Operating With Limited Resources
What are some creative ways a department such as student services (or other departments) can operate with limited financial and human resources?
When it come to student services and their success, I have found that having student interact with other schools who have similar or the same organizations meet or make contact with their president and schedule a meet and greet secession. I not sure if this type of process is being done anywhere else.
Hi Mark, Interesting strategy. We are not quite clear on how it works at your school and the results. Can you explain under what circumstances you have students interact with other schools. What is the purpose of meeting with the president of another school. We are curious and look forward to hearing more details. We'd like to know how this helps to operate with limited resources. Thanks, Susan
Student Services can be, and should be a campus-wide effort. If you have limited resources for dedicated student services staff, be sure to get all employees involved in student services. faculty play a key role in identifying issues and can often assist with their knowledge of the industry. career Services, Registrar, even financial aid staff should all be aware of potential student issues in their communication with students and bring it to the appropriate person for follow-up. You could have a student services committee that has cross representation of all departments to identify and address current processes and proposed improvements with all departments playing an active role in the process.
Great Mark. Student services is definitely a campus state of mind. It starts from the top by emphasizing that everyone's main job on campus is to address the students' needs as soon as possible. Large and successful companies know this because many have great customer care programs in place. This ensures customer satisfaction, retention, and great referrals. And you learn a lot from customer complaints. From the minute a prospective student places a call or emails a request that person must feel that the campus is 100% student oriented. Thanks, Susan
I just looked up student services online to see of some ideas that might work for us. Currently with a school of only 110 students we have a financial advisor for title four/ registrar helps them find a place to live when they are moving here from out of town and academic advising . Other than that we don't have students services . what would you suggest?
Hi Cynthia
Student services encompass a lot and all impacts on student success. Here are some examples: Orientation - a time for students to learn about the school, study skills, meet students and staff, etc. Academic assistance - has many forms from teacher interaction to others identifying areas where student needs help and providing it within the school or from outside resources. Library - a media center that is useful for students. Graduation - an exciting event for students to look forward to and a celebration. Placement - staff that will assist with development employment skills and eventually with seeking job openings and interviews, etc. Alumni services - a way to stay in touch with your grads who may very well enroll in other programs and/or tell their friends and employers about your school. There are lots of services for students. One person can coordinate and get the assistance of everyone on staff. In some schools the graduation is run by students. Hope this helps. Susan
We have an evaluation process that starts our enrollment process. It can be in person or over the phone. Prior to their enrollment in one of our programs, students receive one-on-one academic advising to determine which program will best suit their long-time career goals, prior work experience and skills resume interview from the Placement Director to determine the students’ qualifications, personal characteristics, employment interests and general location of employment desired. This process continually helps support our student services and makes it possible to build rapport with each student from the beginning and it is very cost effective.
HI Alan, So what you are saying is that even before a person enrolls they are given "career counseling?" That during the admissions process they are screened for a match with the program they want to enroll in? And that the placement department interacts with them from the start? That sounds like a great plan. It helps to "attach" the student to the school and gets him/her to understand the resources available. And it shows your school is geared to the student's success. What a great model. Thanks for sharing it with us. Susan
As everyone knows, the internet is an unlimited source of information. At my campus we have set up a cubicle and named it the "Career Corner." Students can find a number of job hunting tools as well as a computer workstation that has been pre-loaded with a variety of career focused programs and websites that have both National and local access to the job market .
We encourage students to visit the "Career Corner" to practice their job hunting skills through out their time at the school.
We also have a student resource lab, but the "Career Corner" serves as a nice added feature to our student services programs.
The "Career Corner" was deigned specifically as a way to develop a viable student services tool with limited financial and human resource input.
Hi Peter, This is so great. Sounds like students can work on skills they need help in. Do any need direction? For example, do you list the activities they should work on or resources they should use and in priority order? How do you evaluate effectiveness of use? How do you get students to actually use the Career Corner? Do you have a required number of sessions or a required number of activities each student must complete? Does any staff review their progress, make suggestions, and see if they have questions? You are right, a Career Corner is a great way to offer services with limitated staff and budget. Thanks so much, Susan
Hello Susan, thanks for your comments and questions.
1) With respect to giving students direction, each student can engage in a on-on-one career planning session where a career planning profile is set up. We determine what type of employment the student is looking for (part-time while in school, full time as they near graduation etc.) We also take a look at other factors such as desired field and geographic location. Once the profile is completed we explore the different tools the "Career Corner" work station has and conduct a brief tutorial on how each tool is used.
2) We evaluate the effectiveness of use by conducting follow-up interviews with the students to determine their success in using the tools provided to the students. The level of interaction is driven by the student and his or her needs.
3) We promote the use of the "Career Corner" during the Admissions process, orientation, and through out their education. Many times, when a student voices an interest in finding work we pose the question "have you visited the "Career Corner?" We also run short radio spots that highlight our school's programs and career opportunities by suggesting that people in the community should visit the "Career Corner."
4) There is no set number of visits or activities. A student uses the "Career Corner" as little or as much as they need to.
5) There is no formal review process, but I like that idea. Tracking and posting results or individual success stories would be an excellent addition to the "Career Corner."
Hi Peter, This is really great. Thanks for the details. There is so much PR you can get our of the Career Corner. Does your entire staff know about this offering? Seems that each could be reinforcing student participation in it. The more you review the more information you'll have about what is working and what needs tweaking. Thanks again for sharing. Susan
We've been finding that communication with students over the last few years has changed dramatically. They rarely pick up the phone, respond to emails and prefer to text message, share info on facebook and otherwise use the popular social sites available to them to communicate. As a school we have shifted our thinking and recently started "cloud" communicating. To improve our communication, we've installed an attendance "hotline" that allows students to call and leave a message if they are going to be absent. This is then forwarded to the instructor in "real time" through the "cloud". The students are becoming more accountable and thus are being trained to use "employee" behavior.
We are also using Google Educator to give instructors the ability to share assignments, articles, links, etc. for their courses. The students have responded very favorably and are more prepared for class. The "cloud" is free and allows us to reach the student in a way in which they are receptive and responsive.
We are hoping this will improve retention and allow us to stay connected to the student.
HI Judith, Thanks for the valuable information. I could do some research or just confess that I don't know anything about cloud. So maybe you can point us all in the right direction. We have heard from other schools how effective texting is and also social media. It does allow you to stay connected to the student and that is the name of the game for retention. Thanks, Susan
Hi Susan,
Here's the link for the Cloud email and the ability to do "real time" attendance:
Google Apps for Schools (Email, Facilitate Collaboration, Etc.)
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/appsatschool.html
Here's the link for "Google for Educators" (Useful tools for the classroom)
http://www.google.com/a/help/intl/en/edu/appsatschool.html
Hopes this helps...
Judy
Great Judy. Thanks. This will get passed along. Susan
As a president, I am willing to get less pay to help the school operate on a right track. This was exactly what I did when I founded the school 15 years ago. On the other hand, the budget should be spread logically. To give more money to the department which needs most.
Interesting situation, Johanna. It's the goal of any business to operate at a profit. In the beginning it does take a while for a school to break even. While working towards profitability it's important to look at the goals of each department and the funding to keep it effective. Each department has expenses and goals whether admission numbers, student retention, or placement. Staff have to operate efficiently and cost effectively. It's important to streamline and avoid duplication. We look at the outcomes for each department and what the reasonable costs are to reach them. Thanks, Susan
Orientation sessions prior to a class start are great, but when students are enrolling for a class "up to the minute", sometimes they are not afforded the opportunity to attend. Another practical, inexpensive way to make students aware of services offered is to do a "mini" orientation or recap on the first day of class, so everyone is included. Pass out contact lists identifying faculty/staff responsible for students services including their email, office number, etc. Also, indicate a sampling of what problems/situations each department can help with. Also, give the students a 2nd copy of the list for their support group at home.
