Adminstrators and advisors are great at what they do, but there must be an excellent line of communication between these two offices and the faculty members.
In our school's meeting, we are constantly discussing ways to connect with our students and to help them succeed in reaching their goals.
We have an open door policy. Students can stop by any time to talk. I am compassionate with my students. I know that they have a lot of obstacles to contend with in their lives. I make sure that I am approachable. I want my students to feel comfortable talking with me.
We use a student success instructor who works with our students on helping them solve some of lifes problems which would in some circumstances make them leave school.
We have several things that are in place to catch the drop in academics and practical work.
First the individual instructor moniters the grades and attendance. Advisory forms are used to make the student aware of their current position. If it goes further, and educational manager is tagged in to see if this is a constant or if it is a new pattern. This usually ends in a meeting with the educational manager, the student, and at times the student's instructor. We also have senior instructors who also are used to moniter those having 'issues' that the students can go to on a regular basis for help and advise.
The biggest thing I think that we have in place is that we all make ourselves available and approachable, so that students can feel comfortable talking with us. During our meet and greet at the beginning of class we stand at the door and greet each individual as they arrive. This also helps us to perceive any change in behavior by the brief one on one meeting.
we just had a pizza party for all classes that had 100% attendence for the week after the holiday.I will always look at who is missiing in class and look at their attendence to see if they miss all the time,and start telling them the importance of being present.I will stess that the only thing most empolyers look at is if you show up because if you do you should be trainable,you must be present to win.
What a positive approach. I bet you get good reviews from your students.
Keep up the good work, Ralph.
Sounds good in theory, but how often are chief instructors actually able to meet with the student? How often are they successful in changing the person's mind about dropping?
Have you made any changes in your operation as a result of these conversations?
As an instructor I practiced many intervention strategies. Tardiness and attendance are good indicators of possible issues as are grades, but I pay more attention to character and personalities than anything else. Most students are eager to learn when they walk into a new class. After a few days of filling their heads with knowledge, you see a good portion still attentive as ever. The students that have other things on their mind stand out of the crowd, they will be the sleepers or the daydreamers or the ones who can't keep themselves in their seat and spend alot of time out of class. I also watch behaviors closely. For example, a student who normally is eager to dive into the lecture of lab activity on any other day seems to be disinterested in the class. A behavior that is out of character for that student will stand out immediately once you get to know them. I approach these students when we have a moment and inquire as to their well being. Some students will come right out with it, others will hold back, evaluate your concern, and possibly speak to you after they think they can confide in you. I then direct them to a department that can assist them, or talk the issue through with them myself.
Our school has in place a policy that when a student states that they want to drop a program or leave altogether, our student service contacts the Chief instructor of the program in question. He/She then has the obligation to talk to the student to find out why the want to drop it, or leave. We then report back to student services what we have found and what we have done.
My school has a notification system that instructors use to alert the program chairs, VP of Academics, and student services of situations where students who are at-risk or feel as though they do not want to continue in the program because of the stagnation. Instructors also try to reach out to the student and listen to how they are feeling.
When student services has a student "on the brink", they will ask the student who are some of his/her favorite instructors. With permisson,an instructor will contact the student for an intervention.
How do you select the graduates that you invite to speak to current students? Have you ever had this practice backfire?
A student concierge - what a great idea!
Please provide some more details. Who selects the concierge(s)? Where are they located? How many hours are they available? Is this a work study job?
Thanks for introducing the concept.
Money is central to both sides of the equation. The desire to improve earning power and start a successful career is a strong motivator for the entering student, but the lack of financial stability also is a major cause of distress, often forcing a student to withdraw.
The financial planning/packaging portion of the enrollment process often doesn't get enough attention. If not done properly and accurately, many students are doomed to further failure.
Are these departmental or college wide meetings? Who participates?
Have you been able to document the impact of this practice? Sounds like it should be very effective.
Is this a departmental meeting or one between instructor and manager? How do you coordinate these strategies with other departments?
One of the intervention methods that we have used to deal with Academic Stagnation Stress has been using former students as gradutes. The students come in and discuss their extership experience as well as the realities of the job world that they have discovered. I have found that it helps students to see that someone just like them was able to complete school and gain employment in their field. It helps to keep the end goal in mind for that student.
I tend to agree that the new student can become very overwhelmed by all of the material reviewed at orientation. We have evolved to no include who's who slides on our public monitor that give reminders to the students of who they may seek for issues they may face or to get their questions answered. We also now have a student concierge in place to answer Frequent Asked Questions (FAQS) from the student. We find this effective because many times the peer to peer relationship is easier for students.
I like this approach. In our institution, only the student services department meets with the at risk student. I feel that a small panel to discuss with the student their options and consequences behind dropping might be a more effective approach and also give the student the feeling that the "family" cares about his or her success.
