@lyndabascom : We do a scavenger hunt prior to the students coming for orientation.  In fact, we have 10 weeks worth of activities for students to take part in prior to their first day of class.  These activities include the scavenger hunt, learning about Student Resources, meeting one-on-one with their Program Director, and learning how to use the Learning Resource Center.  The scavenger hunt is by far the most popular and we also reward the students who come to the events with a small prize which they really like.

As the course has stated, the retention efforts of a campus are not just the responsibility of the Retention Specialisty(as we call them) but of everyone on campus. I have some really great faculty members and Program Directors that do everything they can to make sure their students are in class while others don't seem to understand the importance of their involvment in keeping students in class. I've had several talks with the faculty, set the expectations many times, and there still seems to be a disconnect. As the faculty, they are the first line of defense. They know when… >>>