At my school we run into the problem that a student is in the right place for what he wants to become in life, but after a while (mainly when the program becomes difficult) they tend to loose interest, we try to encourage the student and remind him of why he is there. These are normally talks with the student. Does anyone have more suggestions on how to reach a student and not have to repeat the conversion?

How do you motivate Faculty to be a part of Orientation? Our Orientation is the Friday before classes start and our faculty have no interest in cutting their vacation time short a day in order to attend Orientation.

After reviewing the threads regarding the length of orientation, we came to realize that our orientation runs longer than most. Amongst other things, we include an overview of important policies and guidelines (e.g. grading, attendance, conduct, etc). Do you feel this is necessary? Or is it too much information considering they receive a student handbook which contains all this information in detail?

We are attempting to have a weekly meetng to award attendance and perfrmance certificates for new students. We may have multiple cohort groups in a single class;there is concern the older students will feel offended if they do not recieve awards as well. Do you agree or disagree?

Regardless of the orientation "style" or "format," what is the recommended length? We also include a one hour lunch with our orientation, but notice interest waning as the afternoon progresses. Any advice?

Does anyone have some activities they want to share concerning the pre-orientation period?

Has anyone noticed differences in retention and student performance related to the size and/or makeup of the orienting student group? By makeup I mean the program or major of the group was the same, within the same discipline, or mixed with other disciplines. It has seemed to me that by orienting by department yielded less attrition than when I have mixed disciplines.

Our school has orientation the week before start day. We do a pretty good job with those who attend, but many enroll after orientation. It is hard to get them together for an orientation. How do you handle this?

Making a positive impact within a learning environment should promote learning at all levels. Sometimes teachers, as well as administrators, are the worst students, due to ego issues, or else, and are negative towards learning from others. What are you doing in your institution to promote learning at all levels? Of course, this question goes also to the proctor: what do you recommend we should do to promote learning at all levels?

Our university campus recently opened in this area. We are in the process of identifying the interests of our students in order to develop activities and improve our programs and services. This course has provided me with useful information in improving retention. We could implement the following: · Improve the tutoring services by assigning qualified senior students to freshman students. · A mentoring program. · On site career fairs including inviting professional organizations and professionals who have demonstrated success in the field to share their experiences. · Recognition awards including academic excellence, individual academic achievement, and perfect attendance. · Formal recognition for students who volunteer to bring students to school.

Please describe an example of an organizational goal that would work well for the school you are at.

Discuss examples of how to motivate students. What are some ways you could encourage them to succeed even if they don't think they can?

Drawing from your own background and experiences, please give practical examples of how the EduPreneurial Spirit can benefit the students, the employees, and the school.

Please discuss some traits you think would be valuable to Model, Mentor and Monitor to the students.

One aspect of good retention is student interest and satisfaction. Students persist because they see value in the material they are learning. The challenge of an educational manager is how to get the faculty to make their courses or presentations interesting. What can be done in the classes that will make a student want to come to school the next day?

I support the report of Tinto about the greater students' involvement or integration in the life of the college, the greater the likelihood that they will persist. Every institution should develop multiple and creative activities that motivate the students to get involved in the academic and sociocultural activities provided. In my opinion, the ability of an institution to fulfill the social integration of the students is a powerful factor in persistence. Nevertheless this is not an easy task due to the multicultural diversity of the students.

In my opinion, when an overwhelmed student walks into your office looking for support, the key intervention is to listen, listen, and listen. Listening is important because it is the best way to understand the situation that is provoking stress in the student. However, while listening is extremely important, also remember to be emphatic and work with the student to create options. The student should be referred to helpful resources either outside or inside the school. For this reason it is important to be familiar with every service available in the institution or in the community. Networking is also a great resource as a means of getting the student connected.

I think that every school should have in their educative objectives a commitment for the student success. The high percentege of drop outs in the educational system is an indicator of this lack of support. Most of the students are trying to cope with different stressful situations outside and inside of the school which triggers their decision to drop out. I have noticed that students receiving the support and interest of the staff and faculty persist in their commitment to education.

On our institution we use to place a meeting in every part of term. Student enroll in each course designates a student which will represent the group and will bring to the meeting the issues presented by the the group. Usually the student presents the issues (teacher, academic, administrative etc.)that cause their insatisfaction. After the meeting all issues are revised and whenver possible actions are taken. For the next meeting we present information about the issues and what actions were taken. This a way to deal with the insatisfaction of student and they feel very pleased :-)because not only has a forum but claims are attended.

Vincent Tinto also said, “Here the evidence of effective programs is clear, namely that the route to successful retention lies in those programs that ensure, from the very outset of student contact with the institution, that entering students are integrated into the academic community and acquire the skills and knowledge needed to become successful learners in those communities. In short, improvements in the quality of student life and learning, not retention, should be the goal of all retention initiatives.” I was impressed with the emphasis that Topic #4 placed upon "everyone" in our institutions understanding the importance of student success. What else can we point to that justifies our existence as educators? It makes you wonder why we find so much resistence to and avoidance of this basic principle? Everyone should be willing to review their role to determine how it impacts student success and if appropriate to the objective, make adjustments accordingly.