Student Retention Solution Padlet by Lisa Ortiz

What are we doing right?

lisa2083 — 2023-11-15 20:47:14 UTC

Tuition lock, helping students with FAFSA and the Colorado one, tuition assistance for displaced Aurarians, in-state tuition for undocumented students, etc.

On-campus jobs, both work-study and hourly (though the work study debacle this semester did not help). Earn and learn and other paid internships.

Faculty work: flexibility in classes, with deadlines, etc. (sometimes almost to the point of running an in-person and an asynch class simultaneously); engaging and inclusive pedagogical techniques and high-impact practices such as student research; the TA program; being more than a professor and helping students with personal issues by talking, helping them get resources and services, etc.

Actually thinking specifically about the problem and trying to address it (student success launch among other efforts at the college-level).

What are we doing wrong?

lisa2083 — 2023-11-15 20:47:14 UTC

We seem to talk a lot about career placement, but I wonder how we are actually doing there? The C2Hub seems basically worthless, and departments seem very hit and miss (math, for example, doesn't have any internships run through the department). This may be why students see the cost of tuition and don't see it as a good return on investment.

There's so much money going into student affairs and services; but my students are constantly complaining about unavailability of advisors, horrific stories about the financial aid office, and the Roadrunner Runaround. I'm not sure where all of this money is going, but it doesn't seem to be actually helping students.

Thoughts on the strategic plan proposals from your Dean?

lisa2083 — 2023-11-15 20:47:14 UTC

They're pretty short-term, so hard to say. In CLAS, Masserini seems to be at least cognizant of workload issues and is trying to not dump everything on faculty. He's also pushing against the "do everything everywhere all at once" strategy that MSU seems to prefer, so that's good.

What is helping student retention? What are we doing right?

lisa2083 — 2023-11-17 21:34:02 UTC

1. Internships and the Earn and Learn grant have been significant benefits to students in the past couple of years. We have been expanding our internship offerings and the grant allows students to actually take advantage of unpaid internship opportunities.
2. The TA program has been great- helping students pay the bills and develop professionally.
3. We recently added several RA positions and having RAs has contributed to a significant culture shift and growth in camaraderie and community among our students. Unfortunately, cuts to Work Study have significantly undermined these efforts/ gains.

What are we doing wrong?

lisa2083 — 2023-11-17 21:35:02 UTC

1. Overworked faculty, cuts to work study, and almost all extra-curricular and high impact learning experiences reliant on faculty overload teaching.
2. We need affordable student housing to keep students housed and engaged in campus/ engaged in their studies.
3. Students are working 40-50 hours a week while trying to go to school (often just taking a class or two at a time). We need to have a messaging campaign encouraging students to take a full load and cut back on work if possible and/ or provide scheduling flexibility for students to take more classes over summer or Winterim (without relying on faculty to take a paycut to teach during these periods). If faculty could have teaching over summer or Winterim as part of their regular course load it would help alleviate some faculty workload issues and provide greater scheduling flexibility for students trying to work and go to school full time.

Thoughts on the strategic plan proposals from your Dean?

lisa2083 — 2023-11-17 21:36:24 UTC

I haven't even had the chance to look at it because I've been so busy. However, like the Union, I'm deeply concerned about the rhetoric around retention that seems to put all onus on the faculty, despite evidence that much of our retention issues stem from structural problems either within the larger university or their lives outside of campus. Very little I can do about that.

Other thoughts you'd like to share.

lisa2083 — 2023-11-17 21:36:56 UTC

We need more tutoring services for students who are facing the COVID learning gap. This could be done with the hiring of student workers, helping students make ends meet, keeping them on campus and engaged in the campus community, and providing much needed academic support from peers.

Other thought you'd like to share.

lisa2083 — 2023-12-17 01:39:20 UTC

The Roadrunner Runaround has gotten out of control! This place has never been efficient, but now it's just embarrassing. MSU is just a poorly-run military operation with a cadre of staff "working" from home (not returning email) and glitchy technology.

What are we doing wrong?

lisa2083 — 2023-12-21 20:57:28 UTC

Getting students through and out successfully requires flexibility in class size and scheduling that is not forthcoming. Students suffer when classes are cancelled because of low enrollment and I think it is discouraging for them when they want to take a course, even an elective, that excites them only to have it cancelled. The obvious answer, if the dean is going to fixate on class size, is to offer more independent studies opportunities. However, without a real banking policy, all of that would require more free faculty labor. There has to be a way to give students the opportunities and support they need without creating more uncompensated work for faculty. The way we do it now pits our interests against the students' interests.

Other thoughts you'd like to share.

lisa2083 — 2023-12-21 21:00:13 UTC

This place has become a much less fulfilling place to work in the last year. I feel like some deans and upper administration have decided that we are the problem if not the enemy. I try to put on a good face for my students but I suspect they are aware that something is amiss. I'm not able to bring my passion to the classroom as I once was. It's tough to get that into a strategic plan or measure it in a survey but I believe it does impact our student retention. Being blamed for retention issues that are at least in part structural doesn't help, either.