For sure. Now, could you expland mentoring into advising in order for staff to create a relationship?
Dr. B
You will find that a well planned orientation will help students to relax. When a student returns to school, he or she is scared. Help them to relax and gain a vision of what will happen if they are successful students.
Dr. B
Another thing we do on the first day of school is set up a Concierge program where we can lead "lost" students to where they need to go.
I often do the same here. When this occurs it helps with friendship, teamwork and simulates a working culture.
Having the graduates or currently enrolled students talk to the new students is a great way to act as a mentor to the new students
For our orientation, students do not sit in one spot and listen the entire time to speakers but we have interactive modules where the students are taken into a classroom, visit the Career Services and hear experiences from recent graduates, and visit the library to see where they can do their homework/computer work and during this visit they have a Q & A with current students so they can find out what to expect the first day, what to bring, and most importantly, what not to forget.
Currently, we have only 3 faculty members at orientation...and no current students. I feel this needs to be revamped completely including an "orientation staff" of some sorts with current students.
Our school does not have a formal mentoring program. We do an initial orientation and then they are sort of on their own. A formal metoring program that utilized our "model students" could improve our retention.
Do you think there are other times to orient students? Like advising sessions? Do you do this?
Dr. B
Orientation is a great time to show students what they can become if they get a good start in their new life with life skills training such as balancing checkbooks, budgeting, basic cooking. Not to forget what campus life is all about from selected guest students who can share the real world experiences they have had to learn. Lets face it, parents today are falling short in many skill sets they should be teaching their kids before sending them out into the world. I believe young people can get overwhelmed by life on their own if they were not properly set up.
We have one person for each campus wing. They have the resorces and training to assist the student with there problems. But, each instructor is "on watch" for a student "in need". It is a combined effort that has shown very good results in providing the student with a way of dealing with most any issue.
We have a formal mentoring program in place, however the spontaneous mentoring has worked very effectively in my classroom. By focusing on the students who are grasping the subject at hand and offering more insight into different variations of the same subject. I can have my exemplery students piggybacking or assisting students which are having a bit of trouble. After all, not everyone is able to get all the information available, or comprehend it, just from my point of view.
It does seem to be working well. The students seem to feel more comfortable talking and working with a instructor.
That is a very good idea, Beverly. One university I attended had an Alumni Association that included students in its membership from day one to get involved and stay involved with campus life. They scheduled all sorts of mixers to get membership together for that critical first few weeks and had “seasoned veteran†students to discuss with and show new students the ropes.
The most comprehensive Orientation Program is that which extends throughout at least the first school year. I would say that it even extends beyond in that each instructor must orient the student to the class, as well as introducing new developments, policies and procedures. I would (will) suggest to my university that the instructors all be involved in the students’ orientation on an annual basis so that they are read in to the things that the student must know and have initially to be successful. There are always new points that are presented. They (instructors) should be able to add to that repertoire using lessons learned from their experience and issues that have been identified that will make the student more successful. I have reiterated these points among the various forums, and feel that my role in student orientation and subsequent interaction is paramount to the success of the student.
Mentoring is a great strategy suggested in this module, implementing this would greatly benefit our students..
Yes... mentors for at risk students is critical. Others matter, but focus on at risk... it is the old Pareto principle... the 20% that equals 80%.
Dr. B
I think that adding a mentoring program would really help. Right now we have students assigned to "advisors". The challange that I see is that each advisor is also a department chair and 'advises' all students in that department. This is way too many to mentor properly, so an additional program where mentors have a maximum of 3 students would help. I also think that this would be very beneficial to at-risk students.
Hi Randy,
We can talk about that in detail if you want. In short:
1. Hire faculty who are natural at engaging with students.
2. Implement an excellent advising program. This is key. Advise with career themes.
3. Pay attention to the look, sound, and feel of courses and the school. The school has to feel right.
Dr. B
Do anything you can to keep the student's vision in front of them. This is key to retention.
Dr. B
