Loren Kroh

Loren Kroh

About me

Activity

Discussion Comment
Lily, how do you plan to “look out for signs of student stress earlier on”? Don't you have office hours now? What do students do if they need to talk with you or another instructor? Personal letters of congratulations are always appreciated, particularly by our students have rarely been recognized for success. But be careful not to overdo them. Too many, too often, for minor achievements will diminish their impact.
Discussion Comment
A good philosophy, Lily. Students need encouragement. How do they receive your counsel? Do you find that some students are harder to reach than others?
Discussion Comment
Seeing the future is an important part of keeping the dream alive, Lily. Having prospective employers review your students work can be a strong motivator. Of course, you have to keep a wary eye on the employers to make sure they don't say things that may have the opposite effect.
Right on point, Lily. Students appreciate the extra effort at the front end and feel that the school is interested in their success, not just their money. How do you share this information with faculty and support staff?
Discussion Comment

Anie, student surveys can be very useful, but they also can be a source of frustration and discontent for the students. If they don't see some reaction to “problems” they identify, they will question the sincerity of the administration. On some occasions the issues are legitimate; other times you will have to do some “educating” to help them understand why things haven't changed the way they would like. But you can't ignore the issue and hope to have their continued support. For many students, instructors are the face of the institution. On-going training to keep them involved with at risk… >>>

Discussion Comment
Great minds have like thoughts, Carol. Please refer to Heather's entry. Having a structured faculty education program should be a great step. I would encourage you to schedule periodic sessions to keep the subject fresh in their minds. One school in my area has quarterly presentations, usually by someone from outside the organization, and then follows up with internal discussion.
Discussion Comment
Heather, these are good ideas. It seems that many students are more comfortable “talking” to a computer than a stranger so facilitating initial contact with support staff via computer may indeed improve communication. That makes your second action item important. When they get the information they must know what to do with it.
Discussion Comment
That's a rather comprehensive list of services, Carol. Do you actually prepare the resume for the prospective graduate or are you editing one that they prepare?
Discussion Comment
One of the challenges of appreciation events is to get everyone involved. If it's a retention effort you need to reach all the students. Jaime, how do you assure that you are reaching the students who aren't very social or who aren't engaged with school activities?
Discussion Comment
I'm very impressed with your institution's focus on making retention a way of daily life, Les. Too often schools hand out a memo that outlines what should happen and then never re-enforces the message. Obviously, the people at your school understand that retention is an important part of how things should be done.

End of Content

End of Content