I like this. One of the biggest problems is that these students cannot afford to make their in-school payments and if classes are failed, they cannot afford re-take fees. They are bombarded with fees and additional costs and may are unable to cope with the financial pressure, so they drop. I understand that the institution must be profitable, but I'd say that money is probably the number reason why students drop from my institution.
My institution has in place a similar system. We use a special email box that instructors can use to alert student services and the DOE regarding suspected student distress. We call it the "blinker."
We conduct a weekly meeting at which time all attendance, or lack of attendance, is discussed and probed. We also examine those students who have failed classes or may not be meeting satisfactory academic progress. We assign the at risk students to a member of the academic team, and/or career services representative to meet with these students to help them cope and set a path for success however that works for the individual.
Every week we meet with our education manager to discuss the students with a risk of following begin. Then we discuss the strategies that we need to put in place to make that student sucessful through the program.
No Intervention Policy
Intervention strategies should be a part of every college’s plan, but some colleges have absolutely no intervention policies in place. Professors might be told to “just ignore†negative or derogatory emails, when it is the professor’s job, via a signed contract, to respond to all student questions. Professors might be routinely told that “it would be best if you made the decision that†so and so is okay this time—despite the department’s published policy which was also contained in the course syllabus and published multiple times in class—because the student is repeating the class for the third time and is trying to graduate this term. Basically, some long-standing (not-for-profit) colleges may lack any policies regarding how to protect a professor who is trying to work with a troubled student. For instance, the college may have no counselors that can speak to the student, no advisors who can speak to the student, no administrators who will speak to the student, no publicly-funded mental health institution to which they can refer students who are in need of psychological counseling. Especially in online classes professors may be asked to do everything to appease the student, despite long-standing policies that the student is ignoring (such as the student code of conduct which requires students to be respectful at all times in the college setting).
In this time of economic hardship and strife, not only for students but certainly also for adjunct faculty (which we now are seeing more and more as the main faculty in colleges), it is unacceptable and contrary to employment laws to subject adjunct faculty (and probably some full-time faculty, as well) to the situations that they are being forced to deal with in whatever way they can with extremely limited support by the college. Telling a faculty member “to ignore†a problem student who is harassing a faculty member with constant negative and argumentative emails would not be acceptable in a retail environment, so why is it so acceptable in the college environment? Faculty are probably being subjected to such extreme stress because many faculty do not know the employment laws or the harassment laws of the state in which they are employed (or of their own state). Adjunct faculty usually have no benefits and even if they do have benefits those benefits are not as comprehensive as those of full-time faculty or administrators. The current attitude towards adjunct faculty is that they should be desperate for a job and that if they are not that someone else would love to have their job.
When faculty are faced with dealing with a problem student at a college where there is absolutely no intervention policy, then the faculty should be sure to know the state laws (where the faculty lives, where the college is located, and in the state where the student lives) regarding harassment in order to protect themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally. If harassment by a student continues after a faculty member has told the student to stop sending harassing emails, phone calls, or other communications three times, then the faculty should be prepared to call in the police in the appropriate jurisdictions so that the situation can be remedied by law. Of course, the laws vary from state to state and that is why it is imperative that the faculty member prepares ahead of time in order to know what must be done to stop the harassment. If the college has no intervention plan in place to help students and if students harass faculty members then the law must be used to protect the faculty and the faculty member must move to make the complaint to the appropriate police departments because the college is likely going to do nothing to help or protect the faculty since there are no polices in place to even help students.
How have you used these benefits to improve retention, Max?
my institution provides paid ceu and higher learning
Who will the mentor be working with - just incoming students or anyone who needs help? Will the mentor be paid and how will they be evaluated?
Be sure to have an escape route if the mentor doesn't perform satisfactorily. Removing someone from this prestigious position could be problematic.
I like your practice of having the students essentially remind themselves of what's important in their lives.
What percentage of your drop outs actually meet with the DOE and Student Success Coordinator? In my experience, students who have decided to drop aren't inclined to linger and chat about the decision.
We are going to start a mentoring program with at least one student (upperclassman) from each major, to help new students stay motivated.
Many students find themselves having difficulty overcoming lifes challenges particularly in their personal lives. They usually attempt to handle it by continuing what they are used to doing and find themselves in denial when it reaches the point of no return, or they attempt to handle the issue by directing their attention towards the problem and neglecting their schooling. In both cases their education suffers. It is evident why it is so very important for all of the school personel to recognize when an student is struggling with something early on so that encouragement and perhaps suggestions of resources can be shared with the student before the problem is non-repairable.
Any student who wants to drop from school must talk to the DOE and Student Success Coordinator before filling out the paperwork. Often times, the program director is pulled into the meeting too (depending on the comfort level of the student). In Career Development class each student fills out an index card that reads, "If I try to drop from school, please remind me of the following" Then the student lists what he or she wants us to tell them in the event that they want to drop. So, if they come to us, we pull that card and read it to them. Often times it reminds them of their goals and we can move forward with a solution.
Do your students respond to email from the college? Frequently, they filter them out or simply don't check campus email.
Have you tried texting? This seems to be the preferred social media for many of this generation.
How often do your students chose to use the available professional services?
One method used in our school in regards to Academic Stagnation is to assign each student an advisor whose responsibility it is to communicate with each of his/her assigned students. This communication generally takes place in the form of an email, but often students seek out their advisor for assistance or just to have someone to let out some stress.
We also offer (through Student Services) a free plan that allows students to receive professional assistance in the form of counseling, financial counseling, etc. We also have a ride share program.
What has your institution learned from this experience? How would you go about evaluating what happened and how to improve?
I had an interesting situation with a student, first of all from day one when I enrolled him I realized he was a nice young man, a little slower than others. Turns out his first semester, he had a Professor who thought simply rules, no flexibility no bending. Do or fail was her style. This poor student left to go to another school. He returned to my school because he realized I was understanding and connected well with him, I put him with another instructor to repear his courses, what a difference! He is doing well, all he needed was nurturing and encouragement, I am so proud to be part of his achievement.
Carmen Bernard
I like the idea of the office cell number on the student ID. How often do they use the number?
Each and evry instructor on campus is aware that student services is available, if the situation is beyond thier control. We have personal avaliable until 8:30 at night. Our student services has put together a resorce guide of places, people and other assistance in the areas where the majority of our student live. All students are required to wear an ID badge that includes the cell number for student services, someone from the office has this phone 6;30 am until 8:30 pm daily.
Have you had personal experience with this system? If so, how effective do you think it is? Are there other better ways to achieve the same end?
At our school, everytime a student misses a day the Instructors and the Retention staff are required to directly contact the studnet and find out what the problem is and what can be done to help a studnet. This style does help to keep up with those studnets who miss more than one day and allow the instructor to keep up withthe personal and academic isssues that the student faces.
