Knobull Expands Programs To Improve Graduation Rates & Reduce Career Stagnation

BOSTON - Dec. 8, 2021 - PRLog -- Lynn Bentley, President of Knobull announced, "Knobull began addressing poor graduation rates and career stagnation by understanding the needs of the beneficiary of our services—in this case, the needs of the students and recent graduates."

Key factors affecting timely graduation include:
1. Staying on track to development—which means selecting a suitable major and career path, understanding what requirements they must fulfill to progress, and using strategies and support to improve their academic performance.
2. Building their employability—through exploring viable career options, writing a resume, defining a desired career path and supplying multiple career development guides.
3. Maintaining sufficient financial acumen—by developing a financial plan, staying current on budgeted payments, and making smart financial decisions.
4. Managing life—by staying connected with people who cared, maintaining a positive attitude, managing finances and resolving problems that might challenge their ability to graduate and meet job requirements.

To address deficiencies in these areas, the Knobull team chose a simple mnemonic for the four dimensions of graduation and career success, called DEAL, where each letter stands for the following:

• Development (academic and job performance, on track to progress)
• Employability
• (access to financial) Acumen
• Life (emotional support)

We are working to create indicators for each of these four dimensions of graduation and career success. Students seeking support complete the DEAL assessment and are ranked on these indicators, using a scale where A means "on track to succeed," B means "facing some difficulty," and C means "at significant risk of failing."

DEAL also helps the an team identify areas where extra support is needed beyond what this basic program can provide. One such area was in helping students succeed after college. As a result, the team provides career coaching guides. DEAL highlights that employability upon graduation and continuous development matters, which led to the design of programs to accomplish desired results.

Bentley concluded, "With the implementation of DEAL, research shows that graduation rates of students can rise 25+% and career excellence can be achieved. Process Thinking, when executed well, enables students to focus their daily activities where results will be the greatest, accelerate fulfillment of their goals, and ultimately increase their value to society."