Get Your Students Hired
After reading through the second lesson, comments about non-classroom personnel playing a role in retention struck me.
I believe that the whole experience of attending school should be positive. If there are negative experiences with non-classroom personnel students may become unhappy with the institution as a whole regardless of the education they are receiving. Having poor customer service in a sense could negatively affect a person's experience.
All departments affect the outcome of the student and some do not "buy" into this. We conduct surveys as well but its what you do with that information that is key. The students are already expecting the education so they don't tend to focus on that unless they feel they are not getting it so it lies in the hands of the other departments to work with and aid education. This could be notifying instructors of students in danger of dropping for financial reasons as just an example. Having a representative from each department at some point in teh orientation process explain what it is they can provide to the student can alleviate the "which way do I go" scenario which creates atress and confusion as well.
Like they say, One bad apple and the whole sack is ruined. It is very important for instructors and administrators to careful look for those students who can cause disruptions which lead to dissatisfaction for the entire class.
I think thats why its crucial for all departments in the institution to have an strong relationship to ensure the information is accurate and consistent
Abraham--
You are absolutely correct...working as a team with the student's best interest in mind is critical.
Susan
The connection between staff anf other school personnel play a key role in building up a good impression on the new students,they benefit also from level of information that they may get from everyone working as a team.
In my experience, non-classroom personal that have interaction with the students help to create an atmosphere of belonging. IT personnel, for example, they have to enter the classrooms many times to solve problems and that put them in contact with the students creating a relationship that goes far beyond the academic activities.
I totally agree. Many non-classroom personnel do not think that they are ambassadors of the school, but they are. If an office employee is rude to a student, the student may just decide to leave the institution as there is usually more than one institution that offers their program degree. All school personnel should work together for increased retention.
Robert--
You point out how important it is for everyone at the institution to stay focused on our real mission...helping our students achieve their goals.
Susan
I have to agree I have sat on both sides of the desk. As a student I can remember the added stress when a problem with any of the support staff can up. Now as a teacher I know how students talk to each other and before you know it has become one larger complaining group. This can be dangerous if there is a student on the edge in the group it just may be enough to push them over. Support staff and the role they play is very important a student retention.
I also see students confused about some questions they have and getting different answers from other departments they need to work together better.
As we all know surveys don't always give a clear picture of what is really happening. What I see is that the school has many departments that do not know what any of the other departments do. Therefore students sometimes get many different answers to the same question. Good customer service depends on employees working as one team instead of many different departments.
The students are our customers and customer satisfaction is key. We give out surveys constantly to see how we are doing this gives us an edge to see if service is going south. Having a refresher class on customer service is a good thing as well keeps us on top of things.
Not to put too fine a point on it...but poor customer service is exactly the point here. A student is buying a product from us--his education! And just as we do when purchasing any big ticket item, the student judges our school by how we react/treat them "after the sale". How many times have folks returned an item and went elsewhere because they felt they were treated poorly? Same for students. They will take their future plans elsewhere and will study on some other campus! It is entirely possible that a student may spend more time with non-classroom people (in the beginning, for example) than with teachers---and the reasons they leave have nothing to do with coarse content! Everyone counts. Everyone involved is important.
Allison--
Very true. Everything has to work together--in and outside of the classroom. We all have had students who leave us because of poor customer service even with an excellent classroom experience. The reverse is also true.
Susan