BURNT OUT
I have had many conversations with students about this subject. our school runs 5 days a week for 51 weeks the only time off is at christmas, now add in work and family and there is not much time for personal time. In our case i think that having 1 week in the summer will re-charge their ambition and help with retention.Time off is needed , thats why we take vacations from work every year.
Or is it because they have joined their friends at another college? Or your school didn't give them a good reason to return - the program didn't capture their attention?
Christmas break is a challenge for every college, but it is in your collective best interest to figure out why these students are dropping and develop an aggressive response.
Our school runs as a traditional school year the student is used to from high school. However, we have a few students who don't return after the Chritmas break - I feel its because some of thier friends haven't return to the traditional colleges yet. So a few a them do not return at this point.
Surely from a financial stand point, it is not a good idea. If the campus closes, the school would have to pay salaries for that time of closure. What would probably occur, like when we are off christmas, the student would be off but the instructors would get two options. option one would be to come in and work and option two would be to use vacation or sick time during that week. Personally I would be glad to use either of the two to enjoy a week off in summer time.
Now that brings up questions. How can this even be suggested to the school or corporation which owns the school? Also, do the students want to extend their enrollement from 51 to 52 weeks, for example?
This seems to be a recurring theme. What's the next step?
I agree, I have had numerous students tell me that they wish they had a little more time off from school occasionally duo to their work schedule and sometimes family life. I think this is why some students hour out of a course, because they just can't keep up with the rapid pace. Even if they don't hour out you can tell they are just burned out by the end of the course or the entire program.
I think if the expectations are clearly defined and let students know that one year is not that long of a time period then their view might be different. It should be easy for us older folks to tell younger students that time flies! Tell them about how you wished you could have changed some things you did back when you were younger.
I agree in that a break may help but believe that students may not come back as they would hang out with their bubbies who are not in school and decide to drop. And being only 51 weeks is only a small part of their lives so i think it is best to continue as we are going. Think a bout how hard it is to get back on track after Christmas and thanks giving.
I could relate to this topic for sure. It is nice to take the much needed time off from the school as well as a break from the constant interaction with students, questions and answers for six a day. Coming back from the break seems to be the difficult task as it pertains to the students. It seems like their motivation and retention drops lower upon returning to class than when we left for the break. In my experience it takes both the teacher (me) and the student a couple of days minimum to adjust and get back into some kind of flow. Don't get me wrong, I like the time away from my work and the students, but it seems like sometimes the return is more stressful than before the break?
Interesting, We can all use some time off for a quick recharge . It amazes me how much just a week off in the middle of summer can help . It seems to me this can be worked into the program without issue. We as instructors hear comments relative to this not only from students but especially fellow instructors as well. We all work very hard to maintain composure in front of instructors and managment. Not quite as stressful as when we were Tech but a close second.
If staff and faculty have time off, why not students? What's the reasoning behind this very aggressive schedule? Do your students also hold down jobs?
