Loren Kroh

How often do you encounter previously unknown problems? Do you see the same students from start to finish or do they move on to other instructors? If the latter, how do you communicate the student's history to the next instructor?

Is the academic plan for slipping students shared with the faculty who are involved with the student? How about support staff?

Margaret, could you please share some of the helpful styles for reaching students? Specific techniques are useful to other forum participants. Thanks.

Sounds like a good method to re-kindle the dream, Bryant. How well does it work with your students?

Sounds like a good way to get students acclimated to the institution. Orientation frequently is a blur and students don't really know what services they will need.

Points well taken, Tara. Subject mastery must be the fundamental basis for performance reviews. Having said that, I have seen instructors whose few surviving students showed great mastery but many students were driven out of the program by their attitude and draconian practices. Clearly, a balance must be maintained.

Is this done in an "assembly" like setting? How well attended are the ceremonies? Do students know in advance if they are receiving recognition? What percentage of the student body are recognized each quarter? Is there a segment of the student population that scoffs at the proceedings? If so, how do you deal with them?

Is there a social component to these sessions where students can get to know their new classmates and the staff on a personal basis? What's the attendance rate for these events? How do you deal with no-shows?

The easy answer is to say that students are so busy that they don't think they have time to seek help that doesn't satisfy an assignment. I'm not sure that that's the whole answer. I suspect many are embarrassed to ask for help. Have ever asked students why they haven't sought help or why they waited until it was too late? Is it possible to drive students through the support service site to get information they need to complete an assignment? This might be enough to get them the comfortable with returning to for help.

I'm glad to hear that you use the surveys to make adjustments. What sort of things have you changed as a result of the surveys, Sarah?