Nijah Chinn-Gonsalves

Teamwork and unified vision starts both from the top down and the bottom up. Communication of the company's vision starts from the top levels and the enthusiasm and drive must come from there as well to keep all the spokes of the wheel turning. From the bottom, having everyone on board with the common goal is essential. Those who cannot be on board must realize that this is perhaps not the environment for them. Sometimes we just can't change someone's HABE.

It's good to have a working knowledge of this process so that we can use a variety of means to help the student be successful. It all goes back to getting to know your students well!

I find it easy to get to know our students - small class sizes and months to interact with them. How does this translate to the larger class sizes with instructors who only teach them for one term or semester? I recall college courses (albeit in a traditional college setting) where I was one of over 200 students. They didn't know our names, nor care that we were there. It was up to us to "retain" ourselves.

I'm not so sure everyone in the career college environment wants to be "involved" in the college experience. Many have already done that in traditional college - the parties, clubs, activities, camaraderie... Some just want to get in, get the degree and move on. That can sometimes hinder the retention activities listed.

We have a student currently who is in danger of failing out of an externship. The "survey" process of getting to the bottom of the situation is very helpful. The "8-step" process just puts it all into perspective.

I feel it's important to try and identify with the student's stressors. Or at least be able to refer them to a resource to help decipher what issues they may be experiencing. Sometimes it just helps them to know you experienced similar feelings when you were a student.

I find that many students who aren't sure of a career path are admitted to institutions and the responsibility of the faculty is then to help mold them into the chosen career path and thus "retain them" for the sake of numbers. I find this somewhat morally wrong to keep someone in the "wrong" profession and try and push them through. I feel there should be a strong assessment of students before they are admitted so they can be successful in a path they know is the right one from the start.