Retention
I feel students must be treated as a customer and they need to know they are important. Giving them great customer service and getting to know them while attending school can make a world of difference in retention. People do not like to feel as if they are just a number. Saying hello in the hallways or stopping and listening to them makes them feel important. By doing these small things can also provoke the student to continue to refer your school.
After 30 years in the field I train in .I know that if you do not take care of your custmers they go some place else. With students it is very importent to fill all the students needs at school and help students to understand. If we just teach and not show we care they will lose intrest.
Caring comes from within. Caring and demonstrating caring must go hand in hand. You might care about the students to the point that it even interferes with your personal life, but if they dont see it, it does no good and doesnt matter. Granted, we must spread ourselves thin due to class size, but just a few words can make a difference between a student giving up because he/she thinks we are only in it for the paycheck or staying with the course because they think we care about their success. Its an attribute that one either has or has not, and for instructors in our field it had to have begun when we were still technicians. Caring about the customer and the work you perform.
I have not been teaching long but I have noticed that being interested in what the students are all about really helps with retention.
