You can never have to much retention
Our school has a very good admissions department, and they do a great fabulous job.
There is fairly good follow up during the year, but I feel that there should be more.
Reinforcement is the key to retention, and you can never have too much retention
D Hayes
I like your statement, retention requires a village. This is true... Moreover, do all that you can to "link" with other departments in the school. Too often, departments are not linked and tell different stories. You have the right idea, though.
Dr. B
Reinforcement is a terrific word. It reminds me of the calvary and horns blowing. Hopefully the second half of that image doesn't have the student portraying the settlers hiding behind a circle of wagons defending themselves!
We just finished the first two weeks of our start. Doing some basic investigation, putting a few thoughts together, I thought that the academic side had the potential of affecting retention simply by making more contact with absent students. Essentially we help reinforce admissions' focus, keep the students' fires lit and help retention simply by reaching out more consistantly.
Retention requires a village.
I like the motto. Students need to know that you care and they do want a relationship with faculty and staff.
Dr. B
Every student, every day! In my opinion, that is the key to studnet success. You have to be connected to students daily.
Tonya
Although I'm on the academic side, followup by admissions rep are essential
We make choices in every day life, whether it be what we eat, where we sleep or what kind of program we enroll in to further our education.
Sometimes students wlll blame others for their shortcomings whether it be in or out of school. By assuming responsibility for our own choices, we also assume responsibility for those outcomes.
Reinforcement is a great tool to use in reminding the student of their choices, actions and results and how they directly connect.
Good... Communicate to build relationships. And remember, a great relationship equals trust.
Dr. B
Tell me how you would reinforce "choice." Reinforcement is a great technique, by the way.
Dr. B
It seems as though communication is an area we could improve upon, as it is in so many businesses. A student meets with people in various departments, the communication isn't always up to the standards we would like. This is an area that requires continuous quality improvement.
Our admission department needs more training so that the expectation and experience of the program is completely understood from the beginning. This should include both what we do and don’t do. Although they do a fairly good job I do hear things from students that we do not do or the demands or the program were not fully stated in the beginning. We also have some admissions reps that are fantastic and can tell you where some of their graduates are now. Some of the others do not get it that after they are enrolled the process does not stop.
Students should be able to look forward to coming to school. Of course there are going to be days where that might not be the case but overall they are the customer and they have made the choice of enrolling to further their education. Maybe we should reinforce that it is a choice and the student's individual decision.
Dennis,
My institutions also have admirable admission procedures and orientation. I teach graduate and under grad level healthcare, often to students yearning to enter the managerial healthcare field. It is important to present the orientation steps we've read about in this module at the start of a course. Many students have misperceptions on the type of tasks required of hospital and clinic managers although this is their education/vocational goal. So, I find it helpful to provide a 50,000 foot level look at the world of medical and healthcare administration.
Many students without clinical experience or training are intimidated by those that have such experience. I remind them that healthcare management is more about managerial functions than clinical skills. And that healthcare reform will recreate the career market.
So setting the stage about a field needs to happen with every opportunity and not be a one time occurrance.
Thanks for getting this discussion started Dennis.
Dr. Bob
Yes, once the student is in the program he or she seems to be forgotten by admissions. Follow up should be practice more often by the admissions force, and the results should be used as one important tool to bring in more students.
Is one of their goals, retention? How about other departments linking in early in the process? Thoughts?
Dr. Banks
I agree my school has improved admissions greatly incl. a 6 month follow thru on their goals.
You are so right... reinforcement is a key to retention. Having academics and other departments linked to students from day one is what keeps the vision in alive. Consider linking other departments as you orient and start new students... you will gain a few retention points.
Dr. B
