@ EIU - FOR Faculty/Staff; Generated BY Faculty/Staff
- Provide a way for students in your major to receive information in your departmental offices (i.e., mailboxes or bulletin boards).
- Communicate with students in your major on a regular basis—send letters before students arrive on campus, include students in dept. newsletters, etc.
- Establish listservs for classes and/or majors to help students make connections with other people with similar interests.
- Contact students if they are absent a great deal from class. Numerous absences may indicate that students are not serious about staying at Eastern.
- Become involved with students outside of classroom by attending student government, becoming an advisor for a student organization, etc.
- If you are an advisor, contact students with congratulatory letters when they make the deans list.
- Learn students’ names in your classes and call on them by name.
- Hand out a student information sheet on the first day of class to learn information about your students.
- Meet with students regarding their progress during the semester.
- Be accessible—set and keep office hours, share phone number and email address with students and advisees.
- Make students aware of academic support services and refer individual students to specific services; encourage students to make appointments with these support services while in your office.
- If you do not know the answer to a student’s question when he/she comes to your office, direct him/her to the appropriate office (if you don’t know the appropriate office, make a phone call or two to find out while the student waits).
- Make time for students; greet them with a smile, be friendly, treat them as a person and not a number.
Universal Practices
Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, Source: Chickering, A.W, and Gamson, Z.F. "Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education."AAHE Bulletin, 1987, 39(7), 3-7.
Warning Signs that Students are At-Risk*
Student’s behavior changes or is suspect:
- Starts to come late to class when on time previously
- Misses a number of classes without reason
- Makes excuses for not completing work
- Stops answering questions in class or participating in discussions
- Appears very quiet and shy, never talks to anyone in class
- Begins to be disruptive—talks to friends, makes rude noises, etc.
- You see the student spending a lot of time playing sports or goofing off, but never in the library, studying, or carrying books
- Drastically changes physical appearance
- Personality changes (stops being upbeat, stops making jokes, starts being sarcastic or surly, becomes withdrawn)
- Appears uninterested, unmotivated, undisciplined
Student acts disgruntled, odd, or disengaged:
- Avoids you—won’t answer email, won’t meet your eye when you talk to him/her
- Misses scheduled appointments, or makes a number of appointments for no apparent reason
- Makes derogatory comments concerning other classes or professors
- Has unrealistic expectations for self (getting a D on assignments and thinks he can pull an A in the course)
- Takes no responsibility for course work or grades
- Complains about Eastern or college
- Seems to participate in no University activities
- Has no life or educational goals or interests
Poor or weak performance/work:
- Turns in sloppy or poorly written papers/assignments
- Hurries through tests and quizzes
- Does not participate in class discussion
- Cannot answer questions about assignments or readings when asked directly
- Does not come prepared with basics like pen, paper, or books
- Never takes notes or just doodles
- Constantly asks you to repeat announcements and lecture material
- Seems to sleep or daydream in class
- Seems subject to negative peer pressure
* “At-risk” here is used to define students who may not persist at the University because of academic or personal issues.
