All Hands On Deck

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• All Hands On Deck

One schools experience developing an Early Alert
System
2007 NACADA Annual Conference CODE 617
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Early Alert Systems (EAS)

• Formal, proactive, feedback system through which
  students and student-support agents are alerted
  to early manifestation of poor academic
  performance (e.g., low in-progress grades) or
  academic disengagement (high rates of
  absenteeism). - Cuseo (2007)

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Early Alert System

• Mid-term-Grade Reports
• Pre-Mid-term Alert Systems
• Use of instruments to identify students at risk
  for college attrition and behaviors at college
  entry

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Brief History of UCDHSC EAS

• Undergraduate Working Group discussed current
  mid-term grade reporting process
• EAS committee formed in January 2006
• Committee members represent a cross-section of
  UCDHSC community
• Hired a third-party IT consultant

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UCDHSC Student Persistence

• The Performance Contract between the University
  of Colorado Board of Regents and the Colorado
  Commission on Higher Education requires UCDHSC to
  improve student persistence (1st to 2nd year) and
  six-year graduation rates. To improve student
  persistence, UCDHSC focused on implementing a
  first-year seminar and an early alert system.

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Administrative Objectives

• Bridge between academic and student affairs
• Faculty involvement in student persistence
  efforts
• Adequacy of resources/staff in student support
  offices
• Assessment of grades, course completion and
  satisfaction for alerted students
• Cultural change

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EAS Objectives for Faculty

• Obtain more than mid-term grade information
• Evaluate all, not just new, students
• Eliminate a letter grade as the alert mechanism
• Begin alert process earlier than mid-term
• Eliminate multiple requests to faculty for
  mid-term reports
• Reduce faculty time with web-based system
• Coordinate grading timeframe for general
  education courses

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Faculty Form Screen Shot Homepage
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Faculty Form Screen Shot Class List
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Faculty Form Screen Shot Individual Class Roster
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Faculty Form Screen Shot Alert Pop Up
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Advisor Objectives

• Identify students early
• Link students to resources early and provide
  students more options
• Better utilize human resources
• Easy-to-use electronic tool
• Automate workflow processes
• Reduce paper flow
• Uniform, minimum advisor expectations
• Tool kit
• Improve retention efforts
• Encourage students to take advantage of student
  services
• Improve the quality undergraduate experience
• Reduce number of students placed on probation and
  suspension

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Advisor Form Homepage
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Advisor Form List of Alerts
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Advisor Form Alert Processing
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Advisor Form Alert Processing (continued)
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Student Support Campus Resources Objectives

• Develop closer collaboration between
• Academic and Student Affairs
• Support campus retention efforts
• Build existing communication lines and
• referral infrastructure
• Identify gaps and begin a plan to address them
• silo demolition
• Student Support resource component is currently
  in a development phase.

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Student Support Campus Resources
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Fall 2006 Spring 2007 Test Results

• Speed
• Login Balance login security
• System modifications to be more intuitive
• Program workflow
• Early student assessment and evaluation
• Potential large number of students identified
• Limited resource services available
• Data collection-What do we want to learn?

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Fall 2007 Pilot Faculty Results

• From the Fall 2007 Early Alert system, there were
  667 alerts for 599 students in 115 sections. The
  college breakdown of participation is as follows
• Arts and Media       4 sections
•   Business                 1 section
•   Engineering             2 section
•   Liberal Arts           108 sections

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Faculty Feedback

• EA class lists missed some students from SIS.
• EA missed late instructor appointments.
• Not all faculty followed log-in instructions.
• Communication problems arose from incomplete
  e-mail lists.
• Graduate TAs used student e-mail.
• Instructors failed to use UCDHSC e-mail.
• Departments failed to accurately list Instructor
  of Record in SIS.
• Some faculty assumed alert was anonymous.
• Faculty concerned about lower FCQs.

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Advisor Feedback

• Initial tasks-cumbersome
• Uniformity
• Tool-Kit
• Availability of workshops
• Faculty enthusiasm
• Student enthusiasm
• Computer literacy

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Resource Feedback

• Appropriate wording
• Feedback mechanism
• Accountability
• Resource capacity

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Next steps

• Develop resource component
• Finalize reporting component
• Fall 2007 EAS problems, issues and opportunities

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Presenter Contact Information

• John Lanning, Assistant Vice Chancellor,
• Undergraduate Experiences
• 303-556-6363 or via e-mail at john.lanning_at_cudenve
  r.edu
• Carol Morken, CLAS Assistant Dean
• 303-556-2556 or via ea-mail at carol.morken_at_cudenv
  er.edu
• Trishia Vasquez, CLAS Academic Advisor
• 303-556-2337 or via e-mail at trishia.vasquez_at_cude
  nver.edu
• Peggy Lore, Director of Academic Success and
  Advising Center
• 303-352-3520 or via e-mail at peggy.lore_at_cudenver.
  edu