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Engaging Faculty in Student Retention. Presented by: Dr. Jim Black President & CEO SEM Works. What the Research Says. S tudents are highly satisfied with: The quality of instruction The relevance of courses Interactions with faculty Preparation for careers or further study
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Engaging Faculty in Student Retention Presented by: Dr. Jim Black President & CEO SEM Works
What the Research Says • Students are highly satisfied with: • The quality of instruction • The relevance of courses • Interactions with faculty • Preparation for careers or further study • The overall quality of the educational experience
û The Tyranny of Faculty Retention Myths Myth Reality • Faculty must participate in campus-wide efforts to contribute to retention • Faculty do NOT value their role as advisors • Faculty understand their role in retaining students • The best contribution faculty can make to the retention cause is being effective teachers and mentors • Institutions rarely value faculty advising • Faculty want their students to be successful
û The Tyranny of Faculty Retention Myths Myth Reality • Faculty should lower expectations to allow students to succeed • Faculty should solve student problems • Faculty should coddle students • Faculty should have high expectations and hold students accountable • Faculty should guide students in solving their own problems • Faculty should meet students where they are developmentally
û The Tyranny of Faculty Retention Myths Myth Reality • Faculty are satisfied with the students they teach • Faculty effectively manage classroom behavior • Academic failure is the cause of attrition • Faculty generally desire to teach more academically able students • Classroom behavior and civility, in general, are growing issues on most campuses • Academic failure is often a symptom of attrition
Retention Impact Faculty Retention Impact
High-risk Student Experiences • Insufficient section or seat capacity • Delayed time-to-degree • Poor quality of instruction • Lack of student/faculty engagement • Program atrophy • Not challenging students • Poor classroom management • Inconsistent or poor advising practices
High-risk Student Experiences • Absence of an academic plan • Protracted remedial education • Enrollment in high-risk courses • Class attendance • Late academic feedback • Underutilized academic support services • Brutal academic policies
Conditions for Student Success • RELEVANT, VALUE-ADDED student engagement • Academic and social integration • A sense of belonging • Meaningful connections with peers, faculty, the community, and industry
Conditions for Student Success • Provide early academic feedback • Require students to show up • Surround students with mentors • Ignite their passion • Deliver on institutional promises
A shared definition of student success An awareness and engagement campaign Concrete opportunities to engage Systematic efforts toward creating a cohesive, transformational student experience Professional development and information sharing Improving Faculty Engagement
Common good Autonomous Systems-focused Discipline-focused Cognitive dissonance Buy-in Unit-oriented Integration Academic freedom One voice Natural Tensions Academic Culture SEM Objectives
The Reasons Retention Efforts Fail • Making a case for faculty engagement based on institutional urgency • Institutional failure to value faculty contributions to student success • Misunderstanding resistance • Faulty mental maps • A lack of concrete opportunities for engagement • No feedback loop
Overcoming Resistance to Retention Engagement • Education and communication • Participation and investment • Facilitation and support • Rewards and recognition
Teaching Challenges • Teaching the Net Generation and Gen Xers • The classroom dichotomy • Increase of emotional, psychological, and behavioral issues • Increases in student diversity • Changing student expectations • Declining student motivation • Teaching digital natives • Multitasking
Faculty Support Support individual faculty in their teaching responsibilities through one-on-one consultations.
Teaching and Learning • Active learning • Experiential learning • Simulations • Gaming • Multimedia • Teamwork • Learning communities • Interdisciplinary instruction • Service learning • Supplemental Instruction • Early academic feedback • Frequent academic feedback • Aligning teaching and learning styles • Open learning labs • Blended delivery • LMS systems • Clicker technology • Skype • Twitter • Web chat
Early Intervention • Front loaded • Referrals • Assessment instrument • Systems • Analytics
Other Faculty Retention Strategies • One place for referrals • Front-load the best instructors in first-year courses • Address high-risk courses • Required study sessions • Front-load an introduction to academic disciplines and related career opportunities • Sponsor an adopt a student program
Other Faculty Retention Strategies • Offer academic unit socials • Provide advisors with a holistic advisee profile • Ensure advisor caseloads are small enough to provide individual attention and mentoring • Decouple advising and mentoring • Consider protective scheduling for at-risk students