Jason Ross

The "buddy" idea for late adds is something that could be effective and implemented relatively easily, provided you have a group of students who are reliable for such a thing.

It's important for faculty to be present at orientation and present themselves as people, and not just organizational police officers.  Also important to provide students and opportunity to engage and exchange information with one another.

Learned that it's best to have new students leave orientation feeling like a student already, so that they're excited to begin the program.  I will implement this by getting the important pieces done in an engaging (but not corny) fashion.

I learned that it is incumbent upon staff to constantly and consistently improve the perceived value of the education students receive by continuing interactions and connections with students.  I will continue to increase he interactions I have with them.

This module reinforced to me the importance of setting clear, realistic expectations for the student and of backing those up with consistent and relevant support.  Making students feel connected and making sure they have an understanding of how to access resources is an important part of this; i plan to implement it by being intentional with early outreach, addressing issues before they become insurmountable problems.

Learned that student issues should progress through 8 stages.  It's a bit formulaic (genuine trust, which is critical to all this, comes only from more organic interactions), and real life doesn't work like a series of scholarly articles, but it's a good starting point.  I intend to continue to focus on making sure that our resources are well-known and frequently engaged by students.

I probably already knew this, but I learned that student attrition is linked to stress and that the timing and intensity of stressors influences a student’s decision to withdraw. The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) model illustrates how coping resources initially dip and can either rebound or deplete, influencing the student's decision to leave I intend to apply this knowledge by monitoring students for early signs of stress, intervening before their coping resources are exhausted, and connecting them to any support services that might help them persist.

One key takeaway from this module is that retention is not the responsibility of a single department or role; it is a shared, institutional responsibility that must be embedded in campus culture. Also, attrition is often preventable and driven by factors like isolation or dissonance rather than unavoidable life events.

I intend to apply this by being more proactive in noticing early indicators of risk and helping create an environment where students feel supported before issues escalate into crises.