Does anyone have any ideas how to incorporate current students in orientation activities. I think this is a good way that the new students can start to feel comfortable in their new environment and get some positive feed back from current students.

Do you think it would be helpful to students to introduce a 2nd orienation midway through the program as way to remotivate students who are failing or considering dropping and also to keep those students who are in good standing involved in the school ?

I am really interested in getting input on how to extend orientation beyond a one day event and extending it over several weeks, I think most students are overwhelmed with the amount of information presented at orientation and forget a lot of the information, has anyone tried this method?

How do you deal with student burn-out, meaning that there is too much outside and personal issues in their life that they can not cope?

How do you reach a student that is so preoccupied with their home life that school and school related activities become less important

There are times when students come to you with personal issues totally unrelated to school. I have always done my best to help the student to be solution oriented not problem focused. I would never turn a student away telling them, "that is not my problem" but I am not sure how involved I should become?

How do you deal with parents who feel the school is responsible for everything wrong in their adult childs life simply because they were not successful in their educational efforts with your school? While it isimportant for the school to look at how they could've been more helpful, it is also important for the student to take responsibility for their outcome as well. This is not an easy task. Any suggestions?

We currently hold orientation in a large classroom. The President, Executive Director, and Director of Education speak. Other staff members are introduced as they direct arriving students through the hallways toward the session. I'm very interested in the idea of dividing the new students into groups and having them visit the various departments. However, this method seems complicated to organize. Does anyone currently doing this have advice on planning and timing the concurrent sessions? What is the typical length of an orientation when done in this manner?

I think the idea of Admissions calling during their first week is a good idea, is anyone doing this?

Has anyone tried creating a passport, where they are required to get stamps or signatures of certain faculty? Then,each station then has alittle school suppy there as an incentive to meet everyone.

What is being done as a follow up to orientation during the second or third week of school to check up on students and see if their expectations are being met by everyone they have encountered?

A teacher who wants to approach 100% retention must give their student's individual attention every class period. Yes, this seems hard to do, especially as class sizes get bigger, but I believe it is neccessary. And I'm not talking about just calling on each student to answer one question, I'm refering to meaningful discussion that will help you understand if the student is actually learning or just simply repeating key phrases.

I like the idea of the students going from station to station picking up non-academic items such as pens, calulators, planners ect. Has anyone done this and if so how did it work?

Each year we struggle to find fun events to engage students and build a supportive family environment. We've actually increased spending year to year. With all the effort and dollars spent, very few students particpate in the events. How can we measure the effectiveness of these events?

I believe all these concepts start in the Admissions Associates interview. The orientation should then address them again. Their perception will then start to become reality when all departments are on the same page.

Does anyone have a formal plan in place too have admission involved in the transition of students too faculty?

Has anyone tried holding orientation in conjunction with the first day of class? Would this not make it easier too have new students interact with current students, staff and faculty?

I'm amazed almost daily at lack of attention companies pay too customer service. One of the most cost effective measures a company can take to distance itself from its competition is too provide great customer service. Great customer service is often promised but seldom delivered.

We are an allied health vocational school drawing the great majority of our student population from a public school system that has poorly prepared them. Few of our students can do simple math and many read at an elementary level. They have graduated with these few skills due to a system that simply passes them through and many students arrive at our institution with the expectation that if they show up on a reasonably regular basis we have to pass them. Assesment of skills possessed, skills needed, time committment understanding, work ehtic, etc. would in many cases indicate that a significant proportion are not prepared to succeed at this level. Compounding this many of their lives are in economic and personal chaos with some always homeless. Retention rates could be improved dramatically by tighter screening practices, but we do have a responsibility to every student who desires a better life, even if they have no initial understanding of what it will take to earn it. We chronically struggle with retention, but is is a struggle we are committed to.

With the increasing demand on the bottom line is it better to increase enrollments at the risk of enrolling less qualified students? When I say less qualified students I mean students that clearly aren't prepared to be in school due to living situation, finanancial difficulties or other reasons that would inevitably keep them from graduating. This seems self defeating. Any suggestions or thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks, Michele