Category: Student Success and Persistence

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Fatemeh Farokhi.

Fatemeh — a senior majoring in medical laboratory sciences — graduated Farzanegan High School from her home city of Kerman, Iran before coming to Wichita State.

Being an ESL student, Fatemeh worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up with her workload, but those fears were quickly unfounded when she found the Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) faculty and staff were understanding and accommodating.

“The staff and faculty of MLS were really friendly and made me feel like I belong. They patiently answered any questions I had and gave me great advice along the way. Aisha Waite, chair of MLS, also introduced us to a book called ‘Who moved my cheese?’ in a management course that tells us not to fear change and adapt to the change quickly. It helped me a lot to look at things differently and reduce my stress when any change happens.”

Katie Baskins, clinical educator in MLS, says it’s important for faculty and staff to be open and available to students to help them not only with their stress, but also to share with them the passion for the subject.

“I valued Fatemeh’s eagerness to learn. She is always well prepared with questions and didn’t hesitate to reach out to me when needed. I think being open to students’ needs is a vital piece in their educational growth, and being present with them helps alleviate the stress and anxiety that comes with higher education. I know this profession is my passion, and I share this with the students. For the student to be successful, the material needs to be clear so they can make those connections when it comes to patient care.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Autumn Ginther.

Autumn — a senior in medical laboratory sciences with a minor in health science — came to Wichita State after graduating from Mustang High School in Mustang, Oklahoma.

Autumn currently serves as the Medical Laboratory Sciences (MLS) Student Association president and found the encouragement she needed through the faculty in the MLS department, who went above and beyond in supporting her. She says that all faculty need to be available in making sure students are able to not only succeed, but thrive.

“One small thing that all professors should do is go the extra mile to connect with students. Whether this be reaching out when they notice a student is not doing well in a class or notice a change in attendance. Many students feel alone in college, and they feel that their instructors do not understand what they are going through, so I encourage both students and professors to reach out and be transparent with each other.”

Aisha Waite, chair of medical laboratory sciences, agrees that faculty and staff always need to be available to students in order for them to succeed, and that this needs to be a united effort:

“I strongly believe that departments that operate as a team are successful in their goals, which is the success of the student. Being approachable and providing a strong support system is, in my mind, the key in successfully guiding students on their journey. Having that support system builds confidence, and confidence helps you move forward.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Moriah Beck, professor in Fairmount College’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

• What role do you think faculty and staff play in a student’s success and persistence?
  “Faculty are unique in that they interact with the same students every week of the semester in their classroom. We have the opportunity to challenge our students to grapple with difficult or complex concepts, but we should also help them acquire the skills necessary to improve comprehension so they can face future problems.”
• What is one small thing any faculty or staff member can do to help a student succeed?
  “Sharing my enthusiasm for learning new things and being challenged to forge new paths in my field is a small, but impactful way I can inspire students to see the big picture and start imagining their role in changing the world. Often this means that I highlight areas of biochemistry where we have important, unsolved questions: How did life begin? How does the environment influence our genes? Why do we need to sleep? It is also important to explain how we came to know or discover things, the challenges overcome by humans and the people involved in this process of discovery.”
• How do you promote student success through your campus duties?
  “One of the most impactful experiences that many students have is the opportunity to work on novel research projects, and I have endeavored to provide more of these types of opportunities. First, I developed a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in the biochemistry lab that gives students the chance to come up with their own hypotheses, generate a novel mutation in a protein and carry out experiments that no one else has done before. Next, I created the First Year Research Experience (FYRE) in STEM program to match first year students with research mentors across campus for an early exposure to hands-on research. Lastly, I have welcomed over 60 undergraduates to work alongside graduate students in my own research lab as we aim to understand mechanisms of heart disease and cancer.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Dr. Mercy Umeri, assistant teaching professor and MiniMPA coordinator in Fairmount College’s Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs.

• What role do you think faculty and staff play in a student’s success and persistence?
  “As a faculty member, the core of our work is to ensure the success of students beyond the classroom. We must believe in the ability of our students to succeed. We must let our students know that they are co-producers of their knowledge and that we are the facilitators. We can empower them, even if they are still figuring out their career paths. This shift in mindset encourages students to stay engaged and committed to their studies and to know that they have what it takes to succeed. We must take time out to walk them through the difficulties they’re facing and point them to other resources that will help them succeed. As a first generation college student, I understand firsthand the importance of having faculty members who believe in you and push you to succeed.”
• What is one small thing any faculty and staff member can do to make a student’s day or let them know they’re cared for?
  “We can all do better with listening to our students more. Our students are doing their best to combine life and studies and sometimes, they may get overwhelmed. I try to come to class a little early so I can chat with my students before class. I have my office hours, but I always want my students to know that they can always talk to me, not just when they have challenges with my course. Listening to them in a ‘non-formal’ setting helps you listen to some of the challenges they face, ones they may not ordinarily share. Sometimes, after listening to them, all they need is a little nudge and encouragement to continue to stay engaged.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) has approved Wichita State’s Quality Initiative Proposal for the university’s Student Success and Persistence (SSP) initiative.

WSU participates in Open Pathway, a model of accreditation from the HLC, which seeks to offer greater value to institutions and greater credibility to the public in its quality assurance. This accreditation process requires institutions to undertake a major Quality Initiative designed to suit its present concerns or aspirations. A Quality Initiative is typically designed to begin and be completed during a designated time frame, or it may be one that continues an initiative already in progress or achieve a key milestone in the work of a longer initiative. Quality Initiatives are intended to allow institutions to take risks, aim high and learn from only partial success or even failure.

SSP focuses on SEM goal three, “increase persistence rates of degree-seeking student populations” with efforts centered around the four recommendations from the National Institute for Student Success in the report commissioned by the Kansas Board of Regents. The goal is to increase retention and graduation rates for students and to narrow the equity gap between the university’s underserved and non-underserved student populations. SSP is a university-wide initiative. 

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Chris Megonigle.

Chris — a senior majoring in health science and minoring in public health and health care management — enrolled at Wichita State after graduating from Mulvane High School.

After struggling to find success in college in his first attempt, Chris gave it another go in his adulthood and found faculty in the Department of Public Health Sciences who supported him and were actively engaged in making sure he was able to keep up with his schoolwork and personal life without burning out. The faculty members he is most thankful for are Sarah Taylor, director of undergraduate programs and associate educator; Dr. Stephen Arnold, professor; and Dr. Suzanne Hawley, professor.

“Taylor was my point of contact when I was recovering from the signs of burnout apathy and listened and provided feedback as I returned to WSU. Dr. Arnold has been instrumental in planning the next steps of my education, inspiring me to take a path that I had not thought about previously and providing guidance and support as I begin to apply to graduate education programs post-WSU. Dr. Hawley looked beyond the academic setting and made a connection with me as a person and understood that, while there are students who have the ‘typical college experience,’ there are a great amount at WSU who do not. As I prepare to leave WSU, I could not be more grateful to those three for keeping the light on at the end of a very long and arduous tunnel.”

Taylor says that faculty and staff need to take a proactive approach to finding and helping students who are struggling in school, even if they aren’t displaying any signs of concern, and let them know that they are always available for concerns inside and outside of the classroom.

“As faculty, we should want our students to feel comfortable coming to us to ask questions about class, or let us know if they are struggling outside of class, so that we can best help them through the variety of services available to them at WSU.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Sarah Taylor, director of undergraduate programs and associate educator for the Department of Public Health Sciences in the College of Health Professions.

• What is one small thing any faculty or staff member can do to make a student’s day or let them know they’re cared for?
  “As faculty, we have more ‘face-to-face’ time with students than most anyone else on campus. It’s important that we use our role to help and encourage students. I believe a really easy way faculty can do this is by showing students they care about them. This can be done in a variety of ways, through Blackboard announcements, individualized feedback in Blackboard on assignments, an email to a student who hasn’t been attending class or turning in work, and by acknowledging the student’s struggle when responding to an email.”
• How do you promote student success through your campus duties?
  “Through the past academic year, the Retention Faculty Fellows hosted monthly Teaching Matters events for faculty to gather and discuss ways to increase student retention. Some great ideas came out of these events, including giving students a way to connect in class to learn about campus activities outside of class. We discussed providing a few minutes during class for students to give announcements about upcoming activities they are planning to attend as an invitation to others to come with them. One student on our panel during this discussion said this was how he had become more involved on campus because he knew at least one person who was going to attend and that made him feel more comfortable. It’s important for students to find their community on campus as those who feel connected to faculty and other students are more likely to persist.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Aisha Waite, department chair for the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences in the College of Health Professions.

• What role do you think faculty and staff play in a student’s success and persistence?
  “Faculty and staff are a big part of the support system that helps students succeed. We need to notice the progress made by each student, even if it is a little bit, and be excited for them. It’s about cheering for them in those moments when you know they have given their all and reassuring them that you believed in them from the get-go. I have found students want to work harder when they know you believe in them and know that you are willing to work just as hard for them. It is our responsibility to teach and guide students who will become our future. If we don’t show the excitement and passion for our fields, no one will.”
• What is one small thing any faculty or staff member can do to make a student’s day or let them know they’re cared for?
  “Listen: I truly believe that students end up answering their own questions if they feel they can talk to someone who is sincerely listening to them. As a listener, you have a responsibility to respect the conversation that is occurring, which makes the student trust you and feel like there is genuine care for them. A sense of ‘I am where I need to be at’ builds support and confidence.
  Make them laugh or smile: Throughout the semester, I feel it is essential to make students laugh or smile, which makes them see you as a human. It makes your class memorable and fun, and when you have fun, you want to learn more.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Dr. Chelsea Redger-Marquardt, assistant dean of the Cohen Honors College.

• What is one small thing any faculty or staff member can do to make a student’s day or let them know they’re cared for?
  “Build rapport with your students. Listen to them — they are fantastic humans. Dream with them — make suggestions for courses, programs or opportunities that you think the student would be great for. A person telling you that they think you would be awesome at doing something goes a long way in building confidence and a student seeing themselves as a part of a community or experience.”
• What role do you think faculty and staff play in a student’s success and persistence?
  “It’s vital. Every chance you get to interact with a student; every class you teach, every program you host, every service you provide is a chance to create a moment for a student — hopefully one that inspires, makes them curious and reinforces that they matter.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.

This week’s Student Success and Persistence highlight comes from Lubna Aldulaimi.

Lubna — a senior majoring in exercise science — made her way to Wichita State after graduating from Tomball High School in Tomball, Texas. She is currently a member of the track and field team.

Lubna found it difficult balancing the time required for school, work, track and family, and was worried about asking for the help she needed for fear of it being seen as her making excuses. However, she was able to find support through Kristyn Waits, design educator and communication manager for the College of Innovation and Design, who saw Lubna struggling and offered her an extension in her class.

“I just needed someone to press pause and let me catch back up and Kristyn Waits did that for me. One day, we had a major project due that I was very behind on, but I didn’t want to ask for extra time because I didn’t want my professor to think I was this bum athlete who is just looking to make excuses. She was able to notice me and gave me an extension without me asking for it. Maybe she couldn’t see how drained I was mentally, but that gesture meant so much to me. I really appreciated it so much. We only get to see her once a week, yet that day, I felt the most cared for. That extension on my project gave me the time I needed to breathe and catch back up with life.”

Waits says that faculty need to be aware of what students are dealing with outside of the classroom to better serve their needs and make sure they succeed in their studies.

“I think it’s important to remember that our classes are not the only thing our students are focused on. Many students work, have families, are involved in various organizations, play sports or, in Lubna’s case, all of the above. Having some empathy for students is the least we can do as faculty.”

Do you know of a faculty or staff member who promotes student success, or a student who has been helped by a faculty or staff member, that should be highlighted in WSU Today? Email your ideas to Caelin Bragg, newsletter editor with the Office of Strategic Communications, at caelin.bragg@wichita.edu.