Taking care of our students: advising, retention, mentoring
February 1st, 2009 at 11:59 pm
As I’m sure many (most? all?) colleges are right now, my employer and alma mater has been talking a lot about the “current economic crisis” and how it will impact the institution. Before all this drama hit we were also in the midst of a college-wide strategic planning process started by our still relatively new President. Well, these discussions have had many interesting and sometimes frustrating facets, but at one of these meetings the issue of retention came up. That is, once we admit the students, how do we make sure they’re happy enough to stay here?
The meeting attendees threw out ideas: Do we have tutoring for struggling students? What warning signs does the Dean of Studies office pick up and how do they act on them? How does general campus morale (including mood of the staff who interact with students) make an impact? What is the role of the adviser?
It is the last of these questions that sort of struck me. At this institution, we have a strong tradition of close relationships between adviser and advisee. As I’ve talked to students, both when I was one and since then, I noticed that they convey a range of very different relationships between themselves and their advisers.