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A key tool in facilitating dialogue among faculty, students, and advisors is an effective early alert process, which provides a communication channel among the three parties.
A high-touch, multi-faceted approach coordinated by the Counseling & Career Center at Grand Rapids Community College provides opportunity for students to connect with faculty and staff. Resources are emphasized by a variety of college personnel, and students begin to feel empowered to make positive changes in their academic standing rather than viewing probation as a punitive measure. This difference in perception is the beginning of the path to academic success.
Academic advisors at access institutions whose missions, in part, are to break the cycle of poverty, often encounter root causes of social problems in their student populations. One challenge that affects retention and graduation rates is unplanned pregnancy in college students. The key to breaking the cycle and providing better chances of positive outcomes is to design institution-appropriate interventions that effect change.