Something very important is to know the student, know their names,remember them; hat makes a big difference.
Nelson ,
How do you define "at risk?"
Jeffrey Schillinger
We have quite a few systems in place at the moment. We required the instructors to post attendance on a daily bases, We also required the instructor to make calls to check why students have been absent. we give certificates to the students at the end of each term recognizing attendance. We meet often to discuss any satudent that me be "at risk".
John,
Great point! The contact is only as valuable as the attitude in which it is made.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Our instructors do an excellent job and greeting and talking to our students on a daily basis. This makes our students want to come back for their next day's lesson. Show the students you acre and they will always come back!
Thanks, Edward. The tone of the calls to absent students are very important. We have to demonstrate caring and call to help rather than call to put a check in the box.
Jeffrey Schillinger
We call students when they are absent from school,greet them at the door.
Rudolph,
Many career colleges do this; some with more impact than others. The key seems to be the tone of the communication. If calling or emailing is seen as just another duty, the contacts do not have much of a positive impact. If the tone is "we missed you and want to help you," they contacts do a lot of good.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Each professor checks roll. Those students who miss receive an email noting the absence. The offices of student services, the registrar and senior vice president receive notification Most professors or their secretaries and the registrar contact the student directly.
We are required to maintain contact with students. When students are absent, we call and check on them. Our school also works with a program that provides students with help and support related to stress, childcare, etc.
Donna,
This is a common strategy at most career colleges. The key is to make the conversation about how the student can stay successful and get caught up.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Yes, indeed. We can make them feel important and wanted. We can do this by encouraging them to do well. We can offer and create an environment that promotes learning.
If a student is absent the instructors call the student on the class break to find out why they are out and give them their assignments so they do not fall behind.
It gives us history on a student. With this history we can ask the student one simple question. Why are you here? My favorite response to students that say they are sorry they miss a day here and there is, So if you have beutiful car, lets say a Mercedes Benz. You need to have some work done on this car. do want to hire a good mechanic or do you want to hire the mechanic that missed spark plug day?
I sent a message on my HTC device over the Holiday because I couldn't get to my computer. I will endeavor to write the same message here. We electronically track every conversation or action that involves a student. Theses comment are kept electronically in their file. If a sudent is absent, has a problem they need help resolving, has any sort of drama in their lives it is kept track of. This involves the good and the bed. If a student says they were not shown something we can go to the file of that class showing they signed off on that particular competency. If our students say we are not involved with them we can pull up their name and show them on a daily basis what we learned and spoke about.
Ward,
How does your faculty and staff use this information to improve outcomes?
Jeffrey Schillinger
We actually keep track electronically of attendance, daily grades and student problems. These are then kept track of and can be viewed by student.
Veronica,
We also have a 100% pass rate on the NCLEX. It is important to give students the respect they deserve as customers. We cannot control outside things, but we can build a school that makkes dropping out a last choice and not a first choice for our students.
Jeffrey Schillinger
Our school gathers every 6 months and discuss how many students are graduating. We also discuss issues that cause students to withdraw from a class,classes, or program. Some of our students are working parents as well. There are many variables that the school has no control when students drop. We do have a friendly atmosphere for our students. it is non intimidating. We treat our students with respect and as our customers. We do emphasize to the students that they must earn their grades by studying hard. We have a 100 percent pass rate for nursing stateboards. Thank You, Veronica
We believe that retention is everyone's job at the campus and encourage everyone to focus on our students each day. Smiling and saying hello, letting all students know that everyone has an open door policy and that we all work together as a team to ensure their success if they want to achieve. Administration is encouraged to visit the classrooms regularly, we have monthly award ceremonies and each new prospective student is introduced to instructors, all department heads as well as the campus president. Bulletin boards throughout the campus highlight student achievements and student report cards, issued monthly, all contain personalized words of encouragement by the director of education.
