Clayton State Situation Analysis

In my first reflection, I elaborated on my personal goals in relation to my experiences at Spelman College. I spoke about how those experiences have influenced my goals. Since then my goals have not changed, however I have become more determined to reach those goals. My overall determination stems from the fact that I am surrounded by a vast group of intelligent and talented women. My Spelman sisters push me to reach greater heights, and they encourage me to not just be mediocre. Therefore, the consistency of my goals, my influences to acquire my goals, and my aspiration to achieve my goals all contribute to my success at Spelman College thus far.

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) are experiencing low retention rates with first generation college students. The students are not graduating within a four to six year enrollment period, and or are not returning after their freshmen year. As the American workforce looks to colleges and universities to fulfill the workforce pipeline with educated diverse workers, HBCUs are in the spotlight to produce qualified minority graduates. Moreover, HBCU’s are looking to refine their methods of inclusion and buy-in, this will in-turn manifest a higher level of retention amongst first generation college students.

The theoretical framework was somewhat dictatorship on today; I learned that the tone that the facilitator sets for the majority of the session is how the session runs. This is actually how I figured the sessions would be run, but to be aware that always expect the unexpected at any time. You must also be ready to adjust to whatever it is happening at that particular moment. This particular session appears to be more somber with quite a bit of silence and skepticism. Why this climate I asked myself? I really don’t know. I would suggest to the facilitator to have some kind of activity that she uses as an icebreaker. This would help get the communication going between the members. A specific skill that I have that would hinder me as an effective group leader is my ability to shut down once I got ticked off. This skill is useful in other settings to cool down situations.

As a current Retention Specialist, for the College of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS), I have mastered group counseling. For instance, I have conducted over 100 academic advisement workshops. Aside from holding group counseling, I have prevented ECS Hispanic and Black American students from dropping out of California State University, Fullerton. Nonetheless, I am the face of a first-generation scholar who can relate to some challenges first-generation college students’ experience. These challenges may entail, working while pursuing an advanced degree, culture shock with the university environment, and overcoming learning disabilities. Remarkably, I have surmounted obstacles such as having a slight Reading Disability and successfully completing remediation courses during my freshman year in college.

Regardless of the type of institution, retention is one of the biggest issues that colleges encounter with the Hispanic/Latino population. The question has been posed for quite some time: What can colleges do to, not only keep these students on campus, but also to prepare them for the challenges they may face when transferring to a four-year school? Various programs on college campuses across the state of California have been implemented in the past couple of decades to help address this question. The existence of such programs, like Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), contribute to the academic success of the

The establishment of how to communicate with each other was vital and instrumental in being able to stay on task and get our assignments completed in a timely manner. Several of our team members will play devil’s advocate to make sure the directions we are given are clearly followed. The group individuals have demonstrated different talents during being a group and we have all just in consensus (without speaking it) allow that person to take over the portion they are expedited in. For example, Cintia is great at graphics she’s demonstrated a talent for using different software creating eye catching graphics to our projects, therefore the group knows that Cintia will take that portion of the task on if it’s

My group consisted of four other members-Christy, Daniel, Brian, and Allison. When we were first introduced to the idea of a small group project we knew that our presentation had to entertain the audience, and at the same time inform them. At that point, we were functioning as individuals. Each of us tossed out a ton of ideas and some were shot down right away. That took about 5minutes. Then Daniel mentioned that we can do a parody of the television show Change of Hearts, and it stuck to us like glue. Gradually we began to feed into his revelation, and started to add our personal touches. Each of us became elaborators. For about 15 minutes we took the idea and expanded it to see where it could lead

"Gradation also have became a key component of discussions about accountability in higher education," said Bryan Cook and Terry Hartle. Students striving towards higher education opportunities is the goal. However, our graduation rates where they're suppose to be? According to CCPS Department of Communication, in 2012, the county, state, and nation's graduation percentage was 53.63%, 72.5%, and 81%. Even though the graduation quota at state and national level are distinctly larger than Clayton County's, increasing the students' interest in their learning environment and creating tutoring halls will certainly aid in the progression to elevate graduation rate.

My objective for this survey is to help Concord University’s Retention Rate improve. The future of the university relies on retention and what better way to find out what students need to stay is to ask them directly. We could sit down and ask each student individually but that would take forever and we would never get anything accomplished because we always have new students coming in and If we are only asking them what they want and not giving it to them then the who thing is pointless. So the best way to reach each student individually and save time is to send out a survey so that they can each take the survey and we collect the results and come up with a solution. That is the question though. What is the solution to help Concord University’s

Although many people will have different opinions on how to achieve personal success in college and consequently increase student retention, there are effective strategies that are proven to aid in achieving these goals.

My group was somewhat unresponsive when it came to making decisions and I found that whenever people made suggestions they were usually met with silence or responses that consisted of “no”. It made things very exhausting and slightly more complicated when we needed to move forward. I wish people had been more outspoken and a bit more supportive during this time. I think this situation was mostly solved once we stopped talking about ideas and just started putting things into action.

Many colleges and universities throughout the United States and several other countries face a common problem. Student retention is a growing problem across the nation for all ethnic groups and all ages. Each individual who chooses to drop out of school has their own personal reasons as to why they do. However, many drops out can be completely avoided. When students drop out they are not clearly thinking about how it’s going to affect their future, the future of their children and even grandchildren. Although there are several reasons as to why students drop out of school, we will be exploring a few as it relates to why student retention is a growing problem.

There are a few different ways to keep a group focused on its goals. The group can use gatekeeping skills, metadiscussion, time monitoring, or structure to manage interaction. Out of these strategies, the two most important are gatekeeping skills and metadiscussion. Gatekeeping is a social role that all groups should encourage. A good gatekeeper will manage the discussion of the group members by encouraging those that do not speak much to voice their opinion and ask those that speak too much to allow other members to speak. This social role ensures that every member is able to voice their opinion and share in the decision making process. Without a gatekeeper, the group can be monopolized by a few members that speak too much. Metadiscussion

When doing so the other group members were active listener, by using their whole body verbally and nonverbal. Like facing the speaker and giving eye contact and try to avoided interruption. The group also acknowledges the thoughts of the speaker by giving constructive feed back. Due to the effectiveness of the group communication, we were able to build trust, respect and understand the issues and make decision for effective change. We illustrate this by coming together as a group one again to accomplish the goal we initially wanted to accomplish. Since the first organization that we had chosen was incorrect, so we had to make the necessary changes to accomplish our goals. The other effective feature is the purpose of the group. Kozier et al (2010) stated that the effective group purpose is when “goal, task, and outcomes are clarified. Understanding and modified so that members of the group can commit themselves to purposes through cooperation” (p.401). For instance, each individual was assign a task and knew what was to be accomplished. As group we all decided to meet at suitable day and time which was beneficial to all team members, because we could commit to the group and focus on what needed to be achieved.

Leadership is the process by which one person can influence an individual or a group into the completion of a goal or an objective. The ability to inspire and motivate others stems from his or her capacity to efficiently manage time and people. I was recently placed in a leadership position, where I facilitate a group of clients who are low-functioning schizophrenic adults at a mental institution. My role as a group facilitator, which I sometimes view as teaching, is to guide and teach members the different coping skills for their illnesses. It is also my responsibility to make sure that members participate and are able to achieve their desired goals. My greatest challenge as a leader is understanding the importance of group dynamics.