At our graduation programs awards are given to a great number of students. It is amazing to see the smiles on thev faces of students many of which have probably never been recognized before. Communication hits the non-graduating bstudents quickly and they want to know how theycan achieve awards as well.

So then what is the middle ground, and how many times do you change your plan of action?

Discussing each student who "drops out" during a periodic interdepartmental school meeting will help formulate an action plan that may prevent some future attrition. Often students "disappear" and other than the department directly involved, other departments don't really know why. I almost liken this to the post mortem conference at hospitals after they lose a patient. If everyone is to be involved in keeping students in school, everyone needs to be aware of what factors are involved in their decision to leave. Has anyone had any experience doing this?

We have emplamented a graduation committee in our school. I have great pride in taking to my students that I am trying to get them to this point and that I care about their success. If they know we are working for them, they are proud as well.

I believe one of the best antidotes for the forms of stress discussed in Topic #2 is student involvement. The sooner the new students become involved in campus life and academic activities, the easier it will be to get over (or avoid altogether) the effects of Academic Erosion. Students are less likely to feel like they are “lost in a crowd” if they quickly become members of organized groups or activities.

At one of our schools we started an honor society which in effect was a service organization. The honor students were obliged to help out in the school. They led study sessions, assisted teachers during heavy activity sessions, Tutored other students were involved in graduation excersise planning and execution. planned birthday parties, school anniversary, and summer picnics. All Honor students also helped to make new students feel welcome and all wore a pin identifying them as honor students. They are recognized at their graduation and can put a note in their resume'

Retention is the business of all involved in the academic process. It begins with Admissions, and is then addresses throughout the student's experience all the way through Placement.

Attrition is the responsibility of everyone from the administration to the Admissions Dept., Financial Aide, Faculty and all the staff. All departments should work together as a team to help all students to achieve their goal of graduating.

This has been a great module to learn from

retention is everyone's job every day

retention is everyone's job every day

It has been said many times that if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. I feel that this also could apply to retention. If there is a plan of action for each student from the time of arrival, and clear roles have been established for each person involved in the plan, adhering to that plan should make the student feel at ease with discussing anything.

I think that being realistic and straightforward with students will help them respect and trust you. I have been fortunate to deal with people in different situations, (teaching, athletic coaching, corporate industry), and each time the common link to trust and respect is honesty and realism. The answers may not be what you hope they would be, but having an understanding of behaviors and thinking patterns may lead to changes and better outcomes.

At our school, we have a student mentoring program. I feel that this program is the first step in keeping the students we have and improving current retention rates. All others involved in the education experience should also play a part in this effort, so we all need to step up our efforts to make sure that we understand the students' problems. How do we stress the importance of retention to the student mentors? Any thoughts?

I find that it is essential to develop relationships with the students before any problems arise. If you have a good rapor with all students and show a genuine concern about each individual, he/she will feel comfortable coming to you if the need arises. Also, the student will not feel that you are prying into his/her personal affairs but that you are truly concerned.

Why do students attend school? I thought to learn and better themselves. While this is true among a certain population, it seems that more and more young students are looking for a handout and not a challenge. What do we do? Do we hold their hand and coddle them, or do we get tough. It seems that if we get tough, these students leave and don't come back. But what do they expect from the "real world", and aren't we supposed to prepare them for this environment? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think the responsibility for student retention falls on all administration of a school. Students should be screen before placement, all pre-requisits should be met and student concerns about time and projects need to be addressed. As a college student I can remember feeling very overwhelmed by the sheer mass of reading material and projects due on the same day. There were many nights that I went without sleep, not due to poor planning, but due to simply not enough hours in the day. I listen to my students when they express concerns about projects or material and if the concern is valid, I will adjust the timeline for the course to reflect their concerns. We might spend less time on a topic and more time on another, but we should be teaching what they don't know instead of covering the material they do know in order to be successful.

As a first time instructor on a college level basis I found some results after our first exam that were opposite of what I thought the scores would be. The students who I worried about the most, who were always asking questions, or asking for clarification did the absolute best on all of the tests. When developing the next exam, I asked each student to write 2-3 test questions that they thought were important and should be on our next exam. Because the students had to develop some questions, they read each chapter more in depth and came to class better prepared. They also scored much higher as a whole on the next exam. I think that because they felt some ownership of their education, they worked a little harder when reading and studied even harder for the tests.

How do you deal with a student who is disruptive every class when they show up? The reason they are disruptive is because they have not read the material and have not prepared for the class. I've talked with the student on a one-on-one basis and have made myself available to her outside of class to answer any questions and bring her up to speed. Now what?