Have these practices improved communication with students and your overall retention rates, Tess?
We have a retention meeting every week where faculty discuss student retention and issues.
Every student receives a mid-term assessment from each of their instructors. Additionally, teachers are encouraged to contact students whenever they are absent.
There is an online tool we use in-house, CampusVue, to record conversations and thoughts about student performance. These entries are reviewed by the Director of Education and the Program Leads, who in turn contact the students to address any issues.
if a student has lost interest[stagnant] we will give them material that will challenge them but also help then in the future
Interesting approach, William. What sort of material do you give them? Is this for extra credit?
To address Academic Erosion we are in the process of developing a holistic approach to student success. With this approach we have groups of student who at risk (not likely to retain), students who are not at risk(likely to retain), and students who fall in between (can be influenced by both groups). At our institution we have adapted early alert/early intervention techniques catering to at risk students, but that is just the first step to a much largetr process. We have recently started using a new communication system so that students can better communicate with faculty and vice versa. In that system there is a way to recognize students who are doing well so that they dont feel as if we have forgotten about them(since we seen to focus alot on at risk students) and that we are paying attention to them.
There is also a way for students to confidentally ask for asistance without letting the whole world know. This can method can be for all groups mentioned above. (i.e. at risk, not at risk, in between) The areas of assistance include, career services, financial issues, academics, tutoring, just to name a few.
We have Champions on every campus who relays this info to our students so that they are aware of these resources. I feel that with these practices we can bring back the confidence of our students and remind them of whay they are here.
We also do weekly at risk reports for the online campus and midterm reports for the on ground campuses. We meet with students during this time to let them know of their progress in the course. this will also determine is we need to take further action .
Our student services staff does a one on one orientation with each student to let them know they have a point of contact for any challenges personal or academics. The SS staff monitors student progress by reviewing their academic progress weekly during a module and communicating with the student if intervention is needed. Some students communicate with their instructors well and some need more encouragement. During the orientation the SS staff attempts to reach the student on a personal level also in hopes of connecting with the student. The student is also encouraged when doing well in their course so they feel the success and know that the college acknowledges their success.
We make notes on the students grades or behavior and than the office will take care of the situation to try and figure out what is causing them to act out or not focus as they should.
Our Faculty reaches out to the students by telephone and email. We have daily reports that are generated that show days since last academic activity submitted by a student. This report is used for outreach to the most at risk students based on activity and/or grade. Our faculty encourages students to review how the skills they are learning in each course relates to the field they will be working in.
A daily report that reveals academic at risk students is discussed among the staff at length to gain consensus on the issues and how best they can be resolved. Students experiencing difficulties are contacted by Student Services to identify the issues involved and address those issues where appropriate. If the issues cannot be resolved by Student Services the Instructors, Program Director, Academic Dean and relevant Department Heads are consulted.
We employ several mid term examaniations of our student's success throught the term. At this time we sit with each student and discuss their grades, attendance, likes and dislikes about the class and give them the opportunity to provide any suggestions for change. This has profoundly worked with our students because we are able to see if they feel stifled, or not able to keep up. The instructors have been asked to seriously look at the student surveys to see if there any things they could implement from the student's perspective so that we ultimately gain their retention and assist them to the goal of completing the class. You notice I did not mention the goal of graduation as we take baby steps so that we do not overwhelm the students but by gradually assist them to completing each class they will eventually qualify as graduates!
How can the office figure out what is causing students to act out or not focus, Ashley? Aren't the instructors in a much better position to make those observations?
Sounds like a very well thought out system, Karitsa. Is it unique to your campus? Does it use a commercially available software?
How often does the staff discuss the at risk students and who's involved, Kathy? Is there a way to flag urgent situations that appear for the first time on a daily report?
When a student is absent or grades are dropping we meet with the student to try and determine the cause of the change in attendance or grades. An eight step process seems cumbersome. Can it be reduces or do you have to go step by step?
Our school uses the concept of the ARB academic review board, a non bias group that meets with students to discuss issues that may be holding them back and suggest solutions. And since they are never made up of the students faculty the student feels more at ease to discuss issues with them without embarrassment.
We have tried to implement "clubs" that are program-specific. This can help to keep the student engaged in their chosen field and prevent stagnation.
We have several strategies/tools. We have an Academic Review Board. The board consists on '"non-bias" individuals, faculty and staff that does not have direct contact with the student to discuss the issues at hand. This for some works and for others con be a little scary. Prior to the ARB we have a system in place that faculty and staff can track possible issues with students. The system provides this information to approved personnel like the a Program Director. Meetings with the student can be set up using this online resource and plans can be develop and tracked as well.
Instructors typically report any students at risk to the admin team. We then ask to meet with the student to discuss how we can setup a plan to help them. Tutoring or mentoring are usually our first approach. Since my department has an active work-like environment on campus, we will send students to get involved in the process to spur them on and to give them a clearer picture of what they are working towards.
