Our school has a retention/graduation specialist, her job is to make sure that students are attending classes and if not find out whay and what the school can do to help. It is a great help to the instructors to know that we have someone other than ourselves that is actively following up with the students to ensure their success.
James, are the instructors that are available before and after class the same ones that the students have for that subject?
Shalonda, how often do the students take advantage of this extra help? What happens if their schedules don't line up?
Johnny, sounds like a great way for the students to expand their portfolios as well as getting valuable practical experience.
Annette, who meets with the struggling student? Who's responsible for follow through?
We also have instructors available before and after classes to help students stay current and help with issues.
If the students are absent or late and they dont call in they will recieve a write up as per school policy
Instructors are required to offer tutoring students that are failing. However, the teachers offer 2 hours of tutor every week for any student who wants to attend.
One of our school's biggest contributors to commitment is getting the students, especially our Graphic Design and Photography students, involved in the community through art openings, competitions, exhibitions, and events. It's amazing how in many cases people are happy to trade allowing our students to participate in real world work in exchange for design and photographs. For instance, we work with a local radio station that conducts a yearly schedule of major events. We give them photographers and they give the students carte blanche, press passes and all, to cover events, whether concerts, sporting events, etc. Our students love this level of commitment from the school to getting their networking going.
At the first sight that a student is struggling academically we have a meeting with that student to see what the issues are. They are offered different learning styles that may help or free tutoring in an area that they are not catching on to in class. We keep track of the student and discuss their progress in our weekly student rentention meetings with the faculty.
During new student orientation, we let the students know each and everyone in this school is available to them. Our instructors call or email each student who is absent. All Program Chairs review the LDA report daily and report findings to the Campus President. We have weekly retention meetings where each chair updates the academic team on which students are "on the radar" as needing help. Before any student is allowed to drop from our school, they must meet with our Campus President (we don't have a DOE). When we do speak with students about their commitment to the school, we remind them why they came to our school in the first place and let them know we are there to help make them successful.
Karen , do you mean a call on the first day of their enrollment or absence? A call on the first day of enrollment is an intriguing concept and could yield some interesting information.
Dayton, has this been an effective tool for your institution? How do you measure effectiveness?
All of the instructors and support staff are available to help every student that needs help. Instructors are trained to recognize these stress risers and direct the student to the person who can help.
In addition to calling missed students on the first day, it is a practice to call students after two consecutive absences -- this contact is then logged in our campus database.
This is also done the first week at our campus we let administration know who is missing and then either we call or admissions calls. Also if we as instructors see a student missing a lot of time then we will make sure that it is know to admin. and that we touch base with the student via phone.
During the first two weeks of the session, Student Affairs picks up the attendance sheets during class and calls those students who are not present reminding them of the importance of regular attendance. Instructors also call absent students during a class break or after class to attempt to determine why they were not in class and to see if there is a problem that the school can assist with.
Glenda, how effective has this protocol been? Do students appreciate the follow up? Would you recommend this policy to other schools?
all absent students are contacted by the Instructors and Academic Advisor.
We call, send emails, facebook and mail post cards.
student have been train to call in if they are absent and a lot of them do.
others...don't call and we will call you :)
Instructors inform student of missed test, homework and etc...
Don, sounds like your current institution might not do that. Do you think it would be a good idea? How effective was the practice at your former school?
Glenda, what percentage of absent students are called and who makes the calls?
