There was an interesting meeting for Tampa/Colorado Springs this afternoon. They are restructuring everything in the academic areas. It looks like everything is centered around concentrating more on retention and bugging the shit out of students. Leadership changes and outreach duties are changing for everyone. I will post more information as I get it.
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476- That's insulting. I take it you aren't faculty, as nearly all faculty realize the struggle of teaching students who have no life skills to be able to succeed. And as another said, most of us, especially adjuncts, DO teach for "real" schools in addition to CCI schools. Chill out.
We always felt bad for the huge groups of grandmothers who suddenly went in the hospital on orientation and start day.
548, well said. You can only do so much for these students. I'm stuck trying to get these idiots jobs in their field once they complete their program (or someone else does for them). Not an easy feat when they are going to school for the stipend and have no intentions of getting a job in the end. But we call them daily to bug them to death to try to find the ones we can consider "placed" in field. Hoping for this ship to sink soon! I'll take unemployment and move on.
519, the for profit is a business model. Duh.
476, many of us teach at multiple schools, including state universities. Most of us have PhDs as well. I'm not sure what kind of crack education you have, but you should show some respect that educated people work in at least one division of our college.
Good thought, but Sears would be smart enough to mute incoming participants in order to provide some clarity and sincere answers. I heard sound bytes and cliches that will not reassure the employees who know where everything is buried. Many are close to threshold.
The ah-ha moment is what everyone needs here. "College" should be replaced by "corporation" in your mind, Then you will see things the way the company and even students see it. Once I had this moment of realization it all made sense. Imagine if Sears Corp. was called Sears College. It would be bothersome having to work customer service as a faculty member at this "college." Think Everest Corporation and your faculty job will make more sense. It does for me.
All of the "meetings " we're a farce. I asked questions in several sessions and none of them were acknowledged or answered. What a cluster. Is this the setup for student to employee ratio to be the basis for another ridiculous situation? Nice use of call participant intros as camo Tina. Wear your fatigues next time.
If you want "real" students, go and work for a real school. Most of the students we are enrolling struggled in high school so what do you expect from them? I personally don't mind enrolling them and you should noting babysitting them. Not to mention you are probably not qualified to teach at a "real" school anyway. So shut up, teach your class and do your outreach or go and try to get a job at a real college.
447, thank you and I wish you the very best as well.
442, having bright students who are able to think critically and communicate in a smart and interesting way was appreciated deeply in my classroom. I really had students who worked hard and were dedicated to their educations. But it was very difficult for those students to be engaged, when other students were so disengaged. But, students like you are appreciated and remembered. I wish you the very best.
436, they didn't even work here. Not a single student with those excuses completed the term by passing. They weren't doing any work before they made up the excuses. Policy is they get a final grade for what they earned. None of them showed paperwork to SS to prove any of it, so they were unable to take a leave of absence. That's what made it so difficult to believe any of them.
College students should not have to be baby-sat by their professors. This is coming from a former student who maintained a 4.0 and never had to have my professor call me and "encourage" me to do my work. I am in college for an education, not a stipend. Oh, and I am educated which is something that cannot be said about most my classmates. It was very evident in their writing skills when they posted on the discussion boards.
I am done after this term also. The meeting was a waste of time, just more BS. It sounds like there are now more layers of accountability for doing outreach (at least for adjuncts). A complete restructure of the org. chart that starts tomorrow. Starting Oct 10?, more changes in responsibilities and leadership changes. One slide they showed was a new matrix for accountability and responsibilities for each job. Everyone showed retention (first), and compliance and accountability. Also, fulltime instructors are now expected to do "group tutoring" for some classes. What a joke....how do you teach a college student to read, write and add. Just another attempt to keep the students we have in class.....oh, I mean enrolled. We all know they aren't really "in class".
Do those excuses work at legitimate schools? If so, I will keep them handy.
And I get I should feel terrible my students have strokes, if they actually have. But I had stroke and strokes of family members no less than 4 times last term. I am not kidding. That's a lot of stroking out. And impossible to believe.
Do they give students an 'excuse book' fir trying to get out of doing any work? The crap excuses I get are unbelievable. And students think if they just say it's because of this or that, they are excused from doing any work. I have students who have no wifi, no electricity, in the middle of moving cross country (lots of people to Alaska, where they 'have no wifi), strokes, strokes of family members, strikes themselves and family members at the same time, comas, textbooks were stolen. I could go on and on and on. Those were just one term!!
It would be great if they changed their recruiting policies and ensured students could read and write at a level that allows them to be successful. And to recruit students who just want stipends and have zero intention when they sign for loans of ever coming to class.
I'm ECPO. Do you have different approach than we do? Outreach and retention tactics could not possibly be worse than they are now. I spent between half and 3/4 of my time doing Outreach. I barely instruct. There's no time. But I am quitting after this term. I cannot take it, not do I make enough money for it.
Not at all surprising. When someone drowns they claw at the water struggling to swim. When students flee out the door administrators call for faculty to claw at outreach struggling to swim.
Next outreach strategy - show up at their house unannounced! (please take a moment to sign this personal safety waiver before hopping in your car. Don't worry, its just one of those annoying things required by HR....).