Dear Colleagues:
I hope your spring semester is off to a great start! This email is an update on our early alert process.
Based on fall feedback received from faculty and students, we know that the launch of this new
platform met with considerable success. Over 70% of instructors who responded to our survey told us
that the early alerts were effective for informing students of their status in the course and identifying atrisk students. Sixty percent (60%) of students surveyed said the early alerts helped to provide
information about their course performance.
We also know that there are aspects of our new alert platform that need refinement and that we need
to determine whether students who received alerts turned things around. We are working on that. In
the interim, for spring semester we ask you to make one major change as follows:
The system allows you to send separate alerts related to 4 different aspects of academic performance
(attendance, participation, assignments, and tests). This resulted in multiple e-mails and considerable
overload for students and advisors. Instead, this semester we ask that you:
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Check only ONE box for the area of greatest concern
Indicate in the comment box any specifics about the alert, including other concerns that you
have related to the other 3 performance areas.
By checking only one box, this will allow the student to focus more deliberately on the content
of your alert. The details you provide in your comments are crucial to directing the student to
the most critical performance issues and will assist the advisor in supporting the student in this
process. See example below:
Progress Survey Reminders and Tips:
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The first Progress Survey will be open during weeks 4, 5, and 6; opening on Monday, February
17th at 8am and closing on Friday March 7th at 11pm.
 Please send alerts to students you feel are academically at risk
 If you have no concerns about a student, leave the default, “No Concern” as is
 Address your comments directly to the student (instead of writing comments about the
student). Whenever possible, use language that is supportive and constructive. For example:
“You can still improve your grade in this course if you start attending class regularly and see me
during office hours regarding your test performance.”
 All system-generated early alert emails that are sent to students are available for your
reference on the Early Alert site.
Training:
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An in-person training session will be held on Wednesday February 26th, please visit the CPD
website to register.
The Early Alert site has step-by-step guides and videos to assist you with working in the Early
Alert system.
If you have additional questions about the Early Alert system, please contact our Early Alert
team at: earlyalert@rit.edu
Thank you for your continuing commitment and effort to provide a supportive learning environment for
our students.
All the best,
Christine M. Licata, Senior Associate Provost