Love the resources and options that you provide for your students! I'm going to flip this around a bit and ask a controversial question... should we try to engage all students to prevent them from dropping a course? Or, are there times when a student SHOULD drop a course? 

Although, as I write this... it occurs to me that having a more personalized connection with students might create opportunities to have discussions about the individual circumstances in which students should (or should not) proceed with a class. Hmmm...

It also brings up interesting questions about who takes advantage of the opportunities to connect via a more personalized experience. For example, is it the higher achieving students that seek additional connection? Or, is it the students that need more support? It would be interesting to see if there is a profile of students that are likely to utilize opportunities to connect... and then cross-reference that profile with instructor perceptions of student profiles that would most benefit from additional connection and resources. 

Jean Mandernach To engage that controversial question ... I think there are times when it is OK (and maybe necessary) for a student to withdraw from a class. We can still make those supportive connections and let them know that even though they can't take the course now, it is OK! Life happens beyond school, and when we have that personal touch and show that we are engaged and care, perhaps that is the support that student needs.

Thank you for your reply, Dr. Mandernach! The questions you raise are very interesting. When it comes to engaging students in the course, especially in the first couple of weeks, the research is certainly in favor of doing so as a proactive way to influence not only retention, but to put students at ease in favor of drawing the best and most work out of them. However, nothing was more eye opening for me than watching my daughter (a 'Lope) research each of her professors while registering for courses, then nervously analyzing who they are and what their personalities are like in the beginning of her courses. I feel as though the sooner we can welcome our students and put them at ease, the sooner we can get down to the business of learning!

In regard to the students who take advantage of opportunities for connection, Dr. MaryBeth Nipp and I presented the other night at the Kevin McClean Research Colloquium on our THINK project that focuses on live Zoom feedback on essay rough drafts. This is one new way we have been connecting with our students for a more personalized, one-on-one experience. We noted that we expected the stellar students to seek out and take advantage of this opportunity but to our surprise we have had students on all levels take advantage of this opportunity. It is very encouraging!