51视频

03/10/2022
By Ed Brennen

If a student finds themselves struggling in a course, there are several places they can turn to on campus for聽tutoring,聽academic success coaching聽and聽飞谤颈迟颈苍驳听丑别濒辫.

The sooner a student gets that help, the better. Which is why 51视频 launched聽Academic Success Alerts聽last fall 鈥� a new, centralized web application that faculty can use to promptly flag students who are slipping because of poor attendance, coursework or exams.

鈥淭his has exponentially improved our ability to connect with students right at the point at which the faculty member has raised the flag,鈥� says Dean of Academic Services聽Kerry Donohoe. 鈥淚t connects students to academic support and resources when they need them most.鈥�

A collaborative creation of UML鈥檚聽Web Services,聽Information Technology聽and Academic Services teams, the 鈥渉omegrown鈥� Academic Success Alerts web application replaces Starfish Early Alerts, a third-party platform that the university had used since 2012.聽

Unlike Starfish, which was available for around 50 first-year courses and 鈥済ateway鈥� courses deemed critical for students to progress toward their degrees, the new alerts system is available for all UML courses 鈥� and doesn鈥檛 cost the university $30,000 a year.

鈥淭his has exponentially improved our ability to connect with students right at the point at which the faculty member has raised the flag.鈥� -Dean of Academic Services Kerry Donohoe

Integrated with Salesforce, UML鈥檚 customer relationship management software, the alerts system is synced to each class roster. When a faculty member wants to enter an alert, all they have to do is click on the student鈥檚 name and create a case. That case is immediately sent to a聽Professional Advisor, who then reaches out to the student and connects them with the appropriate support service from the Centers for Learning, Advising and Student Success (CLASS).

Biological Sciences Assoc. Teaching Prof.聽Shaina Roy聽is impressed with the new system, which she uses for her Principles of Biology I course.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very easy to go in, click on the student who is struggling and have some different options in the drop-down menu 鈥� things like attendance concern or academic concern,鈥� she says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 also a space for a note, so I like to give the advisor any additional information, like if the student hasn鈥檛 responded to email.鈥�

Roy, who used Starfish for her courses since joining UML in 2014, says Academic Success Alerts are an important tool in helping students who are new to the college experience.

鈥淲e have a lot of resources on campus, and I鈥檓 not qualified to be all of those resources,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice having folks from across campus who can reach out to the students and maybe dig a little deeper into what the problem is, to then help them be successful.鈥�

Besides an 鈥淎nytime Academic Referral Alert鈥� that can be used throughout the semester, the system includes a 鈥淣ever Attended Alert鈥� during the first two weeks and a 鈥淢idterm Alert.鈥� There is also an 鈥淓arly Alert鈥� and 鈥淔inal Alert鈥� available for courses that were previously covered by Starfish.

Designed to ultimately improve student retention and graduation rates, the new Academic Success Alerts system comes online in a year when most students are readjusting to in-person learning.

鈥淢any students started their first year with us remotely during the pandemic,鈥� Donohoe says, 鈥渟o getting that additional academic support is important.鈥�