I like the idea of bringing in graduates sooner to reinforce the students belief that they made the right decision. We are currently doing a fall fesitval and one ativity we incorporated was a treasure hunt. The students had to ask several staff members questions to find out information and get to know them better in order to get their next clue.
Stephanie,
This type of activity is great because it gets the students moving around and interacting with each other and staff.
Susan Backofen
We usually have a To Your Success Tuesday, Wellness Wednesday or Thankful. All of these events involve food and they also provide interaction for students in different classes and programs. They usually involve a motivational speaker that tends to be a successful graduate. Or sometimes a speaker that can motivate them with ideas to enhance their own practice. One other events we have is a Success Rally which brings the new students all back together with Student Services and Career Services. Here we go over any obstacles they have encountered the first week and answer any questions. Career Services also goes over making business cards and their own website and how they can promote themselves.
We implement a lot of things suggested in the course. Some other things I do is putting on a smile everyday.
Learn their names so when you greet them you can call them by their names.
When a student shares something with me I try and asked after a few days how things are going with them. This can be something as simple as their dog was sick.
If I have students from different countries I learn how to say good morning in there native language.
Letting them know and feel comfortable, that any question or concern they have is just as important to me as it is to them and do all that I can to help them with the issue.
Visit each class new and old just to say hi and we are glad to have you here.
Christina,
This sounds like a great program that is very inspirational and practical. Great job!
Susan Backofen
Bonnie,
VERY impressive! You certainly do many, many things to make your students feel comfortable and acclimate to their new surroundings. Kudos!
Susan Backofen
We've recently started doing a small cookout with burgers and dogs, and it's been successful.
Our admission reps and the campus director greet the new students at the door and distribute the photo IDs created at orientation. In each of the classes, the instructor and students introduce themselves with ice breakers and the expectations for he course. Student Services visits the classrooms in the first week as well to answer questions and provide information about other services available for support in the school.
I do ice breakers with my students. I let them get to know me a bit and I get to know them. The icebreaker games I play with them also helps them to learn some things about each other that they may not know already or would be suprised to know. I also discuss the different departments and staff and how we can utilize their services.
With the surge in Social Media we now have a FaceBook page for our campus. We could hand out a brief assignment asking them to introduce themselves via the FB link. Then they should write about at least two other students profiles that they found interesting.
I think it is very valuable to a student's retention in a college to feel as if they belong. We offer small classes which allows the students to connect with their classmates. All of our instructors try to have a guest speaker the first week of class so the students have something to look forward to and this validates their choice of career in their particular program.
Robert,
Interesting use of social media. It is certainly here to stay, so exploring ways to leverage that is important.
Susan Backofen
At my institution we have a meet and greet every 2nd week of new starts between staff, faculty and students
Student groups to assist in any questions they may have.
We have Student ambassadors that are students who have been chosen from applicants to help direct students around the campus and assist them with directions or new information. We also have an active student advisory council that also is very helpful to the new students. Typically on the first day of school, we have a big "to-do". We cook hot dogs or hamburgers, chips, and a drink and have all students come out and get one or two for free! Sometimes we give out T-shirts, one start, we gave out sunglasses to show them how bright their future was! One time we had the "red carpet" and the students posed for pictures! We do alot to show the new students that we care and want them to succeed.
The first day of the class is the most important day of the course. I always come 15 minutes before class starts. I hand shake and introduce myself one student at a time. I go over the entire syllabus, the text book and its required assignments and finally, the student code of conduct. I also tell them that points will be deducted from late arrivals and early departures. I always write on the board the required assignments of the day.
Usually we have a welcome buffet of food for the students (we are a culinary college), so this helps not just with new students but also returning students starting a new module in the program. This gives the new and old students an opportunity to interact with each other before class starts. Also, we have several visits scheduled into the curriculum for various departments to visit the students during their first week of studies (such as spending time in the computer lab for an introduction to on-line resources and the on-line student portal, a visit/presentation to the class by Career Services, and a personal visit by the Campus President to touch base with the students now that they are on campus.)
The process I will begin immediately is incorprating discussion groups. It will be difficult to put them together and have 100% attendance at our campus because we have open enrollment and students begin at different time and they move at their own pace within there individually chosen schedules (when they will be there; courses are largely done via computer). This may be a good thing though because it means the groups will me small. Therefore, interactions may be optimized.
These discussion groups can also play the role of study groups. Heck, it can serve so many aspects that are effective to retention. My goal is to immediately implement this. Once it is established I will hope to implement two. One during the day for "day students" and one in the evening for the "night students".
Qadar,
It sounds like you have a great classroom management system going.
Susan Backofen
David,
I really like the 'buffet' which allows them to both see what they will be acccomplishing and the ability to interact with more senior stuents.
Susan Backofen
