Tips for Faculty to Support Student Retention
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MAVS Newsletter | May 2025
Graduates in caps and gowns smile and applaud as red, white, and black streamers fall from above during a commencement ceremony.

This message includes the following:

  • Monthly reminders – timely information to share with students
  • Active student engagement resources – ideas to enhance student engagement
  • Vital Support – highlighted student support services
Email the Center for Faculty Excellence

Monthly Reminders header
A cartoon bull mascot with a red face and black horns lounges contentedly on a fluffy white cloud, wearing a hoodie with an O logo.

Let students know:

  • De-Stress Fest is happening May 7 -14. The opportunities are listed on the De-Stress Fest website!
  • We would love to see them on campus in the summer and fall, and they can still register for classes. Direct them to the class search page for a full list of offerings and an academic advisor for guidance.

 
Active engagement tips header

You’ve built relationships with your students throughout the semester. Your students’ resilience has gotten them to this point. Now it is time to engage students in some reflection. To deepen their learning, consider asking students these questions.

  1. What are the most important concepts or skills you’ve learned in this course, and how do you plan to apply them in the future?
  2. What challenges did you face during the course, and how did you overcome them (or what could you have done differently)?
  3. How has this course changed the way you think about the subject matter, your major, or your approach to learning?

Learn more about these three Rs in Jose’ Bowen’s book, Teaching Change: How to Develop Independent Thinkers Using Relationships, Resilience, and Reflection (2021).
    Vital Support header

    Finishing a semester often means students are juggling exhaustion, anxiety, and high expectations. Some students are facing the reality that they need to repeat a course. If they have young children who will be out of school for the summer, they may be wondering how they will balance summer school with childcare. Those who are celebrating their graduation may still be job searching (or haven’t yet begun the process).

     

    As you have conversations with students in the last few days of class, encourage them to access:

    • CAPS which is well-equipped to help students face academic and personal stressors.
    • DASH if they are dealing with food insecurity or need parenting resources.
    • Career Services if they are looking for an on-campus, part-time, or full-time job or an internship.
    • Academic Advising to plan how they can move forward toward their degree.

    University of Nebraska at Omaha, Center for Faculty Excellence, 6401 University Dr, Criss Library 320, Omaha, NE 68132, unocfe@unomaha.edu

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