we all have to provide access and information to our students to help them succeed

Teamwork and unified vision starts both from the top down and the bottom up. Communication of the company's vision starts from the top levels and the enthusiasm and drive must come from there as well to keep all the spokes of the wheel turning. From the bottom, having everyone on board with the common goal is essential. Those who cannot be on board must realize that this is perhaps not the environment for them. Sometimes we just can't change someone's HABE.

It's good to have a working knowledge of this process so that we can use a variety of means to help the student be successful. It all goes back to getting to know your students well!

How do we make certain that the students' expectations about the school, the fit, etc. are met right from the beginning without a bad bill of goods sold to them?

I find it easy to get to know our students - small class sizes and months to interact with them. How does this translate to the larger class sizes with instructors who only teach them for one term or semester? I recall college courses (albeit in a traditional college setting) where I was one of over 200 students. They didn't know our names, nor care that we were there. It was up to us to "retain" ourselves.

Empathy is needed for contemporary leaders. Emotionally intelligent leaders have perfected the attribute of empathy. When I was in the military (two years ago) my emotional intelligence was different from that of an educator’s or future scholar. Abrahams (2007) quoted the Field Manual (FM) 6-22: “Leadership is the process of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improving the organization” (p. 3). Abrahams (2007) suggested that the wording implies that leadership is a one-way action and that the leader simply provides purpose, direction, and motivation, and the followers are influenced. The Department of the Army (2007) defines leading in the military as “influencing and getting your people [subordinates] to do what you want them to do [completing the mission]” (p. 1). Abrahams (2007) concluded that the Army leadership simply tells people what you want them to do and there is no provision for subordinate inputs. I have learned from my personal experiences in the military, an effective leader is one whom is in touch with their subordinates’ morale with the purpose of sustaining long-term mission success. However, I lacked the understanding of the concept of empathy. While as a leader in the armed forces I definitely had motivation, self-regulation, social skills, and self-awareness; however, empathy for me at that time was meaningless. I just wanted my followers to do what they were told; I cared more about the mission at hand than my soldier needs (for the most part). Now as an academic director and aspiring scholar I use emotional intelligence to guide me in areas where company policy is ambiguous. References Abrahams, D. (2007). Emotional intelligence and army leadership: give it to me straight!. Military Review. Retrieved from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PBZ/is_2_87/ai_n27175931/

I understand and agree with the Attention = Retention. However, I know some schools (staff and faculty) worry about blurred lines between student and instructors and staff. How would you establish within the school community that it is okay for faculty and staff to have these kind of interactions. I work in an environment with few male students and my ATTENTION (a smile, a "How are you today?" or "Stop by so we discuss ....") can be misunderstood just as much or worse by faculty and staff than by the students.

This was a great review for me. My theoretical framework for my doctoral degree was self-efficacy. The concept of self-efficacy is significant to Bandura’s social cognitive theory, which emphasizes the role of observational learning, social experience, and reciprocal determinism in the development of an individual’s personality/attitudes/cognitive skills.

As an instructor, I think it is important to connect with your students, so you can learn what their STRESSORS are. Learning what stresses your students can go a long way towards providing assistance or pointing that student in the right direction. I believe this to be extraordinarily true with my younger students. Their world is different. I believe we as instructors need to be careful not to project our feelings about what should or should not stress our students. We talk about identifying theses stressors, but we need to without judgment. I know for myself that can be difficult at times. Furthermore, when attempting to make these connections and learning about your students, how comfortable are you? How trained are you? Have you ever dealt with transference and countertransference as an instructor? How will this “connection” be viewed by your institution? This subject matter is multilayered.

I'm not so sure everyone in the career college environment wants to be "involved" in the college experience. Many have already done that in traditional college - the parties, clubs, activities, camaraderie... Some just want to get in, get the degree and move on. That can sometimes hinder the retention activities listed.

We have a student currently who is in danger of failing out of an externship. The "survey" process of getting to the bottom of the situation is very helpful. The "8-step" process just puts it all into perspective.

I feel it's important to try and identify with the student's stressors. Or at least be able to refer them to a resource to help decipher what issues they may be experiencing. Sometimes it just helps them to know you experienced similar feelings when you were a student.

I find that many students who aren't sure of a career path are admitted to institutions and the responsibility of the faculty is then to help mold them into the chosen career path and thus "retain them" for the sake of numbers. I find this somewhat morally wrong to keep someone in the "wrong" profession and try and push them through. I feel there should be a strong assessment of students before they are admitted so they can be successful in a path they know is the right one from the start.

I thought it was interesting reading Many students have reported that it's easier to confide in a computer than to talk to someone they don't know well. Consequently, some schools are using a web-based retention intervention system that provides students with a confidential, non-confrontational, non-judgmental way to contact school personnel about what is going on in their lives. This system has been effective in demonstrating the school's commitment to student success and making it easier for students to connect with school services without "confronting a stranger." The problem I have with this statement from researched articles we discover individuals are actually taking fewer surveys. Also, I have a vast number of students who perceive that our university’s surveys are not anonymous. Does anyone else have this same problem/conflict with surveys from our students?

I really enjoyed reading poor service can send the same message. Professors who believe students can't or shouldn't make it through academically are just re-enforcing the lack of School Commitment. If ECPI shows a strong commitment to students, this will cause the students to question the accuracy of his/her perception that he/she is not influential and will like be retained

I particularly enjoyed learning that, "Student expectations are set by the school's marketing materials and admissions practices" (CEE: RT101: Improving Retention through Timely Intervention, 2014). I've always thought this; however, reading it, validates my original assumption.

We have a policy of calling every student if they miss a day of class. This builds a lot of relationship between student and the institution.

In a for-profit education environment it is sometimes hazy who the customer is; is it the student, the hiring industry, or business shareholder. Can be discouraging for faculty.

We pair up the "older" students with the "new" students in lab to help better integrate the new students with classroom flow, where to find equipment, etc. and it works wonderfully.

We do a faculty intro in our department orientation in which each instructor introduces themselves and tells the new students a little about their qualifications, education, and hobbies.