Retention I C S www.hvcc.edu/retention Winter 2012 - Volume 8, Issue I Inside This Issue: ISSR Welcomes New Associate Dean 2 "College Success" Organization I C Helps Faculty Help More Students Succeed Student Veteran Retention Workgroup 3 College Learning Centers Schedule of Workshops for Students 4 5 Academic Advisor s Corner: Do Race, Gender, or Religion Matter? 6 I Upcoming Student Outreach and Support Call Center Sessions ractices Ideas 7 The College Success organization, accessible through the MyHudsonValley portal, is an online group for all Hudson Valley faculty where you can find (and share!) ideas that will increase the success of your students. Created and maintained by the faculty mentors and sponsored by the Instructional Support Services and Retention Unit, this tool provides resource lists, sample lessons and syllabi, plus tips and techniques for the classroom. For example, Hudson Valley has been recognized in the top 15% of military friendly schools; however, you may have vets in your classes and you may be uncertain about how these students differ, in general, from the rest of the student body. A tip provided by John Ostwald posted on the College Success Discussion Board, states: Many veterans are reluctant to reach out for help. We should be proactive in approaching them with simple communications that may open the door to a dialogue. C S vidence Connections vents Successes For help, check out the Well-Being module on the College Success organization. You ll find links there that include the Center for Counseling and Transfer s publication How to Refer a Student for ersonal/sychological Counseling. In addition, there are many resources shared in the Well-Being module for combating plain-old procrastination I ll bet that even Socrates, Aristotle and lato complained about their students procrastination! (Calling the nglish and History, hilosophy and Social Sciences Departments for a fact check Maybe I'll ask them tomorrow!) Continued on page 2
"College Success" Organization Continued from page 1 Furthermore, we'd love to hear from YOU and learn from YOUR experiences with assisting students in situations from the ordinary to the difficult! Other College Success resources include a module with a self-quiz on Diversity, which you can do in private and possibly identify areas in which you can increase your understanding of the issues facing a large portion of our student body. Just a little bit of extra understanding could help you communicate to a student that you care, making a critical difference in whether that student makes good choices and feeds the virtuous circle that enables them to pass your course and complete college. Or, lacking the belief that anyone cares, that student might enter a downward spiral that might include dropping out and violence. To proactively prevent such negative consequences, login to MyHudsonValley/Blackboard, click on Community then Training (Faculty and Staff). Scroll down to College Success and self-enroll using the password: cfins6847. H. Kevin McNeelege, Retention Specialist Instructional Support Services & Retention h.mcneelege@hvcc.edu Instructional Support Services and Retention Welcomes New Associate Dean, Karen Ferrer-Muñiz Karen Ferrer-Muñiz has joined the college as the new Associate Dean for Instructional Support Services and Retention. Karen holds a master s degree from the State University of New York at Albany and is presently a hd candidate in a multidisciplinary studies program in ducational Administration and Latin American and Caribbean Studies. She has many years of experience in higher education working at both RI and Union College before accepting the Associate Dean position at Hudson Valley. Karen also served as nrollment Services Manager at the ducational Opportunity Center for six years. She is energetic and engaging and has a demonstrated commitment to student success and collaboration. The Instructional Support Services and Retention unit enthusiastically welcomes Karen on board and already appreciates having her as the next leader of our academic team. Karen s office is located in Guenther Hall, Suite 227. She may be contacted at k.ferrermuniz@hvcc.edu or x-7234. 2
Student Veterans Retention Work Group I The Student Veterans Retention Work Group wrapped up its work in October 2011. The faculty and staff members who participated in the work group reviewed data on the academic outcomes of student veterans at Hudson Valley and services currently provided to these students. They also looked at two studies conducted by ACT and best practices at several colleges. In Fall 2010, the group members created, deployed and analyzed the results of a survey sent to all enrolled student veterans. Student veterans come to Hudson Valley with some academic and personal strengths compared to the general enrollment population. The college has created a veteran-friendly atmosphere, particularly with respect to matters affecting the enrollment process. Hudson Valley has been less successful at promoting or establishing services that recognize the success characteristics of student veterans and use them to support their attainment of their educational goals. The group found a disconnect between short-term retention and firstterm academic outcomes and promising academic indicators such as placement test scores, GA and math and nglish grades. The college does not seem to be engaging student veterans who encounter difficulty with transition to college issues. Given their academic preparation, age and life experiences, student veterans should be retained and graduating well above the college averages. The work group submitted the following recommendations to further support student veterans at Hudson Valley: 1. Ask the Armed Forces Club to train members to be peer mentors and connect them with new students as they are accepted to provide support through the enrollment process up to the first day of classes and with the transition to college after classes begin. 2. Ask institutional advancement to identify and secure grants and other funding for initiatives at the college that will benefit student veterans. 3. Work with alumni to reach out to veteran alumni to reconnect with the college as mentors or networking contacts for student veterans. 4. Create a physical space on campus for veterans to meet and engage with one another, possibly one of the new areas in the renovated library. 5. Identify an office on campus responsible for surveying student veterans periodically to determine their needs and how to meet their needs. 6. Create and promote workshops through the Center for ffective Teaching for faculty and staff on veterans issues. 7. Conduct an open house for veterans before the start of the semester. 8. Continue to pursue ways to identify a college employee or counselor from the state Office of Veterans Affairs to mentor student veterans and guide them to and through resources available to them on and off campus that support their successful attainment of their academic goals. For additional information regarding retention work groups, visit www.hvcc.edu/issr/atrisk. The Veterans On Campus web page was designed specifically for our Veteran students and features: Guide to ducation Benefits Link to Scholarship Opportunities Counseling Services Armed Forces Club Veterans should be directed to: https://www.hvcc.edu/veterans 3
College Learning Centers Workshops for Students 4
College Learning Centers Workshops for Students 5
Academic Advisor s Corner: Do race, gender or religion matter? I Some of us are comfortable advising without thinking about the race, gender or religion of our students. But does this really matter to the student? The decisions and actions of our students are based on their family history, their family history is based on their personal background and their background is based on who they are as individuals. We all know that diversity is one of the main ingredients in the recipe of academic excellence. We want to be committed to excellence and we want students to be successful, but does this include a personal commitment to diversity? For years, many of higher education s best practices show that an effective education includes daily access to a variety of ideals, customs and values inside and outside of the classroom. If we want to improve access, we need to provide opportunities for students to become effective community members and influential leaders in our local and global community. Now, does your ethnicity, race or gender affect your interactions with students? Do you make assumptions about students based on these characteristics? Recognize any biases or stereotypes you may have absorbed. Do you interact with students in ways that manifest double standards? For example, do you discourage women students from undertaking projects that require quantitative work? Do you undervalue comments made by speakers whose nglish is accented differently than your own? Do you assume that most African American, Chicano/Latino, or Native American students on your campus are enrolled under special admissions programs? Treat each student as an individual, and respect each student for whom he or she is. (Gross Davis, 1999) We all should be prepared to maintain diverse educational, work and living environments. We need to take on leadership roles to make a difference in our educational communities. Reference: Gross Davis, Barbara. Diversity and Complexity in the Classroom Considerations of Race, thnicity and Gender. Tools for Teaching. University of California, Berkeley, Jossey-Bass, 1999. Karen Ferrer-Muñiz, Associate Dean Instructional Support Services & Retention k.ferrermuniz@hvcc.edu Upcoming Student Outreach and Support Call Center Sessions C Tuesday, Feb. 21: to remind students in the College in the High School program to complete registration Thursday, March 15: students who have not logged into their online Sprint classes will get a call stressing the importance of early and frequent participation in online classes; they also will be offered technical support if they have had trouble logging in. The Foundation recently started partnering with Retention Services to have the existing Call Center Technical Assistants work on the Foundation's behalf. The call team has a wealth of knowledge regarding Hudson Valley and is capable of fielding almost any question raised during those sessions. The Call Center is also working with lacement Testing and Individual Studies to support the new Academic lanning Days by calling students who have missed their appointments in the early weeks of this pilot project. At the end of April, the Call Center will begin its schedule of calls in support of fall enrollment that will extend off and on through August. 6