Retention?

The background or origin of this story doesn't really matter, and I'm certainly not writing this to slander anyone's name or political ideals. But I do have a slight beef with the disturbing news that I have just received.

The long and the short of it is that collaboration between the three Dubuque colleges/universities has been discouraged. The reason? What if one of those other schools snags one of our students during the collaboration?

Well, what if they do?

Doesn't it seem that as a school, you'd want to step up and just be better than other schools, thus enticing those other schools' students to your own rather than just blocking any major interactions between the schools to prevent student stealing? I mean, if we're really worried about our students falling in love with the other schools, it seems to me that we are nervous that we, in fact, are not the better of the three schools, that perhaps we're lacking something that they have that may call our students to migration.

To me, this is a problem. I'm over here fighting and fighting to make students' experiences the very best they can be...with little support, little funding, and little resources. Where's everybody else? Are they fighting with me? Some days it certainly feels as though they are fighting against me. Well, those of us who are here fighting would love to stand up and say we are indeed the best, but it will take more than just the few of us. It will take all of us truly investing in our students' lives, experiences, and futures. It will take all of us working to improve the culture, environment, and temperament of campus. Without complete buy in from everyone, we are just like any other school...

If anyone from UD is reading this (which, I know there are only a few, if any), this is my rallying cry out to you - dig in to our students. Love them. Spend time with them. Work hard for them - harder than you think you should. Because without you, we simply cannot be the best. We will always be looking over our shoulder with paranoia wondering who might creep on to our campus and steal a student or two. But with you, we can put our worries to rest, knowing that this is where students want to be.