Class Attendance and Grades for College Students

 I tell college students and parents when I speak at a graduation or orientation event that the easiest way to pass a class is, "Go to Class".  I give two reasons for this.  First, many professors will cover the whole course right in front of you.  Second, I have had some professors tell me that if a student has been there all the time and they have a borderline grade (particularly that D/F border), they will give them a couple of points. 

One professor who told me he would give students a couple of points if they had a borderline grade and been there all the time also said, "I look at their attendance record."  "If they have missed a lot, that shows me they do not care and so I don't care, if they flunk." 

But, here is evidence from one professor who shared with me her own figures.

A Biology instructor reported these findings from classes she taught that had a total of 300 students in them.

60 Students dropped the class before the end of the semester.  The average number of absences for each student at the time he or she dropped was nine (9) for a class that met 3 times a week for 15 weeks.

Students who made A's (12.4%) and B's (20.5%) had an average of 2:4 absences.

Students who earned a D (22.5%) or F (19.8%) had an average of 8.3 absences.

Of those students that earned an A or B, 14 had perfect attendance.

Only 4 students who had a D or F had perfect attendance.

If she told me the C statistics, I somehow did not get those recorded.

There is value in showing up.  A friend of mine, who was a college football coach, told his players to sit on the front row.  There are no statistics to go with that "recommendation". But, I believe there is value there too. 

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.  A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is available at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.

3 Things to do at the End of the Semester

 Besides doing your happy dance, what are some "Must Do's" at the end of the semester?  Here are my suggestions.

1.  Have a very fun and appealing end of the year event.  It might be a cookout.  It might be a Crazy Olympics Day, etc.  Two Reasons:  End on a strong and upbeat note.  Sometimes, college ministries are dragging at the end.  Second, because of the press of a semester starting to wind down, some students (particularly those who were on the edge of regular involvement) have drifted away over the last month.  This gives them a chance to re-connect and it will significantly increase the likelihood of their connecting again in the fall.  If they have not been the last month or so, it is a little harder to come back in the fall.  Remember, an appealing event is one of the reasons students invite others.

2.  Recognize. honor, and Appreciate Graduating Seniors.  It can be done at your end of the year event or in an event held just for them.  It could be a cookout, a dinner at your house, etc. Or, just a pizza and visit time.  Let them know they were appreciated and encourage them in following the Lord in the days to come.  If there are too many grads for a dinner at your house, consider having those who have served in a leadership role in the last four years.  Plus, I always gave a one minute talk about the possibility of their giving $25 a year to the ministry (IPTAY)  and gave examples of what that sort of gifts had paid for during their time in school.

3.  Add to, Update, or Start an Alumni list.  At your end of the year event, you can get a mailing address for each grad.  If they have no clue, they can give you their parents address.  Now is also the time to look through your list and determine those who disappeared before Senior year and make sure they get added.  One College Minister would get a copy of the Commencement Program and look through the entire list to find those that had been involved in the past.  Another College Minister tells of one of his most faithful donors being a woman who was only involved her freshman year and after college realized that dropping out of the ministry was a mistake on her part and started giving to support the ministry because she was on the alumni mailing list.

PS:  May is a great time to do an Alumni Newsletter with a return envelope.

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124 Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9 and A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.

Tips for New College Ministers and Maybe Some for Veterans Too

 Last semester I got a message from a new campus based BCM Minister asking for any advice I would give a newbie.  This week I met with a former student who is starting a church college ministry.  I was impressed with the questions both asked.  It was obvious each had some previous background either as a student or intern type. 

Here are Some of my Suggestions for Newbies:

1. Make sure you know what the expectations are of the people who are paying your salary.

2.  Look for and invest in students who can be the core or the student leaders of the ministry.  A ministry must have a core so that there is something to invite new students to connect to.  Starting from scratch is the hardest because who wants to go where no one else goes.

3.  Make friends with the campus administration.  If they do not know about you and your ministry, it is to your advantage for them to know you.  If the ministry has a bad reputation due to something in the past, it is good to know it and begin to repair that reputation.

4.  Hold some listening sessions with a handful of students to get the lay of the land and what they see as the needs and opportunities.  That being said....and being true....realize that students are not always the best ones to say what a ministry should and should not do and when.  Crazy I know...but it is often true!

5.  If there is no alumni list, start one.  If there is an old out of date one, start working to update it.  As funding continues to shift for college ministry, individual donors become more and more key.  Don't start out asking for money,  send a couple of newsletters each year. Just inform them and ask them for tips on who is coming and for prayer.  The grapevine can either help you or hurt you. The Grapevine is almost NEVER neutral.

6.  Establish a work schedule that is do-able for the long term and works best for your campus and ministry.  Being on campus every night till midnight may help the ministry, but kill you and or your marriage.  Long term veteran College Ministers are the best.  Figure out how to do your ministry that you can last for the long term.

7.  Don't start 15 new things.  Start with some basic ministry components and build them and later you can build around them.  Remember:  "Be YOU on the campus WHERE you are!"

8.  Be careful to be wise and transparent in the use of funds.  Very few, if any, have ever been stealing from college ministry funds,  but lots have gotten in trouble for being sloppy.  Donors do not like to give to ministries where the use of money and records is sloppy

9.  Be intentional in developing a plan and personal policy in working with, meeting with students of the opposite sex.  Again, the problem here is often appearances.  What do you do when that really good looking girl or guy hugs you a little extra friendly?  Where do you meet when they have questions about the faith?  College Ministers have been fired over appearances.

10.  Do everything possible to get names of new students and make connections with them prior to their coming to campus.  

11.  If you are a campus based BCM person, connect to all the pastors in the area in some way or other.

12.  Look for similar situations to learn from...not copy, but learn from.

13.  Get a couple of College Minister buddies to talk to and it helps if one is from another state and you will hear a wider variety of ideas and practices.

14.  Write personal thank you notes to donors.  They don't have to be long.

15.  Walk across the campus and through the Student Center EVERY day!

Arliss Dickerson's book, Tips for College Freshmen:  124  Tips for Fun, Faith & Good Grades, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.  A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula is available at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.

6 Tips for Developing Student Leaders

If you know me, you know I am all about student leaders! I believe that student leaders are the second greatest impact factor in a college ministry.  

6 Tips:

1.  Never talk a student into taking a leadership role.  If you have to talk them into it, they are likely to drop out of it at the worst possible time.  There is a difference in helping them see their potential and allaying their concerns than talking them into it.

2.  Help them know exactly what they are to do.  What a student leader does may vary somewhat in regard to their abilities and interests, BUT, every role has some specifics that need to be done.  Make sure they are clear on what those are.

3.  Encourage and allow them to do it in their unique style....SORTA!  Two great student leaders can do a really good job in the same role, but do it differently according to their personality. I am all about helping them see they do not have to do it just like the one before them did it.  HOWEVER, the idea is not just to blow up the role and start from scratch, unless it has been a total failure to that point.  The new Worship Leader cannot just decide we will move the worship event to Tuesday night at Midnight because they are a night owl.

4.  Don't let them ever feel alone.  There is a fine line between giving them the responsibility, trusting them to do it and letting them feel overwhelmed.  Make sure they know you are always available.  Also, remember that sometimes a week may bring a big test in every class or two huge presentations and that affects their overall ability to perform in their leadership role.

5.  Help them process success and failure.  Part of meeting with them regularly is helping them learn from the result of their service.  When it goes well, why did it go well?  When it goes poorly, why did it go poorly?  This is huge in their development and likelihood of continuing service.

6.  Make sure they know they are appreciated.  Never forget they are volunteers. Express appreciation.  Express appreciation before everybody occasionally for what the student leaders do.

Arliss Dickerson's book, A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.  Tips for College Freshmen is available at Amazon.com/dp/B09QFB9DJ9.

Using Social Media to Reach Freshmen by Adam Venters and Rachel Walton

A few tips in  using social media and websites to connect with freshmen:

1.  CLEAR - Whatever internet presence that you have via instagram, facebook, website, twitter, tick tok, snapchat, etc, make sure that it is clear how a student that is looking to get involved can get involved.  Primarily we use instagram and our website to drive social media connection.  Facebook tends to be more for parents and alumni/friends.  There are so many positives there that we could talk about.  Main thing is just to make the on ramps clear.  Our website has a link that runs and instagram in the link tree account and the first connection box is for new students.

2.  CONSISTENT - I don't think that a person needs to be super on top of all the trends of social media and how their algorithm changes. But being clueless of how it works seems to be a detriment,  especially with all the influencers and others that make posts that tell others how to make their content work the algorithms of different social medias.  But a simple quick rule is that content needs to be consistent.  Figuring out a way of posting very regularly, especially close to the start of the fall semester, is pretty crucial.

3.  CLEAN - This is where it gets really fun.  Making not just one post look good but grouping together posts in a way that the glancing view of the social media account looks good.  There are several ways of doing this with a mixture of pictures of people, graphics, inspirational quotes, event recaps, etc.  It does not take tons of thought but it does take a little foresight in order to make all of it fit together. Students think of their social media like a wall in someone's home to where it's not just what one picture looks like but what is the design of that wall in the room.  It will also benefit your group if you  google and type in your ministry and see what some of the first things that pop up. Make sure the photos, address, and content that google populates are what you want them to be.

Once the social media and online presence is clear, consistent and clean here are a few tips to connect with incoming new students.

1.  EMPOWER - Use student leaders to help influence your strategy.  I have seen some ministries ride or die based on what student leaders are saying in this lane.  I do not think students know everything about social media or can even like or dislike it.  But taking in their input and getting them  to help with ideas is really useful.  But at times certain students know what they like but do not know to to produce what they like.  There are plenty of quick tricks and helps on Youtube about how to do simple things to help your presence on social media.

2.  CAMPUS - Certain campuses use social media very differently.  When I was in Little Rock some of the staff that operated the social media accounts for the University loved and would repost anything that we would post up.  At the University of South Carolina, they don't tend  to repost anything that is not from a University affiliated account.  I would encourage you to follow as many of the University accounts that you can tolerate and know what they are posting and be a part of their strategy as much as you can.

3.  CLASSES - The end of the semester is quickly approaching and the on ramp for high school seniors is happening and probably has been happening in some cases. It has been the trend at Universities to have Instagram handles that USU-2027 or something similar.  It always seems like a moving target and we adjust our strategy sometimes midway depending on the response.  Typically, we will send the owner of a page a DM asking them if they would be willing to promote a free giveaway that we do for incoming freshmen.  We do Welcome Bags in the summer that we send.  Lots of times they will promote it one time.  Then, we will create a post that has clear directions and linkage to the sign up form for Welcome Bags.  We also ask our student leaders that are focused on freshmen to follow the page, comment, and like people's stuff.   You don't want to give off spam vibes, but you want to make a connection.

4.  DIRECT MESSAGES - Direct messaging seems to be an ongoing conversation when it comes to social media.  What's weird, what are the bots doing; what's appropriate and what do creepers do?  It helps to have several  people that have it connect to their social media device and can see incoming messages.  We typically keep correspondence to a minimum mainly inviting them to the giveaway and then that's about it.

5.  STUDENT LEADERS -  Depending on the campus the mandatory social media for leaders is different.  I know some that really ask student leaders to share and refollow.  I have taken the personal advice of my friend Ryan Scantling at the University of Arkansas when it comes to social media, I want to create content that my students like sharing more than I make them mandatorily share posts.

Good luck out there!  Let us know, if you have any other cool tips or tricks. We are not experts, but try to stay informed and engaged with how we can connect with freshmen coming into college.

Adam Venters is the Baptist Campus Minister at the University of South Carolina and Rachel Walton is Associate Campus Minister at the Little Rock BCM.

Arliss Dickerson's book, A 3 Part College Ministry Success Formula, is available at Amazon.com/dp/B0BZ6Q7HSV.