How student awards programs can improve faculty retention: Editorial

To improve faculty retention, AnnaMaria Bliven (Western Governors University) recommends implementing student recognition or awards programs. Bliven discusses recent research on how a student recognition program implemented in an online, competency-based postsecondary program significantly impacted faculty satisfaction, which had a positive relationship with faculty retention. Over half of the students who were nominated for an Excellence Award through the recognition program wrote thank-you notes to the course instructor, program mentor, and evaluator who nominated them for the award. Faculty and staff were often elated to know they had made a difference and became more motivated and connected to their role at the institution. Bliven concludes that these programs can help institutional staff take pride in the overall impact they have made on their students.