The issue that I the most frustrating one of the most frustrating issues that I come across frequently is the students ability to get to school I have on several occasions tried to implement a car pool program, but a huge percentage of our student body is not willing to participate. The Las Vegas area is unique. The local bus transportation often finds our students that live only minutes away bar car (20-30) will take up to 3 hours if not more to get to school not to mention the cost is sometimes up to $80.00 + dollars to have a monthly buss pass, and the discount they offer is only 5% if we have more than 250 students using the bus system, this is the reality of the public transportation in Las Vegas. Also students, who can drive, are not willing to car pool, because it is an added expense and the gas prices are too high to go out of their way to help. I believe this is due to students not wanting to drive someone they may not know and feel uncomfortable giving rides without the guarantee that they will be compensated. Are we at any point going to have a system in place where we might maybe offer funds as part of their student loans to help with a transportation problem?

For me at least I find it the most difficult to help a student, when they do not self-identify, because of FIRPA it is seek out a troubled student, because we may violate their rights, and insult or embarrass them. What can we do to foster a relationship and diagnose in order to help these types of students?

It would be nice if there was a class or once a block training session to (a round table if you will) have an open discussion that the students could sign up for, they may find that they are not alone and have more in common with their fellow student. They may find answers to their questions. For example, a very real issue is not meeting not just the schools expectations, but their own as well. This type of forum may help them to meet students they can study with, and open up a whole new realm of possibilities and answers for them to stay and not leave, when they may have otherwise felt there was no other way than to quit. This could be either voluntary or mandatory depending on the history of the schools retention and attrition rates.

At my school it is difficult to keep track of the students; we have a large range of age, gender, and financial status. Most of the time, when one of our students leave, if it is not due to a medical or family emergency it is due to financial hardships, that at this point we have no resources to help. It is very frustrating that we do not have some sort of emergency funds set aside for these students who are for the most part academically talented and very good students. On the other hand the students who are struggling because the course work might exceed their level of education, what is the focus for them, if our job is to keep the students in school, how with this particular student so you keep them focused and on track?

How do you deal with a student who will not open up to another person besides the instructor?

One of things that I believe almost everyone wants is a sense of being a part of a community. In a traditional college setting, there is an infrastructure in place to assist in building that community. In the career focus sector, I haven’t found too many places that build a community. To be fair, most students who attend a career college just want to learn the basics tenets of their program. They have little or no time to get socially involved. However, there is a pocket that does seek out the social component of a collegiate career. At my institution, a collaboration of faculty and student came together and created such an organization. As in any new endeavor it took constant coaching and cheering to get the students on board. For the first year and half we hovered between 5 and 25 students. To date, we have a quarter of the student population as active members. Students are implementing the skills they learn in the class to furthering the mission of the organization as well as building programs that are relevant to their needs. We have a small but active alumni group that pitches in whenever we have an event. Students have also moved from our associate degree program to our bachelor program. How do you build a community?

Being aware of the students' goals and expectations helps me to tailor my approach to them.

My experience with students over the years has taught me that in order to keep students involved, you have to let them know that you care about their success. One way of doing this is to interact with them on a personal level.

I don't get the quote from joe Pace and I even watched the video. We change lives, our job is second? I know we are here to change lives, but I don't understand the part about our job being second... This makes no sense to me. Please clarify. If you can get Joe to call, maybe that would help. LOL. Thanks!

I think one of the problems is that students don't always have a clear definition of what is expected of them. Your thoughts?

I find that many of the students in my class (intro to computers) grow bored very quickly if I follow the book verbatim. To alleviate this issue we discuss how and why this is done rather than 'this is what you do" Your thoughts?

This week marks finals for another tem; during this week, I see many students feeling overwhelmed in and out of class. It's at these times when students seem to need reassurance for their motivation and support for reaffirming direction in final projects, exams, and presentations. Does anyone have 'best practices' that may be of use?

School Commitment is not an issue for our students once they understand the pay-off of their 7 month term. I believe in the outcome and results of our training facility's and I know in my heart that when our students clearly understand the life changing results that derive from the training at our school, that they become embedded with commitment and will attend with vigor as long as they have the time and available transportation. Therefore, it is vital that our instructors share factual information to help our students understand the benefits of the training in which we provide, so as to light the fire and keep it burning to develop and maintain in our students drive and purpose in taking our course.

The old Cliche "You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk"... There is more wisdom, truth and depth in this one cliche than new times will ever be able to match. So easy are the promises that come from our mouths with an anticipation to sell. Getting people in the door is one thing, but keeping them in and buying the product is another. To me there is only one way to become a world class organazation. And that is to BE world class individuals throughout the organization. That's right a "Culture" of individuals who completely believe in what they do. When all are working in the same direction with the same (humanitarian) goal, it becomes a powerful & attractive source of energy of which almost all people want to be a part!!!

It is in the student's best interest to know with confidence that the faculty and staff are committed to their success.

Being able to help students requires giving them our undivided attention and listening in an effort to brainstorm and offer up suggestions that will lead them to a solution to their problem.

When a student is stressed, we can help. We can start the dialog with a student, by simply saying to them, you don't seem like yourself today, is there something bothering you that I can help you with?

Get to know your students, so you can tell when something is bothering them. That way you can offer your assistance, by asking them what is it that you can do to help them get through the course.

We are fortunate at our campus to have such a skilled Resource Center.

Immediate follow-up with students is vital to possibly saving a student from giving up.