among the students at breaks or lunch periods lets the students know that we are all committed to their success. Personally, as I have gotten out of my office and into the hallways and classrooms, I feel I know our students better and they are more willing to come to me with questions.

This a problem that I've seen alot, the students that wants to know everything and want's to help on everything. How do you tell the student to be patient and not discourage them?

At my school we run into the problem that a student is in the right place for what he wants to become in life, but after a while (mainly when the program becomes difficult) they tend to loose interest, we try to encourage the student and remind him of why he is there. These are normally talks with the student. Does anyone have more suggestions on how to reach a student and not have to repeat the conversion?

How do you motivate Faculty to be a part of Orientation? Our Orientation is the Friday before classes start and our faculty have no interest in cutting their vacation time short a day in order to attend Orientation.

After reviewing the threads regarding the length of orientation, we came to realize that our orientation runs longer than most. Amongst other things, we include an overview of important policies and guidelines (e.g. grading, attendance, conduct, etc). Do you feel this is necessary? Or is it too much information considering they receive a student handbook which contains all this information in detail?

We are attempting to have a weekly meetng to award attendance and perfrmance certificates for new students. We may have multiple cohort groups in a single class;there is concern the older students will feel offended if they do not recieve awards as well. Do you agree or disagree?

Regardless of the orientation "style" or "format," what is the recommended length? We also include a one hour lunch with our orientation, but notice interest waning as the afternoon progresses. Any advice?

Does anyone have some activities they want to share concerning the pre-orientation period?

Has anyone noticed differences in retention and student performance related to the size and/or makeup of the orienting student group? By makeup I mean the program or major of the group was the same, within the same discipline, or mixed with other disciplines. It has seemed to me that by orienting by department yielded less attrition than when I have mixed disciplines.

Our school has orientation the week before start day. We do a pretty good job with those who attend, but many enroll after orientation. It is hard to get them together for an orientation. How do you handle this?

Making a positive impact within a learning environment should promote learning at all levels. Sometimes teachers, as well as administrators, are the worst students, due to ego issues, or else, and are negative towards learning from others. What are you doing in your institution to promote learning at all levels? Of course, this question goes also to the proctor: what do you recommend we should do to promote learning at all levels?