University Business - July/August 2011 - (Page 33)

Faculty involvement can be a key to connecting students to campus and helping them persist to graduation, as efforts at Pulaski Technical College (Ark.) have shown. Faculty members at North Harris are encouraged to make themselves available in the Teaching and Learning Center to provide extra academic assistance, but are not required to be advisors, says Head. “I want them to focus on what goes on in the classroom and spending time with students if they need to. I know some colleges require faculty to be advisors, but I don’t want them to do it if they don’t want to.” Making themselves available through consistent office hours is also satisfactory for Head. “I know our faculty work hard. I don’t want our faculty doing administrative work, that is why we have the advisors.” The support of the administration along with on- and off-campus professional development opportunities goes a long way, says Baldwin. “Also having more information shared with us about success rates is important.” The focus on data encouraged by Achieving the Dream, the national nonprofit that helps community college students, helps colleges and professors target their efforts where professional development is concerned, she adds. “Regrettably, when times get tough, too many colleges will turn to professional development as an area they can cut, and it’s not,” cautions Oriano-Darnall. “The colleges where they are doing great work with the entering students are doing good work with the faculty.” universitybusiness.com Advising While faculty members at North Harris are focusing on the in-class experience, dedicated counselors are helping students through their first year of college. Head is building a staff of 20 advisors who will act as success coaches. A key component is for the advisors to reflect the diversity of the campus community so students feel comfortable discussing both academic and personal topics. He sees advisors discussing the feasibility of taking 18 hours of classes while also working 30 hours a week, and mentioning student activities and other things the college has to offer. “We have lots of data and know that, if we can get them engaged, success rates are 5 to 10 percent higher,” he says. The advisors have set caseloads and ter for extra help. Data has shown that six to eight visits a semester increase academic success and 12 visits help in passing and finishing the class, notes Head. Male African-American Pulaski students can apply to become part of The Network for Student Success, which provides success coaches and is aimed at improving the educational outcomes of this group. The program, shares Baldwin, “provides tutoring, co-curricular activities, and guest speakers. It’s a great way of bringing a group together and keeping them engaged and on track.” student groups “People need to be connected,” OrianoDarnall says. “With all of the student engagement work, particularly with entering Academically successful students will often pursue student groups to improve their leadership skills, but generally, these groups need a lot of nourishment. work with the same students throughout their freshmen year. “We have a matrix for how often and when they should contact the students,” such as when it’s time to register or apply for financial aid, Head explains. “We call students after they register to check in on them. It has worked.” Both advisors and faculty refer students to the Teaching and Learning Censtudents, it is critical to foster those relationships: student-to-student, student-tofaculty, and student-to-coursework.” While student activities can go a long way in connecting students to campus, they can be difficult to sustain at community colleges. “Our students have so many competing interests, it’s hard to get a student activity [to flourish],” says BaldJuly/August 2011 | 33 http://www.universitybusiness.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of University Business - July/August 2011

University Business - July/August 2011
Contents
Editor's Note
Ad Index
College Index
Behind the News
Sense of Place
Viewpoint
Financial Success
Money Matters
Community Colleges
Funding Capture
Models of Efficiency
Thwarting ID Thieves
Embezzlement Epidemic
What's New
End Note

University Business - July/August 2011