Melissa Valencia

Unfortunatly, as faculty we don't have many choices. We can pull the student aside and talk to them and we can refer them to the Director of Education. We do not have any power to drop a student. The only way they are dropped is when they violate our attendance policy. They are not allowed back in class until they meet with the proper person at the school to identify the reasons why they have missed so many classes. When lecturing in the computer lab, I also try to stay near the student and prevent the problem behavior before it… >>>

I've already been involved in a discussion with the administration and adjunct faculty regarding an entrance exam. The administration is working on developing a test so that students are up to speed and have the skill sets necessary to succeed in their classes. Over the next 30 days, I plan on adjusting our test and project timelines for all my classes. I am trying to find a happy medium so that I am not moving too fast for some or too slow for others. Some students are behind and have expressed their frustration. To remedy that, I have made myself… >>>

I think the responsibility for student retention falls on all administration of a school. Students should be screen before placement, all pre-requisits should be met and student concerns about time and projects need to be addressed. As a college student I can remember feeling very overwhelmed by the sheer mass of reading material and projects due on the same day. There were many nights that I went without sleep, not due to poor planning, but due to simply not enough hours in the day. I listen to my students when they express concerns about projects or material and if the… >>>

As a first time instructor on a college level basis I found some results after our first exam that were opposite of what I thought the scores would be. The students who I worried about the most, who were always asking questions, or asking for clarification did the absolute best on all of the tests. When developing the next exam, I asked each student to write 2-3 test questions that they thought were important and should be on our next exam. Because the students had to develop some questions, they read each chapter more in depth and came to class… >>>