Keren Orion

I learned that employment skills training that requires personal assessment helps students to identify their positive qualities. Students can be successful when they are aware of their positive qualities and personal strengths. The awareness of these personal attributes is something that can increase persistence during challenging times.

I learned that early retention is a key to success. Everyone working at the school should have a "retention state of mind." At my school I work in the student services department. Or focus is on watching for students who need assistance and assuring them that we are their go-to point of contact for any support they may need.

I learned that student mentoring can have a positive impact on student success and retention. At my school, the student services officers serve as informal mentors. We focus on outreach efforts to students who may need extra support and resources in order to get through their program successfully.

I learned that admissions should be a process. Dueing the process, the prospective student can develop questions to ask and begin their intention of staying in the program.

The first week is a very important time! It can be very effective to reach out to students with a friendly "How's it going"? 

Our school has a great 3-day orientation program, which includes the introduction of my department - Student Services. During our portion of teh orientation, we introduce ourselves and talk about what we do to offer support resources for our students.

I learned the term "progressive orientation." This means that, rather than just listening to individual speakers, students, either as individuals or in groups, travel from department to department to gather the important information. Doing this in teams is a good idea for helping to build interaction with classmates.

When I was a student, I had the "traditional" higher education experience of a 4-year university and I do recall that helpfulness and excellent service did not seem to be among the top priorities of the institution. Now that I work at a private career college, I understand the difference - helpfulness and excellent service really are top priorities here!

I learned that having the right people for each job is the first step in providing excellent student services. I like to t hink that I am a caring individual who has student sucess as my main objective. I agree that no matter how sophisticated an institution's systems may be, it is the people who make them work.

I learned that it is important to make sure that responsibility for the problem remains with the student and that my role remains one of support. It is not my job to solve the problem but, rather, be a listening ear and the voice of encouragement for the student.