Intensive and Personal Engagement for Student Success

The May 6, 2014 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education reports on a Gallup Poll.

‘If you believe the new "Gallup-Purdue Index Report," a study of 30,000 graduates of American colleges on issues of employment, job engagement, and well-being, it all comes down to old-fashioned values and human connectedness. One of the report’s big takeaways: College graduates, whether they went to a hoity-toity private college or a midtier public, had double the chances of being engaged in their work and were three times as likely to be thriving in their well-being if they connected with a professor on the campus who stimulated them, cared about them, and encouraged their hopes and dreams……’

This poll surveyed 150,000 graduates, focusing not on whether or not they found a job but on quality of life and quality of work measures.  They found that for the most successful two experiences in college mattered most:

1. A professor who cared about them as a person.
2. A long-term project or internship lasting more than a semester.

Further, the survey found that only 27% encountered a professor who cared about them as a person and only 32% engaged in a long-term project or internship last more than a term.  We have some work to do--fortunately we love our jobs!  But sometimes our leaders fail to recognize these two key factors and encourage flavor-of-the-month ideas that diminish both the intensity and the personalization of the engagement we can offer our students.