Dana's notes on being class coordinator:

We had a case recently where someone who was told they wouldn't be graduating had no idea that it was possible to not graduate.  What I did was make a pretty big point of this during the first class meeting.  I stressed that square dancing is a cooperative activity and so if someone isn't quite up to speed it can make the tip less fun for everybody else.  I explicitly said that lots of people need to go through the class a couple of times before it really sinks in, and that if you told you won't be graduating, it doesn't mean we don't like you, it just means that you need a little more practice.  Then I didn't mention anything more about it until somewhere in the week 8 - week 10 range.  By this point, you should have already talked to those who are having trouble.  That way, when you mention in class meeting that not everyone graduates, those who might not be graduating will recognize that this may apply to them.

Make sure everyone has ample opportunity to ask questions.  Be aware the different people have different learning styles.

Bill may need to be gently redirected to a useful train of thought sometimes.  You can "sanity check" him by making sure that everyone sees all parts of each call and that each call is done from all positions.  If there's something you particularly want to walk the class through yourself, tell Bill ahead of time.  If people look lost and need more repetition of certain calls, you can suggest that Bill go over them again.  Keep an eye on the clock and how far along the first tip is so that you can have the class members ready to start the first teaching tip on time.

If you so desire, there are other people willing to do walkthrus. Different teaching styles can be very useful, and getting the class used to different callers can also be good.
When the class squares up, ideally you want very balanced squares. This does not always (although it does frequently) mean just that there are <=4 class members/square.  Other things to consider are the strength of the club members in the square, the strength of the class members, whether some of the class members have recently missed a class or walkthroughs, how good at helping the club (or class) people are, position on the floor, etc.  Often a weak class member will be less at sea in the front square where Ted can see him/her.

One of our best sources of publicity is ourselves -- we promote the activity and our club quite well by doing our thing and obviously having fun doing it.  It's probably better to err on the side of shorter class meetings, first, because they're not that interesting, and second, because it gives class members an opportunity to watch the club tips.
Try to make the "talking" portions of class meetings directly relevant to what's going on soon.  Talk about "traditional" clubs before New England Convention or an outside dance.  At the very end of the class, talk about what it's like to be a club member before graduation -- jobs and angelling are probably the biggest things.  If it's a fall class, talk up the Tech Squares weekend.  Remind people that a few weeks of all plus, all the time really helps to solidify what they've learned.

We have in the past had problems getting the paperwork done quickly to pay Majestic Badge on time.  It's probably best not to irk them further.  I put the badge order on my credit card and then pocketed the cash people gave me.  Remember that there is a shipping cost for the badges.  You can charge each person, or ask the club to reimburse it.
We tried a few things differently at graduation last term.  One thing that worked well was having only certain "special" food (the cake and punch) open only after the graduation ceremony.  We divided the food on the table and labelled it clearly.

We also asked Veronica to lead a very short grand march that emphasized individual couples less and the whole group more.  She didn't like making it so short, but it worked out really well in the end and everyone seemed pretty happy with it.

This past spring the 2nd night of Passover was a Tuesday.  We had a review session on the weekend, called by Bill, for those who couldn't make it and anyone who wanted the extra practice.  This worked pretty well, but if this happens in the future, it might make sense to teach the same calls over the Spring Break week.

Please pass along any electronic documents you generate for the class, and I will put them in the athena locker.

The club in general and you in particular put forth an enormous effort to bring the class members up to Plus and get them psyched about square dancing as a fun and interesting hobby.  If, after the class is over, the class members go away never to be seen or heard from again, then that's an enormous waste of effort.  I believe that one important part of retention has to do with making sure that the class members have a good time and make friends in addition to learning something. I did a dinner mob a few weeks into the class and publicized it very strongly to the class -- quite a few of them came along.  If you want to do this, check with some undergrads first to see when the stressful times in term are and try to avoid them.  After the class members start to get to know the club members a little, if there is an announcement for an event over tech-squares-social, ask the organizer if you can forward the mail to the class list.  Mention in class meetings if it comes up that Tech Squares people often hang out together to do things that aren't square dancing.