improving student involvement

Improving Student Involvement

Salem Community College

By Kimberly Lewison

November 2014

Table of contents:Introduction: 3Reasons for Drop outs 5Information Technology 10Specific Students 12Solutions Geared toward Specific Students 12nontraditional 12first-generation 13online 14special needs/disabled 14THRIVE 15Solutions Motivation 18Incoming New Students 19Solutions Educational Policy 21The Resource Theory Solutions 24Steps to Implantation of Programs 25Dropout Scale 25Student Government Association (SGA) 26Clubs 27ROTC and Honors programs 29On-Campus Jobs 29peer tutoring 31peer counselors 31Long-term Solutions: alumni 32Other solutions 32Conclusion 32References 33Table 1: Relationship Between Student Characteristics and PersistenceAppendix 1: SGA ConstitutionAppendix 2: Preamble: SGA Constitution exampleAppendix 3: Elected positions dutiesAppendix 4: Frequently asked questions pageAppendix 5: Club budget request formAppendix 6: SGA ApplicationAppendix 7: CommitteesAppendix 8: Organizations listAppendix 9: Student Attendance ScaleAppendix 10: Student project grant expense items

The debate over whether student involvement results in a better educational experience for the

school and the students has always been the results found, with few contradictory studies, that there

is a strong correlation between student involvement and better schools successes. This includes

lower dropout rates, longer periods of time spent on campuses, more money spent by the students in

the schools, and more alumni giving back to the schools after graduation. The only issues with the

various studies about student involvement are that the investigators “do not look at the same

variables or employ the same methodologies; and may use completely different term to discuss those

variables” (Astin, 1984). The cost of losing a student is very high in terms of wasted time, effort, and

money on the part of the student, the faculty, and institution (Wilging and Johnson).

According to the Koljatic and Kuh study (2001), that students engaged in good educational practices

that included “cooperation with peers, active learning, and faculty student interactions”, all leading to

an “improved quality of the undergraduate education”. Koljatic and Kuh also found that “the frequency

of involvement in these good practices did not change over time”. One dilemma with this is how to get

students who are uninvolved to become motivated to become more involved.

One possible solution to motivating students to become more involved on campus may include the

theory of involvement as explained in Astin's studies. This study talks about two types of personalities

of students. These students are usually a type A personalities when a student is “highly involved,

devotes considerable energy to studying, spends much time on campus, participates actively in

student organizations, and interact frequently with faculty members and other students”; and the type

B personality, where the students is “typically uninvolved neglecting their studies, spends little time on

campus, extensive extracurricular activities, and has in frequent contact with faculty members and

other students”. This theory does offer an array of solutions depending on the institution of higher

learning. I will focus on only SCC to increase the involvement of students. Some of the things that

need to be looked at our educational policies, time management of students, achievement

measurements of the students, in student achievement after leaving SCC.

Another dilemma is having an increase of student involvement. The resource theories basically states

that by focusing on the total school resources and serving the majority population, not the minority,

the resources will help contribute to more student involvement. We will focus on the physical facilities,

the human resources, the fiscal resources, the student faculty ratio, the faculty members working

effectively with the students, and the follow-up of various resources already provided. Some of these

things have already been implemented at SCC, while others may be needing some improvements or

developed from the bottom up. According to Austin's studies

“The amount of student learning and personal developments associated with any educational

program is directly proportional to the quality and quantity of student involvement in that

program. Various educational policies can increase student involvement. Motivation is a key

important aspect of involvement.”

It was found in various studies from the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, that two-year community colleges were

seen as less important as a four-year or prestigious college. Astin states “the negative effects of

attending a community college are observed even after the variables of entering student

characteristics, lack of residence on campus, and work are considered” (1975, 1977). This view has

changed over time and transferred from community colleges to TV or trade school colleges. Schools

such as “ITT, Remington College, DeVry, and University of Phoenix, are some examples of TV and

trade school colleges. Because these type of colleges advertise in the wee hours of the morning on

basic cable, they are seen as lesser colleges. Thanks to these various advertisements, community

colleges have become more accessible to more people, filling the needs for an education of students

at a reasonable cost. Often those colleges seen on TV take all the money they can get for lesser

educational skills. It may be wise to show incoming students the cost, as compared to an Ivy League

school, TV college, trade school, or even University. Community colleges have always been cheaper,

and just as valuable in the learning experience.

Dropout rates for the last 40 years has continued to decrease slightly. As of 2012 21% of the total

population held a bachelor's degree or higher. This percentage is slowly increasing by 1%

approximately every 5 1/2 years. Those who enter college have a “65% through 90%” chance of

graduating (Ramist, 1981). Dropouts can estimate between “10 and 35%” of all those entering college

(Ramist, 1981). “Student to drop out of college often suffer personal disappointments, financial

setbacks, and a lowering of career and life goals” (Ramist, 1981). Dropout rates do not often account

for students to re-enter college at a later date. It has been suggested that 80% of re-entering college

students, a.k.a. nontraditional students, received their four-year degree within 10 years after dropping

out. Because schools are not often informed until is too late, the students who drop out often lead the

college with unknown reasons as to why. Colleges can contact dropout students with surveys, phone

calls and emails, but that does not guarantee a response. It has been suggested that if the college

wants to find out specific reasons on why students leave their college campus, then the exstudents

should be contacted by the college no less than two times but no more than four times per each

communication, (telephone, mail surveyed, and personal email) over a six month peroid.

Reasons for Drop outs

Academic Matters.

Poor grades

changes in career goals

inability to take desire courses or programs

Most often these reasons are given by males in technical fields such as computer technology and

engineering. These individuals also often have poor high school records. These students will drop out

usually late in their freshman year. The good news is with these students is that they often come back

to college later on. There is a very significant relationship between performance in college and

attrition (Ramist, 1981). If the students do not feel like they have been placed in the most appropriate

courses they are more likely to dropout (Wilging and Johnson).

Financial Difficulties.

Most frequently cited by minorities, and women with a poor high school record. The students usually

leave very early in their education. They usually come back to school within five years. This group of

students almost never addresses the school on why they are leaving until it is too late for them to be

helped. Some may list financial problems as a cause for dropout, but Kesselman found that “financial

problems alone were not the cause of the students to drop out” (1976).

Scholarships and Grants.

Scholarships and grants awards increase the students persistence rate by 10-15%.

Loans.

The number of loans the student takes out has no effect on if they dropped out or persisted in college

(Blanchfield, 1971).

Motivational Problems.

This is most cited by women with poor high school grades and attendance. These women often drop

out within the first few weeks of school or never show up.

Personal Considerations.

Emotional problems

problems adjusting to college

marriage

pregnancy

family responsibilities

illness

friends

These individuals often plan for the most elaborate and highest goals, but cannot deal with the

stresses of life. They often have poor management of their time, and money.

Note: marital status of men has a decreased chance of dropping out by 8%, but for women have an

increased chance of dropping out by 11% (Ramist, 1981). If the person enters college already

married and the spouse pay for 50% or more of the daily bills, supporting the college student for the

most part, than men have a 28% and women have a 15% persistence in their college careers (Astin,

1975). Students who find it difficult to make friends in college are more likely to dropout (Wilging and

Johnson).

Full-time Jobs.

This is the most common reason given for community college students. Researchers have constantly

found that full-time employment has significantly negative effect on freshmen persistence (e.g.,

Kohen et al., 1978; Astin, 1975; Iffert, 1958).

Age.

Older students are more likely to dropout (e.g., Brummer et al., 1978; Astin, 1975; Trent and

Medsker, 1965; Newman, 1965).

Parental Income.

Dropout rates increase 9% for students who have parents with the very lowest levels of income

(Astin, 1975).

Parental Aid.

Astin (1975, pg 52) reported that parental aid had a moderate effect on persistence, reducing dropout

rate by 3%.

Religion.

Jewish students have been constantly found to be more likely to persist in college than non-Jewish

students (e.g., Fetters, 1977; Astin, 1975; Newman, 1965).

Size.

Hometown and college sizes seems to have a slight effect on increasing dropout rates. The smaller

the size of the city, town, and high school, and college campus increases the dropout rate. But once

schools and towns are a medium size and larger, no such relationship as increase or decrease of

dropping out occurs (Astin, 1975; Cope, 1972; Newman, 1965).

Areas of Study.

Specific areas of studies such as agriculture, conservation, physical education, architecture and

environmental design, engineering, psychology, and police sciences have the highest dropout rates

(Ramist, 1981).

Study Habits.

Every study read towards this report, states that students with poor study habits are more likely to

dropout.

Location.

Colleges in the Northeast and South have relatively low dropout rates (Ramist, 1981).

Online Programs:

Just the act of enrolling on an online program does that mean that the student will drop out. But

students who do enroll in online programs have a much higher rate of dropping out, upwards to 50%

(Wilging and Johnson). Because of this, online enrollment has a series of separate problems in and of

itself. Reasons for dropping out include

personal reasons

financial difficulties

lack of time

schedule conflicts

daily problems

job-related reasons

the most common response was it was too hard to work full time and be a student

program related reasons

the academic program was to difficult/demanding

technology related reasons

learning environment was to de-personalized

not enough support from the technical staff

lack of technical preparation for the program

males are more likely to leave the program that females

race

Hispanic, and other minorities are more likely to leave the program

GPA

students with a higher GPA dropout more than those with lower GPAs in this category

(Wilging and Johnson).

Other Reasons.

Students who applies to the college late have a higher chance of dropping out (Wilging and Johnson).

A breakdown of “Reasons for Drop outs” information can be seen in table 1.

Information Technology

SCC IT support staff have been doing an excellent job keeping up with the demands of Salem's

website. Keeping up with the website is one of the top priorities to keep the students involved in

student government, clubs, and calendar of events. The reasons this is a top priority is because of a

Carini et al. study (2003), “some 55 million Americans go online every single day” in 2000, and 2002

“86% of college students went online daily, as compared with 59% of the general population”. When

SCC adds a student government/ clubs web page some basic outlines should be followed to continue

user-friendliness. In a drop-down menu on the main page should be listed “school events” or some

similar term. While scrolling over the words “school events” the option to view the student

governments, clubs, calendar, sporting events, or other school activities can be found.

Enrollment page needs to be consistent with current school enrollment procedures and

perceptions about the college. All information about classes and course description need to

be consistent with actual course content provided. Pictures of students working on scientific

equipment needs to be of equipment that actually are used. It is unwise to show a picture of

the most expensive, newest equipment that students rarely have an opportunity to use. The

race of students indicated in the photos need to be of equal ratios of the students at the

college. Not every photo needs to have a minority race in the photograph if that is not the

school's demographics. When doing a nationwide search on courses, the College Entrance

Exam Board found that 81% of colleges did not list instructors for various courses, 72% did

not tell when or how often the courses were offered, 18% had no information on prerequisites

for classes to be taken, 17% had no information on financial aid, and 5% did not describe the

content of the courses accurately (Ramist, 1981). Colleges that supplied “accurate cost

projections, expected student performance, current student and faculty preconceptions, a

complete description of student services, a description of student life, a description of all

academic options on and off campus”, had higher student attraction rates, and had a higher

rate for unsolicited /unadvertised new student enrollments as compared to colleges near by

(Ramist, 1981).

Once the user has chosen the “student government” page, then they will see a photo of the

entire student government elected members, a brief description of their mission, general

information such as when and where they meet, contact information, and biographies of each

of the elected members along with an indivual photo. There should be access to the student

governments Constitution, as seen in the example of appendix 1 and appendix 2; the elected

positions duties, as seen in the example of appendix 3; frequently asked questions page, as

seen in the example of appendix 4; forms, as seen in the example of appendix 5 and 6; how

to get involved, and committees, as seen in the example of appendix 7. These additions for

the new webpages will take time to compose and maintain. If the user chooses the “club”

page a complete list of clubs will appear. An example of this list can be found in appendix 8.

The only cost associated with this will be additional man-hours of the SCC IT staff. Composing the

initial pages will take the most time, but the upkeep will be minimal. All of the tools needed for this

adjustment in the event that a student government, clubs, or other activities pages added, is already

in place with SCC.

In general IT needs to be able to continue only to the following functions for the SCC website, in order

to make this site as friendly user as possible.

Notify students early, preferably by means of online communications

planet advertise program changes well in advance

implement a comprehensive student remedial plan, including tutoring, study skills

improvement courses, and publicizing it widely for the students to know about

opportunities for undergraduate research should be expanded, and publicized to the student

body

Specific Students

To help better understand the solutions for retaining students, we need to know what kind of students

drop out. There are other nontraditional students, who according to the American Educational

Research Association (AERA) (1986), “dropout was a function of GPA and credit hours enrolled, as

well as the utility education for future employment, satisfaction with the student role, and opportunity

to transfer”. “Nontraditional students dropped out of college for academic reasons or because they

are not committed to attending the institution" (AERA, 1986). First-generation college students tend to

dropout “71% higher” than students who have to college-educated parents (Springer, 2003).

Online courses dropout rates tend to be much higher than students who attend classes with face-to-

face interaction. Online courses demographic variables do not predict the likelihood of dropping from

the program (Wilging and Johnson). Students enrolled in online classes are twice as likely to drop out

than on-campus students (Dutton, Dutton, and Perry). Texas A&M University found that online

courses enroll more students than traditional campus courses, but they also suffer from higher

attrition rates. As soon as online students leave the program, all connections to the student is lost

(Wilging and Johnson). The dropout rates for online courses is such a significant difference from and

classroom classes, some colleges have thought about removing online programs completely.

Anywhere from 26% to 44% of online students drop out online classes (Wilging and Johnson).

Solutions Geared toward Specific Students

A solution for nontraditional undergrad students may be to offer tutoring that is easily available to the

students. The issue the college faces are setting hours that meet the needs of these nontraditional

students. Because most nontraditional students work, have families, and are typically older, the hours

that they may need services are not usually the traditional 9 to 5. This is where peer tutoring comes in

the play. With peer tutors a fellow student could tutor them on or off campus at their discretion.

Sometimes all tutor needs to do is reassure and motivate the student that the work that they are

doing is acceptable. Peer tutoring adds a little cost to the college. There are several options on how

to run it.

A) One group will not be paid in any form from the college, but rather be given some kind of credit in

the classroom that they are asked to tutor in. For example an English professor may see a student

struggling, the professor will ask one of the better performing students to tutor the struggling student

for some kind of extra credit or exclusion from a quiz at a later date in the class.

B) Another peer tutoring opportunity may be the student center tutoring lab, this is already set up at

SCC. The problems that exist with this is that the college is paying these tutors at a per hour rate.

Also the center is only usually open for a set number of hours due to the building closed, office hours,

and funds available to staff the tutor center. A solution to this staffing problem could be the hiring of

upper undergraduates, who have obtained a B or higher in the same subject they are tutoring, or

hiring graduate students who are available to work in a variety of tutoring areas, at a variety of hours.

With the hiring of undergraduates, college credit could be given to these students for completion of

set hours, in some kind work-study program. This work study option would cost nothing additional to

the college. In fact students have been known to have to pay class tuition to be allowed to do any

kind of work study program in some colleges. For the undergrad students payment of services may

be necessary. As for the hours of the tutoring center being open, in the event a student needs tutoring

after-hours then the tutors can have a small section of the library open for their use.

For first-generation students the reasons for dropout is usually motivation based. The second-highest

reason is these students don't understand the full benefits of college education. With pressure from

home, work, family, and personal life responsibilities, these students may need more interaction with

college staff, such as enrollment counselors. The enrollment counselors can have a system in place,

placing the students on a scale. Based off the grade of their scale will determine how much or little

intervention is necessary for the student to complete the program with as much eagerness as

possible. An example of the skill that I speak of is in appendix 9. The students would also benefit from

clubs, activities, sports, and the SGA. The students cannot be forced to participate in said activities,

but encouraging the students to with bribes of extra credit from professors, or free food may help

encourage them to join and participate more.

Online students solutions for retention are not clear and can be a difficult problem to solve. One

strategy, only found in testing stages at this point and has seen no real evidence on if it works, but the

promising potential looks very high on paper, is the strategy of limiting online classes. An example

would be for major specific students allowed to take as many online classes as they so choose, so

long as it is specific to their major. Meaning general Ed classes required for all college students, not

be offered online without approval from someone in counseling and advising for the student to enroll

in these classes. If students has a good history of completing enroll online classes, then this approval

from advising staff can be lifted. Students who have completed several courses in a program are less

likely to give up their pursuit of a degree (Wilging and Johnson). Higher fees for enrollment of online

classes is another way to deter students from enrolling. Students see the financial cost differences,

they will have to weigh the benefits of taking an online class. Some universities charge as little as an

additional $10 for online classes, to as high as $150, on top of normal class tuition.

Students with disabilities often need more resources than the school can provide. Some colleges and

universities have programs that cater to the special needs students. The problem with these

programs are that they are run by staff at the college and cost a disabled student astronomical fee to

use. Some colleges charge disabled students who use these particular services and additional $200-

$4000 per term of use. The University of North Florida started the THRIVE program. THRIVE's goals

are to make the transition a lot easier for all those involved. The THRIVE program assigns

upperclassman to help incoming disability students better adjust to college life. This is a strictly

volunteer program, costing the school no additional fees in the form of payment of grants,

scholarships, or minimum wage.

The students who volunteer for this program are usually enrolled in some kind of human

social services degree program.

Students who participate have to go through a rigorous enrollment. It needs to be made very

clear to the disabled student, and the students parents that they are in a unique position to be

offered this opportunity. They can be shown the benefits of the program. The benefits to

include better adjustment for the disabled student, better social skills, learned independence,

and feeling of more self worth.

1) To start this program SCC would need for the disabilities office staff to be assigned additional

duties. These duties would be to interview the volunteers, and participants; maintain the files for the

participants; hold weekly service meetings for the participants; and conduct regular meetings with the

volunteers.

The service meetings would be a one hour class/meeting discussing various topics that

entangle the students lives. Topics may be something as simple as how to shop for and cook

for themselves, how to ask a girl out on a date, how to prepare resume, or any other life skills

that we may take for granted that they may not know. The disabilities office staff would not

need to be at the meetings, but ensure that somebody was running it.

The volunteer meetings would include a brief monthly meeting to talk about the students that

the volunteer may be helping.

The disabilities office staff would hold monthly outings/events for the disability students and

volunteers to attend to. These outings would be low cost or free. The disabilities office would also

have to have guidelines in place for disabled students who join and do not participate in the program

as required.

2) Volunteers would be recruited midway through a term, to start the following term.

Volunteers would be interviewed by the disabilities office, and do any background screenings

the school may require. During the interview process it would be assessed how many hours

the volunteer has available, and any other special request the volunteer may have. Special

request can include a specific gender of student they help, a student in a specific study, or

family demographics of the student. At the interview it will be determined how many students

can be hired as volunteers and how many disabled students can be helped for the next term.

Ratio of 1 to 3, volunteer student to disabled student is about average.

Once the volunteer was hired, they would be required to go to a mandatory volunteer meeting with all

the volunteers before the start of the next school term. At this mandatory volunteer meeting the

volunteers will exchange information, find out who they are working with, and get any forms or other

paperwork necessary.

All volunteers would submit a weekly report listing information toward the progress of the student they

are working with. All volunteers would have to attend two off campus events with their disabled

student.

This may seem like a lot of work for the volunteers, but in reality is a resume asset, building their skills

in the human services fields. The total time a volunteer usually spends a month helping 3 students is

about 25 hours. This includes their weekly meetings, reports filled out and turned in, meetings with

the disability office, and outings with their disabled students. Please note that some of the colleges

that charge lower fees for the service, do offer a work-study program for students to do this. This work

study program does give the students college credit.

3) Disabled students would be interviewed to join the program. During the interview the parents can

be involved with the students permission. At one part of the interview the parents would be asked to

leave.

The participating students would be required to do the following to stay in the program.

Attend an orientation before the start of the next term.

Meet once a week with their student volunteer.

Attend two off campus activities with their student volunteer.

Attend twice a month service meetings to build their skills.

Go on a school tour within 30 days of starting their first class.

Meet with the disabilities office manager at midterm, in the finals week of the school term.

4) Parents of the disabled students sometimes have a hard time letting go. Parents of disabled

students feel they have to shelter their children from being harmed. These parents have often had

countless meetings with doctors, schools, and other people about their child as they grew up. Now

that their child is legally in adult, the same parents cannot so easily turn off the switch of being so

involved.

These parents can be offered to participate in a parent support group, with other parents who have

disabled children in college. These parents can be allowed to attend orientation, and the initial

interview, but it will be made very clear that they are to have no contact with the volunteers. If a

problem does arise and the parents feel the need to contact anyone, they will only be able to through

their child, or the more optimal choice of emailing a single contact for this group. If more specific

information, forms or other documentation is needed about this and similar programs, the author of

this proposal will gladly meet with the SCC staff to discuss in more detail.

Solutions Motivation

The more diverse a college is, the better it is for the reputation of the college and learning

environment of the students. Diversity can come in many forms such as race, religion, gender,

LBTGQ, and personality types. Even if all the other factors of diversity are the same, personality

types can differ drastically from person-to-person; the same is said for motivation and integrity.

Helping to build motivation is difficult. With the increase involvement comes more time on campus,

more time on campus means the better/easier learning and more spending of money from the

student. The money spent as a student and as an alumni, gives more to the school. When students

have fonder memories of their activities at the school they spend more money while attending and

after graduation. Students who are given more reasons to stay on campus “activities, clubs, SGA,

sports, game room, resting room” will have fonder memories.

Curriculum must elicit sufficient student effort and investment of energy to bring about a desired

learning and development. When students are seen as a resource, and not as a client, then the

students will not only feel the results of the respect as a resource, but be more involved in the building

of “their” college experience. College staff and administrators can be preoccupied with fiscal

resources and other college wide problems, but fail to remember what the main goal of the college is

“Learning” (Astin, 1984). Colleges are competing to invest in students times, when students are

investing their time in family, friends, job, and other outside activities all taking a toll on the time and

energy the student has to devote to their educational development (Astin, 1984). When students feel

that their time is valuable, and worthwhile, then they want to add their efforts to building college life in

a positive way. These are all motivational skills they can be implemented by the college for no extra

cost.

By getting the student to commit to a group, such as a committee, club, or activity where they see

their participation has a benefit on making their school experience better, helps to build more

memories. Committees are a great way to get the students involved. School staff often go to

meetings in various school fun college, when students are not in attendance of these meetings then it

can hurt the total student body. By adding the perspective of a student, the voting staff can obtain all

sides of the story before making their final decisions. A different kind of activity that colleges can have

would be a college wide newspaper. Those featured in the paper, those writing the paper, and those

editing and distributing the paper build a camaraderie unique to the college experience. School

papers are also a great way to get the community involved with buying of ads spaces or coupons. It is

suggested that, if the school paper is done that, it be released at least once a month if not more.

Students who read the paper should also be able to find the paper online at the SCC website. To get

more student readers every month various contest can be run with small prizes. These contests can

include drawings, writings, best joke, most deserving, find Waldo/hidden photo, or any other

promotional tool.

Working while attending college takes time and energy away from academic pursuits, part-time

employment in an on campus job actually facilitates retention, including work-study combinations.

Any time on campus thus, increase the likelihood that he or she will come into contact with other

students, professors, and college staff. Relying on the college as a source of income can result in a

greater sense of achievement to the college. It has been shown in many studies that retention does

suffer in students work off-campus and full-time jobs. When the job is off-campus students spend

considerable time and energy on nonacademic activities and become further separated from student

life on campus. (Astin, 1984).

Incoming New Students:

Students who attend community colleges usually enter college at the last minute. The students are

not the typical fresh our high school students the majority of the time. The students may have had

poor grades in school, poor attendance in high school, not graduate from high school, and they had

dropped out earlier and is going back to school. There's nothing wrong with any of these kinds of

students, it just may be a lack of motivation, lack of knowledge of the importance of their education, or

personal values may be different due to upbringing. A way to overcome all this and compete with TV

ads, universities, and Ivy League schools would be the WOW factor. The wow factor can be for

showing incoming new students the high positive energy that the school can offer. Things such as a

game room, resting room, up-to-date labs, and school spirit says a lot about the school without

anybody telling them that they are these things. Encouraging students to wear school logo clothing, is

a way to show school spirit. Encouraging can be in the form of 5% off foods or items from the

bookstore, if items are worn while purchases are being made. Encouragement can also be given from

outside businesses. If the business knows that a college student eats at the restaurant regularly, goes

to the movies, or goes to town events, and the student receives a discount of admissions,

merchandise, or food, the student is more likely to spend their money at those locations, and wear

items of the school logo on it.

It should be mandatory for all new students to take a course that last two hours on responsibility of

student loans, in order to sign up for student loans through the college this course must be

completed. While the students attend the student loan responsibility class, the parents of the students

should be offered a Parent Orientation class. This class would inform the parents about typical school

pressures and concerns that lead to dropping out, and tell the parents of existing services the college

offers. This way when the student start to talk about the idea of leaving school, the parents will know

of the various resources the student can use to help them make the most educated decision. College

that offer these classes find that students who have parents that attended this class, have retention

rates in the high 80 and 90%. Most common variable of drop outs was the students did not have

parents who attend this orientation (Ramist, 1981, pg 16). For one of their first classes in their first

term to be in the one credit class on community life in college/ Orientation College 101. This class will

tell them all they need to know on how to be a responsible student. The classes taught for the College

101 class would cover items such as

academic matters

financials

o note that if fees are waived or reduced, that does not mean the student is likely to

continue their education (Wilging and Johnson)

motivation

time management

school demographics

areas of study

study habits

vocational goals

home support

personal health

o smoking: smokers have a 20% greater chance of dropping out than those who did

not smoke (Ramist, 1981).

campus activities

withdrawal procedures

parental involvement:

o The more the parents are involved in the higher the expectations the parents have for

the student the student's goals and persistence in college are equally as high.

Solutions Educational Policy

Educational policies can be added to specific job duties of current college staff, all additions would

help enhance student involvement. As mentioned earlier, under solutions, first-generation, a student

dropout scale can be placed within the admissions and student advising counseling center. As the

student filled out the omission forms, and their information is input into the computer's, this scale can

automatically be filled in without having to ask additional questions to the student. In the event there

needs to be an additional question asked, the student adviser for classes can be the one who ask at

their first appointment. The student would never be made aware this scale is it part of their file, rather

as a tool for the college to help provide the resources the student may need. If the student receives a

low score then it may become policy for that student to receive mandatory services. Mandatory

services may include extra meetings with school staff, tutors, special permission to sign up for online

classes, or other basic restrictions that should have a major effect on the student participation in

attending the school.

Dropout policies for leaving a class should be well known, and strict. These policies should not make

it difficult to drop out of a class, but the student should be made aware of all options and penalties

before even enrolling in a class. This information should be posted on the website, and verbally told

to the student at their first meeting with enrollment counselors. Dropout penalties can include higher

cost for retake second or third class to make up for the drop class, not allowing them to take the

second attempt online, but only face-to-face, and if the withdrawal is not completed receiving an

incomplete grade on their permanent transcripts, hurting their over all GPA. Often students who drop

out of one class, or the entire college institution, inform the college after they had made up their mind.

Leonard Ramist from the College Entrance Exam Board wrote about College Students Attrition and

Retention report in 1981. Ramist report states

“dropout decisions is not usually impulsive. Initial discussions are with friends of the same

sex, then their parents, and then with friends of the opposite sex. Communication with faculty

or college personnel occurs much, much later, after the decision is crystallize. The final

decision was made during the summer vacation or during a time when college is not in

session. Half of the dropouts, the college knew nothing about where the students were going

or what they were doing.(Pantages and Creedon, 1978; Cope and Hannah, 1975; Chickering

and Hannah, 1969)”

College administrations make many nonacademic decisions such as location of the new building, how

many on-campus employment opportunities there are; the number and type of extracurricular

activities, who can participate in these activities; the frequency, type, and cost of cultural events;

financially aid policies; and eating arrangements on the campus all affect how students spend their

time and energy on and off-campus (Astin, 1984).

Faculty and student interaction is key to keeping students enrolled. There is a positive correlation of

interaction of faculty and students then integration improves (Tinto, 1975), higher GPA's (Pascarella

and Terenzini, 1978), and higher self-esteem (Astin, 1977). Students are sought out more by their

peers when they are seen interacting more with professors. Students will read more books for

pleasure. These students will also usually have a clear degree plan with higher and faster progress in

their academic skills. In the college level these students are rarely seen as brown nosers by their

peers. The problem is often the availability of the professors. When a professor is only hired part-

time, most often they may have a second job, limiting their access on campus. Having a second job

can be seen as positive if the professor allows for students to work in work programs with the

professor off campus. An example would be an English professor hiring a student as part-time

secretary in their office they work at off campus as a second job.

According to Wilson et al. (1975) faculty interacts with students at a rate of only once per day.

In a two-week period, they interact approximately four times in the role of instructor, four

times in the role of educational adviser, two times in the role of friend, two times in the role of

career adviser, one time in the role of counselor, and one time in the role of campus citizen.

These interactions can occur with the same few students repeatedly. Smaller colleges have

higher interactions between students and professors, than the larger colleges.

This is all important because a policy can be put in place about how often a student is to see their

professor. The students would see the specific guidelines the professor requires in the syllabus in the

class. The meeting does not have to be long, can be planned, and possibly allow the student to

review their grades, or review the progress of a main report due in the class. Professors may

complain about this change, but if they are shown the benefits of this, they should reside in any

complaints they have.

By reducing the number of times students have semester breaks, the students are less likely to drop

out. A change in policy could include making it mandatory for students to attend one term of summer

college classes, even if it's on a part-time basis.

The Resource Theory Solutions

If one was to believe all the studies showing how the impact of the resource can positively affect

campus life, students perceptions of campus, motivation of students, and general perceptions of the

college than various resources need to be in place to achieve all these goals.

Physical Facilities:

Physical facilities include laboratories, game room, relaxation area, libraries, aids such as audiovisual

aids. When adequate resources are brought together in one place, student learning and development

will occur (Astin, 1984).

Fiscal Resources:

Fiscal resources include financial aid, endowments, grants, scholarships, and other means of funds,

such as fundraisers. When the fiscal resources are in place there is more opportunity to have the

physical facilities for students to use. Some “resources such as bright students and prestigious

faculty, are finite” (Astin, 1984).

When a college focuses on the total school resources they need to focus on serving the majority of

the population not the minority. Minority population can include special needs students, exceptional

gifted students, or students doing research. One thing to watch out for when so many resources are

available, is not focusing on the accumulation of of resource rather on the deployment of resources

that will be widely used. The follow-up on if that resource is being used effectively is important. You

would not want to spend $1 million building a game room, for only three students to use on a regular

basis.

If SCC were to offer a weekend or week long educational retreat, more cultural events on campus,

improved parking procedures, organize study groups, on-campus employment opportunities, and

improved campus recreational facilities and activities, then the retention rate for SCC will drastically

improve. By performing a campus health check, with the help of the College Board Admissions

Testing Program Summary Reporting Services (ATP-SRS), or the Student Outcome Information

Services (SOIS), SCC will better be able to understand the areas lacking and services, and find out if

services are being distributed properly. These various groups supply questionnaires allowing the

college to understand aspects including demographic background, college goals, college attendance,

students reasons for leaving, evaluation of college services, and other comments that may not be told

to the college otherwise. ATP – SRS and SOIS also provide analytical services free for the colleges

to use.

Steps to Implantation of Programs

Dropout Scale:

1. Financial staff devise a list of most common reasons dropout. An example can be seen in

table 1 and appendix 9.

2. Financial staff will rate the scale on points. Gender may be a factor in dropping out, but

because the student cannot control gender it may be getting fewer points than say their

employment being full-time or part-time.

3. At the total evaluation of minimal score versus maximum score on the scale will require upper

administration for SCC will decide on proper recourse for prevention of dropouts. A

recourse/solution should not make the process of being in the college harder, but add to their

experience and learning.

Student Government Association (SGA):

1. School administration will vote on implementation.

2. Budgetary restraints will be determined. This includes grants and scholarships for elected

members; building space allotment; supplies such as paper, desk, chairs, ect.; and additional

school paid staffing hours necessary to monitor the SGA program.

3. The additional school paid staff hours individual with the added duties or higher duties to

monitor the SGA program first assignments will be to:

Write a student government Constitution. The Constitution will establish all the rules and

regulations for all SGA members and volunteers. Examples can be seen in appendix 1 and 2.

A clear definition for the elected positions duties. An example can be seen in appendix 3.

Compose a list of SGA frequently asked questions, as seen in appendix 4, to be placed on

the SCC website.

With the help of financial consultant, compose rules and guidelines for financial

disbursements. An example can be sen in appendix 10.

4. Advertise the start up of the upcoming election. This is to motivate the student body to want

to join the SGA.

This whole process of starting the SGA can take as little as two weeks to one full-term, depending on

a number of man hours put into these various task.

At the start of the first terms of elected members the duties of the hired staff will be to monitor all SGA

members, volunteers, enrollments of clubs, and to keep accurate list of the clubs, activities,

committees, and school wide events. Normally this position is a full-time position with one person

overseeing all of it, but because this is the start of the program one person currently on staff can

volunteer to take over this position part-time. After various fundraiser events held by the SGA

members, and increase funds for the SGA is established, than hiring a full-time person for this

position can be the next step. In addition to any fund-raising done by the SGA, the students school

fees can reflect a small additional fee for having the student government and clubs available to them.

Fees at other schools range anywhere from $2.80 per person, to as high as $28 per person per term.

These additional funds usually go towards the employees running the SGA and supplies.

Students who participate in SGA, leave the SGA without higher appreciation in “involvement and

increased political liberalism, hedonism, artistic interests, and status needs as well as greater than

average satisfaction with student friendships” (Astin, 1984). Students in the SGA interact most

commonly with their peers, making it easier for students to approach a fellow student with authority.

SGA elected members can be asked about school policies from their fellow students. Students

considering dropping out, or filing a complaint may approach in SGA member more easily than the

school administration. SGA members can give school tours, and talk on a more personal level to

incoming students. SGA members can also work with SCC staff at events, such a graduation

ceremonies.

Clubs:

Clubs, sororities, and fraternities can be run in two different manners. One would be through the

enrollment office, the other would be through the SGA paid employees/elected scholarship awarded

members. Either choice would cost the school about the same.

1. Budgetary restraints will have to be determined for each club. This includes rules set up on

how the funds are handed out, and if there are any start of funds given to each club.

2. Scholarships for students involvement, activities of clubs can pursue such as off-site

community service or conferences, and benefits of being a member of the club. All these

questions would need to be answered clearly before any club is established.

3. The application for a club to start would need to be made available, depending on what office

is in charge of clubs.

4. Staff members would need to be informed about the new policies, and motivated to want to

help be a staff of visor towards a student wanted to start a club. This can be helpful in the

starting of sororities/ fraternities, with all connections from sororities/ fraternities that this that

may have been involved in during their college days.

5. Advertising would be the final, but most important step to letting students know that they can

start a club and join the club.

Clubs can and should be allowed to collect their own dues from members. They can also be allowed

to do fundraiser events, so long as either of these activities are approved and monitored by college

staff. The college staff would most likely be the professor who has allowed the club to run with their

supervision. There should be no additional cost in paying staff to participate as a leader of a club or

organization. The forms for these various things should be provided by the office where the clubs are

being run (SGA or enrollment office).

It is not necessary, but is strongly encourage to give a small grant or scholarship to the president and

founding member of a club. This will help motivate students to join and start campus wide events.

Grant and scholarships can be in the form of providing food, drinks and supplies for the club to use

free of charge. When clubs, or organizations offer free food at their meetings, more students

participate. These small grants and scholarships can be added to tuition fee every term. A small

increase of four dollars a term per student is the average. If additional student fees are not wanting to

be added by the advice of the financial manager of SCC, another solution would be to have the clubs

or organizations submit a fee for use of facilities. It is strongly suggested that this be not be more than

$50 per group. It is also suggested that the groups be given time to collect the funds for their fees.

ROTC and Honors programs:

Student to participate in “honors programs gain interpersonal self-esteem, intellectual self-esteem,

and artistic interest. Honors students are more likely than other students to persist in college and

aspire to graduate with a professional degree. Honors participants tend to enhance faculty” by

pushing the limits of asking the difficult questions and turning in above average work (Astin, 1984).

These traits can work against honors students by isolating them from their peers. In addition to being

in honors program the school offers, a college requirement may be for these honors students to

participate in one out of class activity on school campus, such as clubs, sorority or fraternity, SGA, or

other groups on campus that has regular meetings. The students would simply need some

confirmation of attending the meeting of their choice when enrolling in their term classes. Because

these students do not like to be isolated and often are a type A personality, they will not see joining

activity as a hindrance. The only exception to this are most students enrolled in information

technology and computer classes as their main degree.

ROTC participation has nothing but positive benefits on the students who participate in the program.

The students in the program are filled with a sense of pride for the college they are attending. The

commitment to the program is high, and only add to the total college experience. It has been found

that even the most poorly functioning students who were recruited into the ROTC program, evolved

into some of the most active students on campus (National Bureau of Statistics, 2014).

On-Campus Jobs:

On-campus jobs can include student tutors, work-study, librarian assistance, enrollment office

assistants, and secretaries for the college. No matter the position that the student works in, it is

assumed that the student will maintain a certain GPA. Dependent on the position a student can

receive minimum wage, or scholarship toward their working in their position. Scholarships are more

economical for the college, because they allow for less money to be paid over a longer period of time.

A scholarship can paid as high as $2000 up front, and still save the college $320 in minimum wage.

The students will not feel like they are being jiped/ or shorted any money, because it feels like more

money when being paid a large up front fee, than a smaller weekly pay of $145. Most work study

programs and scholarships for these programs do not pay $2000, but pay between $1000-$1500

depending on the position. These funds are assuming the student will work 20 hours a week for 16

weeks or one full term. The down side for this is every new term, when students graduate, new

employees will need to be found to replace them. If these jobs are well advertised to the student

body, than the positions will stay mostly filled. Students working in these positions will been seen by

their peer as leaders and role models.

When institution commits itself to achieving a maximum student involvement in their motto, than

personnel workers will probably occupy a more important role in its institutional operation. Students

working frequently operate on a one-to-one basis with their fellow peer student. Peer student

employees are in a unique position to monitor the involvement of their clients in the academic

process, and to work with individual clients in an attempt to increase their involvement and

participation in school activities (Astin, 1984). Because student employees attend classes, they are

able to see problems that the office staff may not be aware of, until it is much later. This lag in time

can cost the college additional funds in the form of added repair fees, and additional staffing hours.

To start an on campus job for students the administration needs to

1. Establish areas within the college where the most help is needed, or staff can be enhance

and allowed to do others things in their areas to let the students focus on more mundane

office task.

2. Once these areas have been established a clear set of guidelines and duties needs to be

established.

3. Some kind of award system or monetary benefit needs to be established for the various

positions.

4. The final step is advertising. Setting out flyers, newsletters, and classroom announcements,

and word-of-mouth all over the campus is the best way to get the students involved and stay

involved.

Student tutors:

On-campus student tutors have the same benefits as part time on campus student

workers. It is recommended that these students work directly with the disability

services. It is also recommended that the students be assigned specific students to

work with that may be having troubles and classes. It will be up to the professors to

inform the disabilities office, of students having trouble maintaining their classes. The

students using the disability services can be offered free student tutors in their

particular classes. Student tutors will be in a unique position to meet with the students

needing tutoring out of office hours. As a student tutor the students can be paid an

hourly wage, of minimum wage or just above minimum wage, and earn a little extra

pocket money for the week. The students would not be working more than the class

time/credits allotted per class that they are helping to tutoring. It is advised that when

classes are canceled due to school holidays, the hours are cut short for that week.

The student receiving the services for tutoring, must sign off on hours the tutor

worked with them on their hours sheet. This is a safety precaution to prevent

overclocking of hours.

Peer counselors:

Peer counselors are often not paid. Instead the students are often given scholarships

or grants. Scholarships and grants can be as little as $50 a week, or $800 a term.

The peer counselors duty is to be the front man for incoming students needing

assistance from school staff. They may need something as simple as a school map,

directions to how to file form, or a sympathetic ear. Peer counselors are to forewarn

their students asking for advice from them that they are not a trained counselor and to

seek professional help in areas that may need needed. When colleges use peer

counselors, and often saves time and money making it so that college staff can do

your job more efficiently.

Long-term Solutions: alumni

Students who interact frequently with faculty members are more likely than other students to

experience satisfaction with all aspects of their institutional experiences (Astin, 1984).

Other solutions:

Being part of a small town and having a small college may seem like it can be a problem recruiting

new students. Studies such as Astin (1984) state that “students are small towns are more likely to

persist and small colleges”. Because of this, it is recommended that advertising efforts be geared

towards those who want a small town feel in their college environment. Students in a small college

can identify with institution easier with the same kind of environment they grew up in.

Conclusion:

As stated in the fall employee meeting, dropout students are less likely to repay their student loans. If

SCC makes it a goal on prevention measures for retaining as many students as possible, and

lowering the dropout rate, than students and graduates will improve the harmony of the overall

campus life and educational experience. By making available more resources to the students, the

retention rate will naturally go up.

References:

American Educational Research Association, AERA. "The Estimation of a Conceptual Model of Nontraditional Undergrad Student Attrition." Research in Higher Education 27.1 (1986): 15-38. Print.

Astin, Alexander W., "Student Involvement: A Developmental Theory for Higher Education."Journal of College Student Development 40.5. Print.

Astin, Alexander W., "Four Critical Years: Effects of College on Beliefs, Attitudes, and Knowledge.” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1977.

Astin, Alexander W., "Preventing Students from Dropping out”. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1975.

Blanchfield, W.C., “ College Dropout Identification: A Case Study, “ Journal of Experimental Education, Vol. 40, Winter 1971, pp. 1-4.

Brunner, Wayne D., Gene Packwood, and Barry Wilson, “Retention and Attraction: Does it Relate to Student Goals?”, Paper presented at American Educational Research Association, Toronto, Ontario., Canada, 1978, ERIC No. ED 153682.

Carini, Robert, John Hayek, George Kuh, John Kennedy, and Judith Ouimet. "College Students Responses to Web and Paper Surveys: Does Mode Matter?" Research in Higher Education 44.1 (2003): One. Print.

Chickering, A.W., and William Hannah, “The Process of Withdrawal,” Liberal Education, Vol. 55, 1969, pp. 551 – 558.

Cope, Roger G., and William Hannah, “Revolving College Doors: The Causes and Consequences of Dropping out.” New York: John Wiley, 1975.

Cope, Roger G.,”Our Students More Likely to Dropout of Large Colleges?" College Student Journal, Vol. Six, 1972, pp. 92 – 97.

Dutton, J, M Dutton & J Perry. Do Online Students Preform As Well As Lecture Students? Journal of Engineering Education 90 (One): 131 – 139, 1999.

Fetters, William B., “Withdrawal from Institutions of Higher Education: An Appraisal with Longitudinal Data Involving Diverse Institutions ” National Longitudinal Study, National Center for Educational Statistics. Washington, D.C.: United States Office of Education, 1977.

Iffert, Robert E., “Retention and Withdrawal of College Students ”. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, 1958.

Kohen, Andrew I., Gilbert Nestel, and Constantine, Kamas, “Factors Affecting Individual Persistence Rates in Undergraduate Programs,” American Education Research Journal, Vol. 15, 1978, pp. 233 – 252.

Koljatic, Mladen, and George Kuh. "A Longitudinal Assessment of College Student Engagement in Good Practices in Undergraduate Education." Higher Education 42 (2001): 351 – 71. Print.

"Lafayette College Student Government." Lafayette College Student Government. Lafayette, January 1, 2014. Web. November 18, 2014.

National Bureau of Statistics. Edition National Bureau of Statistics. National Bureau of Statistics, January 1, 2014. Web. November 19, 2014.< Http://www.Nigerianstat.gov.Ng/>.

Newman, M.A., “The Student in the College Community: A Study of Attrition and Persistence in a Highly Selective Liberal Arts College”. Chicago: University of Chicago press, 1965.

Pantages, Timothy J., and Carol F. Creedon, “Studies of College Attrition: 1950 – 1975”, Review of Educational Research, Vol. 48, 1978, pp. 49 – 101.

http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng/

Pascarella, Ernest T., and Patrick T. Terenzini, “Student – Faculty Informal Relationship and Freshman Year Educational Outcomes ”, Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 71, 1978, pp. 183 – 189.

Springer, Link. "The Estimation of a Conceptual Model of Nontraditional Undergrad Student Attrition." Research in Higher Education 27.1 (1987): 15-38. Print.

Tinto, Vincent, “Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Research,” Review of Educational Research, Vol. 45, 1975, pp. 89 – 125.

Trent, James W., and Leland L. Medsker, “Beyond High School” San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1968.

Willging, Pedro A., and Scott D. Johnson. "Factors That Influence Students' Decision to Dropout of Online Courses." Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 13.3. Print.

Wilson, Robert C., Jerry G. Gaff, Evelyn R. Dienst, Lynn Wood, and James L.Bavry, “College Professors and Their Impact on Students.” New York: John Wiley, 1975.

Appendix 3

Elected Positions Duties

President:

The chief representative and spokesperson for the SGA.

Prepare in consultation with the executive committee, the tentative agenda for all general meetings.

Convene and preside over meetings of the SGA and its executive committee.

Report to SGA all action(s) in meetings taken by him/her in the discharge of his/her duties and responsibilities and in the implementation of his policies and decisions.

weekly reports of activities of the SGA

turn in meeting reports

Report SGA decisions and actions taken by its executive committee to the designated college employee.

Schedule and maintain campus office hours appropriate position with department approval.

Participate in college student leadership development training and activities.

Fulfill all agreed upon commitments.

Provide a full written report at the beginning and end of his/her term stating the initiatives undertaken by the SGA during his/her term in the status of those initiatives at the end of his/her term, which will serve as governing guidelines for newly elected, incoming SGA body.

Serve as a member on at least five boards.

Start and conduct at least five community projects, going towards improving the college community on campus for its students, or Salem community.

Of these five projects two must be on campus.

Make adequate reasonable efforts in responding to issues and events on campus as they arise.

The president is responsible for nominating students to fill vacancies in any office as it may occur, subject to approval by a vote of elected members.

Represent the SGA at meetings and deliberations of outside agencies as necessary.

Assume any such responsibilities as the SGA may require.

Supervise the student office managers and other SGA members.

The Vice President:

Oversee internal affairs and business with SGA, including personnel, attendance, obligations, participation, and conduct of its members.

In the event of the president's absence, stepped in to take over the duties of the president at meetings, or other scheduled events.




Serve as a member on at least four boards.

Start and conduct at least four community projects, going towards improving the college community on campus for its students, or Salem community.

Of these four projects two must be on campus.

Attend all meetings of the SGA and executive committees.

Attend any other meetings and deliberations as necessary for the purpose of representing the SGA.

Coordination of all committees, campus clubs/organizations, and events shall be organized and given biweekly report to school staff and SGA president.

Deliberations can occur outside the agency such as trips, community service, and other SGA approved activities.

Attend all SGA meetings.

Assume any such responsibilities as SGA may require.

Treasurer




Serve as a member on at least three boards.

Start and conduct at least two community projects, going towards improving the college community on campus for its students, or Salem community.

Of these two projects one must be on campus.

Serve as a permanent chairperson for the committee on finance.

Enforce regulations concerning general finance aspects of the campus organizations as prescribed by the SGA Constitution.

Keep all financial records of the SGA, clubs, and other activities you oversee.

All financial reports shall be filed biweekly or otherwise dictated to do so by the SGA president, or school employee.

Recording process all SGA purchases orders, check request, and invoices.

Represent the SGA at meetings and deliberations of outside agencies as necessary.


Assume such other responsibilities as the SGA may require.

Secretary:





Start and conduct at least three community projects, going towards improving the college community on campus for its students, or Salem community.

Of these three projects one must be on campus.


Responsible for composing minutes and ensuring that all relevant data is recorded at each general, executive committee, and special meetings for the SGA.

Transmit these minutes within 48 hours after each general, executive committee, and special meeting in electronic form to all members of the SGA and school staff.

Keep all financial, meeting minutes, and SGA personnel files on hard copy and digital copy, saved

and stored properly for review at a later time if necessary.

Maintain and oversee all SGA personnel and computer data.

Except proposed meeting agenda items from SGA members, and place on general meeting agenda.

Email decisions made in meetings to the appropriate parties as directed by the SGA body.

Assume such other responsibilities as SGA may require.

Senators:

Senators shall preside over the SGA in the absence of the president and the vice president.





Start and conduct at least three community projects, going towards improving the college community on campus for its students, or Salem community.

Of these three projects one must be on campus.


Assume such other responsibilities as SGA may require.

Non-elected positions

Representatives:

Representatives are considered anybody not receiving a grant or scholarship, towards school related activities such as fund-raising events, community services, improve student atmosphere on campus, or any other on campus activities.

Representatives may be on boards, committees, and attend meetings held by the SGA, but are not required.

Representatives are given a chance to voice their opinion, concerns, and ideas at SGA's monthly meetings, or place their concern and a comment box.

School paid employee responsibilities overseeing SGA, clubs, and organizations:

Responsible for all financial decisions on all projects, scholarships, grants, trips, and events, following proper protocol and procedure of approval/denial of disbursement of limited funds used for SGA, clubs, and campus wide activities.

Review and approve/disapprove of all flyers, (quantity of posted flyers, and sizes of the flyers).

Review all applicants for SGA members, clubs/organizations.

Insure some elected student body SGA member is available in the student office at all times the office is open.

Plan, execute, and attend any off campus events that the students participate in, such as the yearly SGA state assembly.

Help set up and conduct all on campus activities run by the student body.

Ensure that the safety of the students is always adhered to.

Provide any necessary supplies for proved events run by the students, clubs, and activities.

Stay within budget assigned to any event.

Discipline anyone breaking the code of conduct rules, SGA Constitution rules, or verbal commands from SCC staff by the student body.

Attend all committee meetings, concerning the student body.

Oversee student appeals hearings.

Except complaints from the student body, and follow school procedures on reporting the complaint properly.

Appendix 7

Committees:

List of suggested committees, that a student must maintain a seat on the board. Depending on the board will depend on if the student has voting rights toward decisions made on the board as deemed by the college.

Athletics committee

curriculum and educational policy committee

diversity committee

student appeals and hearings

student conduct committee

student life committee

library advisement committee

Appendix 9:

Unless otherwise stated all these questions are automatically filled in by the computer. These questions can be asked to the students as part of the enrollment process, but do not need to be asked by advisers or enrollment agents. This would be an automated system taking systems already in place with the college and converting it to this form.

Student Attendance Scale

Student Name: Jane Smith Student School ID number: 00000000000

Student birthday: 01-01-1970 (2)

Because Jane is a female she will be automatically given by the computer a point, she will be given an additional point for being over 25 years old, and considered a non-traditional student.

Incoming GPA: 2.5 (2)

If their GPA is below 2.0 they will be assessed three points, GPA between 2.0 and 3.0 will be assessed two points, GPA 3.0 and 4.0 will be assessed one point, a GPA of 4.0 will be assessed no points.

Enrollment in a degree program: Yes (0)

If the answer is yes than no points will be given, if the answer is no one point will be given.

Has degree program changed? No (0)

If answer is no and no points will be given, if answer is yes then one point will be given. This question is to be added after initial meeting with student adviser.

Does the student Scholarships or grants? No (1)


Is this the first time the student has gone to college? No (0)

If answer is no and no points will be given, if answer is yes then one point will be given.

Is the student married? Yes (1)

If the student is female and the answer is no and no points will be given, if answer is yes then one point will be given.

If the student is male and the answer is yes and no points will be given, if answer is no then one point will be given.

Does the student have children? Yes (1)


Does the student come from a town with less than 10,000 people? No (0)


Did the student attend a high school with less than 1000 people? No (0)


Does the student have a poor attitude when dealing with school staff? No (0)


These questions may need to be asked due to their private nature, and not usually being found on other forms.

Has the student ever been diagnosed with an emotional problem? No (0)


The student take care of other family members, such as parents, grandparents? No (0)


Does the student consider themselves healthy? Yes (0)


Does the student have a regular doctor, or health insurance? Yes (0)


Does the student have a job? Yes (1)


If answered yes to follow question will be asked: Is the job part-time or full-time? Pt (0)

If the answer is part time no points will be given, if the answer is full-time

than one point will be given.

Does the student practice religious activities? No (1)


If the student is female then can be asked,

Is the student pregnant? No (0)


total assigned computer points:

Risk assessment: The lowest points would be 0-4. This would be students who have no restrictions without normal interventions.

Students with a score of 5-8 would be slightly more likely to encounter issues, but will still more likely to persists in college. Restrictions for the students can include every term the student has to meet with their student adviser before each term enrollment into their new classes. Mandatory enrollment of college 101 class.

Students with a score of 9-12 would be a moderate risk to encounter issues causing them to consider to dropout. Restrictions with a student would be meeting their student adviser before each term enrollment into their new classes, meeting with the school peer counselor once a year or more as needed. Mandatory enrollment of college 101 class.

Students with a score of 13-17 would be a slightly more moderate risk to encounter issues causing them to consider to dropout. Restrictions with a student would be meeting their student adviser before each term enrollment into their new classes, not allowing enrollment in online classes until approved by adviser, meeting with the school peer counselor twice a year or more as needed. Mandatory enrollment of college 101 class.

Students with a score of 18-22 would be a the highest risk to encounter issues causing them to consider to dropout. Restrictions with a student would be mandatory meeting their student adviser before each term enrollment into their new classes, not allowing enrollment in online classes until approved by adviser and manager, enrollment in classes only after adviser permission, meeting with the school peer counselor twice a term or more as needed. Mandatory enrollment of college 101 class.

Some students can have modifications done to their scale based on demographics of that particular student and the advisement of their student adviser.

The student in this example has nine points placing them on the moderate risk scale.

improving student involvement

Documents

student organizations

specific students

student characteristics

student involvement

motivating students

faculty student interactions

committees appendix

persistence appendix