CONNECT. CARE. CALENDAR.

Faculty Intention for Student Retention

Fall 2021: Weeks 7 & 8

Expanding Conversations

Connect. Care. Calendar. Each of these play a role in student retention.

Hello and welcome to the second installment in our retention series. You’ll notice the same themes highlighted in the previous communication: Connect. Care. Calendar.

These next two weeks are a critical time to ensure your students are successful this semester and to help them in planning for next semester. As you reflect on your efforts, please don't hesitate to share your successes and ideas with me.

I encourage you to register for CFE workshops that explore these topics in more depth. Scroll down to find the list of upcoming workshops.

Connie Schaffer, Ed.D.
Director, UNO Center for Faculty Excellence

cschaffer@unomaha.edu

Connection Tip:

Extend Your Invitation

Increase and vary the opportunities to discuss academic performance with individual students:

• Be flexible with office hours (allow appointments, drop-ins, and virtual office hours).
  
  
• Remind students of your office hours and how to schedule appointments with you. Consider scheduling brief meetings with individual students or small groups of students.
  
  
• If appropriate, offer extra credit for students who schedule time with you.

 Care-Centered Teaching Tip:

Open Your Office Door

Requiring students to meet with you reaps big rewards. It allows you to better know them and lets each student know you care about them as a person. It also provides opportunity for you to express interest in a student’s academic performance, and students can pose questions to you without worrying about how peers may perceive their inquiries. Meetings with faculty can literally and figuratively open the door for students to succeed.

Calendar Tip:

Reinforce Important Dates

Help students see academic success as a long game rather than just a course-by-course endeavor:

• Remind students not only of upcoming due dates in your class but also any unique deadlines or requirements within your program.
  
  
• As you talk with students in class or during office visits, remind them of important enrollment dates for the upcoming semester (see below) and point out that students who enroll early tend to perform better in courses.

Keep These Upcoming Dates in Mind

October 15: Last day to file application for December 2021 graduation

Enrollment for Spring 2022 (including the Three-Week January Session):

• October 25 – Graduate Students
• October 27 – Seniors
• October 29 – Juniors
• November 2 – Sophomores
• November 4 – Freshmen
• November 8 – Open Enrollment

November 5: Last day to...

• Withdraw via MavLINK from a course with a grade of "W"
• Change a course to "Audit" (full tuition rate applies)
• Change to Credit/No Credit grading option in a course or to change from Credit/No Credit back to grade registration

December 1: Deadline for applying for admission to an undergraduate college for Spring.

January 3 - 21: UNO's Three-Week January Session

Opportunities to Learn More

Expanding Conversations Workshop

Learn best practices for coaching students. Led by Amanda Steiner, Teacher Education. Friday, Oct. 8, and Tuesday, Oct. 12.

Early Action Workshop

Learn best practices for supporting students early in the semester. Led by Travis Adams, UNO Writing Center. Monday, Oct. 11.

Rethinking Assessment Workshop

Led by Ed Cochran, Management, and Jen Popproth, Accessibility Services Center. Thursday, Oct. 14, and Friday, Oct. 22.

Relationship-Rich Education: Book Discussion

Led by Shari DeVeney, last Tuesday of the month

Take Care of Yourself

Whole-Person Wellness Drop-ins for Faculty and Staff, every Wednesday

Keep Teaching Series

Offered by the Office of Digital Learning

For a complete list of events and opportunities, visit the UNO Center for Faculty Excellence calendar of events.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha is an equal opportunity educator and employer with a comprehensive plan for diversity.

Learn more about Equity, Access and Diversity on our campus.