University staff drop in on students before they drop out

Recently, an increasing number of universities are trying to address the problem of absentee students through methods that some people might consider going a bit overboard--such as early-morning wakeup phone calls.

Their reasoning is that it is not just the students who lose out when they drop out and fail to earn their degrees. It is also bad business for the private universities.

At Hachinohe Institute of Technology in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, teaching staff keep detailed attendance records for their students.

Lecturers, armed with scanners similar to those used in supermarkets, scan bar codes on the ID cards of students at each class.

The information is later transmitted to an administrative database containing two weeks' worth of student attendance records.

The scanner system was developed five years ago for the university's 1,700 undergraduates as part of a student support system.

A member of the university's teaching staff is assigned to each class, taking on a similar role to a high-school homeroom teacher by keeping a close watch over students' attendance.

If a student is absent from a lecture on three consecutive occasions, the instructor calls the student's cellphone and sets up a meeting.

Staff members meet each Wednesday morning to share information so that colleagues can keep an eye on students who tend to be absent from class.

The system is paying off.

University administrators found that by closely managing absenteeism, students deemed to be at risk can be prevented from dropping out.

The higher the attendance, the higher the ratio of students gaining credits and progressing further toward their degrees. According to university officials, for every four students who repeat a year, one ends up dropping out.

A survey by the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan showed that in fiscal 2005, the dropout rate among 550 private universities stood at 2.9 percent.

In fiscal 2002, the ratio was 3.3 percent among 439 institutions surveyed.

The main reasons for students dropping out, as cited by the universities, were: financial difficulties, a loss of interest in studying or a move to another institution.

Katsuyoshi Shinyama, a lecturer of electronic engineering at Hachinohe Institute of Technology, was responsible for a class that graduated this past spring.

"(Keeping tabs on student attendance) is like undergoing annual health checks to watch for early signs of cancer," he said.

If you catch symptoms early, the prognosis is good.

Institute president Masami Shoya said many students are now entering universities via recommendations from high schools or through interviews and compositions assessed by the university admission office, rather than through conventional competitive entrance exams.

He said he believed this was one reason some students needed to be more closely watched.

Still, the dropout rate at the university has hovered around the national average of 3 percent over the last decade or so.

"It is important to swiftly deal with problems (that could result in dropouts)," said Shigetaka Fujita, assistant to the president.

"We have somehow been able to keep the rate at this level."

At Nippon Institute of Technology in Miyashiro, Saitama Prefecture, staff members in the university's study-support center call up students who are continually absent from classes.

The members even call students who are notorious for sleeping in, even though they intend to attend classes.

Students are required to submit absentee slips each time they miss a class. Staff members want the students to feel that having to write the slips is more of a chore than actually coming to class.
The institute set up the center three years ago to help students with their studies as well as with their daily lives,

A 20-year-old third-year student said he had often played truant since junior high school because of bullying.

He enrolled at the institute after being chosen by the admissions office but felt he could not keep up with classes because he lacked basic knowledge.

He has sought advice from the center.

"Without the center, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to make friends, either," he said.
Recently, parents of students have asked if they could also visit the center.

"This is like a shelter," said staff member Takaharu Tanaka, an associate professor. "(Some of the parents) don't know how to handle their children."
(IHT/Asahi: August 3,2007)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200708030091.html