Redesigning academic warning conversations with first-year engineering students: experiences of an Academic Dean

We describe one Academic Dean’s experience of redesigning academic warning (AW) processes with first-year engineering students in a New Zealand University, after learning, developing, and applying the concepts and techniques of solution-focused (SF) brief therapy. These AW processes were changed from a deficit and failure orientation to a focus on student strengths and solutions. Drawing on a qualitative descriptive approach, which encompasses a single researcher perspective, in the first part of the findings, we describe the five phases the Dean went through in reviewing and revising AW processes. Key reflections from the Dean are included. The second part of the findings outlines the previous AW approach and the subsequent SF AW process inclusive of key SF questions. The discussion indicates that the new process transformed the nature of the Dean’s conversations with students and significantly reduced the emotional load experienced by the Dean.