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Elizabeth Martinez
Elizabeth Martinez

week one

the most difficultly that I personally have seen is for the students that are here from anohter state and are no longer close to home. They are te ones who when things get tuff, are the ones who want to quit. they usually come up with a dozen reasons other than that to leave but in the end that is usually what it is. What can you do to insure the student that leaving home was the right choice?
Michael Fortner
Michael Fortner

retention is everybody's issue

We all need to find ways to improve student accoutablity which will increase student retention
Michael Fortner
Michael Fortner

intervention should be timely

Waiting to late would have very negative outcomes
Michael Fortner
Michael Fortner

attrition is a very serious topic.

I believe that increasing student accoutablity will decrease student attriction and increase retention
Michael Fortner
Michael Fortner

retention and student accoutability

What are your experiences with attempting to incrrease student accoutability to positively effect retention?
Donald Josefik
Donald Josefik

admissions to meet enrollment numbers causes stress

Not just for the student, but for the whole campus system. From housing to instruction to accounting, everyone seems to have more stress in dealing with someone without total committment.
michelle noble
michelle noble CHEP

Culture Club

It is important for all employees to buy into the vision that you are in it together. The outcome is to have students that are successful. If everyone that is in the enviroment and on the staff is presented this concept and encouraged, it becomes part of the fabric of the school. That overflows into how we "do business" with our students. I also belive that the message of positivity is far more powerful than people think, and this class was a reminder of how contageous it can be.
Elizabeth Saiz
Elizabeth Saiz

Building Retention Programs

This module addressed all the right topic for retention whether it is in a school environment or a work environment. Having the right person to give that first impression is a big key to success of retention.
Elizabeth Saiz
Elizabeth Saiz

Listening is a very powerful thing

Jumping to conclusion will lead to nowhere but listening will open up a whole new world.
Elizabeth Saiz
Elizabeth Saiz

Motivation

Students in my class are very motivated to do well. When they are coping with the overwhelming expectation of the school, it is true that they often think if all this work is worth it. My job as an instructor is to refocus them and acknowledge all the effort they have invested. Most of the time, the students just need someone to validate that what they are doing is the right thing to do. Therefore, it is very important to teach students coping techniques to help them through stressful times.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Career Services is a real place...

I spend some time with each of my students expaining that our Career Services department is staffed with the same experience that our classroom are staffed with. That as a resouce, the career services department is a valuabe stop in the path to a legitimate career. Career Services is a real place, with real people, with real experience! Our students should not be allowed to consider them an after thought!
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Showing we care...

We have a small enough population that everyone is actually involved in retention. We have blinker system that allows faculty and staff alike to share when a student may be absent. It speaks volumes about how much we care about our student body when, during the normal course of a day, we are armed with information. When I can ask a student who may not be in my class if everything is alright and offer help, there is usally a smile of safety that creeps on their face. Helps to show that we are all in this together.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Product Knowledge

It has been my observation that when the admissions reps, during tours, have the most information possible about the daily curriculum, and food we are cooking, they are better situated to answer any question the chefs my be to busy to answer. I teach an international cuisine course, we deal with some faily unique and exotic food. I spend time with the admissions reps explaing; history and geography and food timelines. Understanding the where and what and why of food has seemed to allow the reps to better speak about admissions on behalf of the school.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Classroom as a lab...

we cook. It is sometimes difficult to translate the theory of cooking into practice. It is essential to the success of my students to allow my classroom to be an open lab where mistakes and successes are allowed to happen freely. We acentuate both prospectives and use them as teaching moments.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

focus on the positives...

At our orientation we are above and beyond about the positive realities of our business. That ethos allows for us to be completely honest about the rigors of having a career. The dedication it takes can be daunting, however if we are positive in our approach to relaying that rigor, we start on an honest footing with our students. Allows for us to be more open in our discussions later on in the program when those issues arise.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Being Human...

Understandably, many of my students have issues with failure. Many are adults and have not been in school for some years. It has been my practice to buttress my learned skilled with regards to aswaging fear with my ability to be affable. With all the psychology that entertains the notions of fear, I find that just being human with my students is usaully the best way to break through.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Retention and attendance...

It is vital that as instructors we have new and interesting ways of delivering course content. Many times, I believe, retention issues can be better served if the classroom is a place where learning is fun.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Just be yourself..

I have always considered myself and engaging person, I can see when people are "off" and may need to chat. I have found that by just being 'human', being myself I can better indentify the needs of my students and get them the help they may need. It has been my experience, that a kind word and good listening skills will undoubtedly foster a good communication relationship with my students.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Universal Retention...

I used to fight the notion that our schools should be uniform. I was falsly assuming that meant I would lose any autonomy to teach the subject with my own sense of ownership. I now understand that the unifromity is key in how students interpret our function as a unified faculty and that that unity speeks volumes about our caring that student stay in school.
Cheyney Andrews
Cheyney Andrews

Understanding Attrition

Most of the faculty at my school are trained in areas other than a traditional teacher. I remember a very bright day in my career when I began to understand attrition and that, with some very simple and logical changes in my behavior, I could affect the attrition rate at my school. I is good to take this course and understand that these issues seem daunting to an "under-trained" educator, however the information provided here is a useful resource.