Students First! Improving and Evaluating Faculty Responsiveness to Students

Abstract

This article provides a case illustration of a school psychologist trainer’s efforts to improve responsiveness to students and evaluate the success of those efforts. During the fall semester of the 2000-2001 academic year I developed, implemented and evaluated a policy entitled - Students First! The Students First! policy was developed in order to assure that I was being responsive to students. Responsiveness to students also implies being culturally sensitive. Policy goals highlighted the importance of timely, quality, helpful interactions with students during recruitment, advising and mentoring activities. The means by which I evaluated the effectiveness of the Students First! policy were through the use of the Interaction Monitoring Form and the Responsiveness to Students Survey. Use of the Interaction Monitoring Form facilitated recording the types of interactions with students and the timeliness of those interactions. Data indicated that I was timely in my responses to student requests for assistance. Feedback provided on the Responsiveness to Students Survey indicated that students perceived me as accessible, approachable and helpful. While grouped data revealed generally high scores, inspection of specific survey items by subgroups revealed several areas requiring attention. Overall, the data suggested that the Students First! policy was having the desired effect. Faculty interested in evaluating their responsiveness to students could create goals and strategies appropriate to their settings and cultural contexts.