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Ask a question from your peers to help you in your professional work. Seek different points of view on a topic that interests you. Start a thought-provoking conversation about a hot, current topic. Encourage your peers to join you in the discussion, and feel free to facilitate the discussion. As a community of educators, all members of the Career Ed Lounge are empowered to act as a discussion facilitator to help us all learn from each other.

John Mazi
John Mazi

First Day

When I first started teaching, I figured I was supposed to do what my college professors always did on the first day: hand out the syllabus and send them home. Then I remembered that I often skipped the first day of school in college, because I figured I could pick up the syllabus on the second day. Since I don't want students skipping my class, I am always careful to plan relaxed but beneficial activities on the first day.
John Mazi
John Mazi

Faculty Involvement

I feel that this is a very important aspect of retention. We seem to focus so much on ensuring the new students get to know functional managers while forgetting that their most important interactions will be with their instructors on a daily basis. Instructors shape the student's opinion on the institution everytime they step into a classroom. To be honest, I cannot remember anything about the financial aid department or program chairs from my collegiate experience, but I list 5-10 instructors/professors who shaped my career path.
John Mazi
John Mazi

My Orientation Experience

I agree with the concept of sending the enrollee home from orientation as a "student". At my law school orientation (6 months before the first day of class), we were given a reading list and reading assignments expected to be completed BEFORE the first day of class. A bit extreme in our career college environment, but I definitely left feeling like a student. Distributing books, ID's, uniforms, etc., is a great way of accomplishing the same idea.
John Mazi
John Mazi

Instructor impact

I firmly believe that a career college's instructors have the greatest impact on retention. Its my experience that instructors that can strike a balance in acting as a role model for students and providing the best knowledge to assist the student with their career goals, all while treating the students with the respect of a future peer in their chosen career field have the best retention rates.
Danielle Panosetti
Danielle Panosetti

Mentor

When a student has a personal mentor they feel important.
Danielle Panosetti
Danielle Panosetti

Important

Making each student feel important assists with retention.
Danielle Panosetti
Danielle Panosetti

Mentor

It is important for each student to have a mentor.
Danielle Panosetti
Danielle Panosetti

Positive Reinforcement

I find that positive reinforcement goes far with my students!
Sabrina Robinson
Sabrina Robinson

Customer Service

I just took the assessment quiz. One question in particular puzzled me. The question was "customer service should be a focus for all staff and faculty when working with students. I agree that regardless to what job you have working with people, customer service should be priority. The correct answer reflected that students are paying for an education. Again, I agree however students are paying for the opportunity to learn the skills to make them marketable in the field. I do not think it is necessary to say you pay for an education, it is the opportunity.
Sabrina Robinson
Sabrina Robinson

The 3MS

I was really enlightened with mentoring. I was able to look it at from another view. I learned the importance of how it is critical to model, mentor and monitor the students. As an instructor, we should always lead by example.
John Hughes
John Hughes

Mentoring

Mentoring students will help them understand what is going on in the class room and what you expect from them. It will also keep them focused on what the class has to offer and that you do care that they understand what you are teaching them. If you mentor a student correctly you will see them mentoring there classmates.
Shayla Gainer
Shayla Gainer

Buddy System

I have never considered this before but it is an excellent idea. It takes so much time orient the student myself if they have missed orientation, but if another student does it, they can also share some of their orientation experience as well as getting to know each other.
Shayla Gainer
Shayla Gainer

Classroom culture

Students in a class, even if it meets only once per week, should treat each other as a family or support system. I have suggested, not forced, students exchange phone numbers and call each other if they have questions on assignments or just contact each other if they have issues related to school. I also mention that it should be a positive interaction only. This helps students to stay throughout the course and it also helps with interations and positive communication.
Shayla Gainer
Shayla Gainer

First Day

It is quite normal to be nervous about attending school even if you have attended another institution in the past and I try to remind students of that. It is often difficult to have an orientation for an individual class because most programs have accelerated courses that do not allow much time for students to get acquainted. I try to offer a "family" approach to my students on the first day. I explain that the relationship they have is much like a family and they can rely on each other. This usually helps them to get to know each other, and keep each other motivated.
Shayla Gainer
Shayla Gainer

Retention

I have found that many students drop out because "it's not the place for them." Students often choose career schools because they are not only searching for the best lectures and education, they are searching for an experience. They are their because the admissions person made them comfortable, the instructor allowed them to share their experiences and encouraged them to keep attending.
Anthony McPhee
Anthony McPhee CHEP

Retention

How does an institution maintain their retention, when economy is rough?
Jamie Clay
Jamie Clay

Mentoring

I am a new instructor and think that being a mentor to the students is very important. They seem to look up you more.
Brenda Clark
Brenda Clark

Student success

I believe, and agree with the statement that EVERYONE in the institution must understand that student success is the primary measure of our institutional success. And, with that being stated, I feel that our institutions Orientation should include ALL instructors. Since there is only one chance to make a first impression, I feel it would benefit both students and our school to put our best foot forward, and be introduced as Professionals to our students during Orientation.
Catherine Taplett Allen
Catherine Taplett Allen

Retention does start with admissions

The new student builds a relationship with the admissions advisor. If the rep is positive and engaging, the student is more apt to feel part of the school. They are also likely to refer more friends.
Catherine Taplett Allen
Catherine Taplett Allen

Recognizing students for outstanding academic achievement

We send each student that makes the honor list for academic achievement a personalized note each quarter. The student gets a letter from the campus president and the admissions advisor. The response has been very positive and sends a motivating message to the student.