OSU Academic Alert Instructor Survey
Prepared by the Academic Alert Task Force1, January 23, 2012
The purpose of the Academic Alert Instructor Survey was to assist with evaluating the pilot of the Academic Alert
System by gathering information from instructors who used the system to report student concerns during the Fall
2011 term. The survey was designed to: (1) assess the level of instructor satisfaction with the system; (2) assess
instructor perceptions regarding the effectiveness of the system—whether they detected student behavior
changes as a result of academic alert notices; and (3) determine whether aspects of the system should be changed
for future terms.
The 408 Fall 2011 instructors who used the Academic Alert System between September 7 and November 11, 2011,
were invited to participate in the online survey through an initial email notification on November 14, 2011, and a
reminder notification on November 29, 2011. During the time period November 14 – December 9, a total of 157
completed surveys were obtained, yielding a response rate of 38.5%.
Results
Instructors were asked whether the five alert categories should be retained for future terms. The vast majority of
responses favored retaining all categories:
Attendance
Poor Quality Work
Missing Work
Cannot Pass with Remaining Coursework
Instructor Comments
98.7% retain
82.4% retain
92.8% retain
91.7% retain
96.7% retain
1.3% delete
17.6% delete
7.2% delete
8.3% delete
3.3% delete
Approximately 20% of the instructors (N = 34) suggested additional categories for reporting alerts. The complete
set of responses is provided in Appendix C.
Approximately 75% of the instructors rated their satisfaction with the Academic Alert system as a 4 or 5 on a 5point Likert scale. See Figure 1. The mean response was 3.90.
1
Academic Alert Task Force Members: K. Celeste Campbell, University Registrar; Pamela Fry, Associate Provost; Ed
Harris, Professor, Educational Studies, and Academic Standards and Policies Committee Chair; Amy Martindale,
Director, Arts and Sciences Academic Student Services
1
Figure 1. Instructor Satisfaction with Academic Alert System
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1 = not satisfied
2
3
4
5 = very satisfied
Instructors were asked to indicate the observed level of improvement in students’ academic success after
submitting Academic Alert notices. Approximately 75% of the respondents reported improvement in at least some
students. When asked whether they detected significant improvement, the percent decreased to approximately
45. See Figures 2 and 3.
Figure 2. Some Improvement in Student Academic Success Detected after Alert
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
no students
some students
2
most students
Figure 3. Significant Improvement in Student Academic Success Detected after Alert
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
no students
some students
most students
Approximately two-thirds of the instructors (N = 97) responded to Question 5: “What comments do you have
regarding the Academic Alert system?” The complete set of responses is provided in Appendix C.
Approximately half of the instructors (N = 77) responded to Question 6: “What suggestions do you have to improve
the Academic Alert system?” The complete set of responses is provided in Appendix C.
3
Appendix A. Survey Instrument
Q1. Currently instructors may use the Academic Alert system to report concerns in the following categories. Please
indicate whether you think these categories should be retained in the alert system during future terms.
Attendance
Poor Quality Work
Missing Work
Cannot Pass with Remaining Coursework
Instructor Comments
retain
retain
retain
retain
retain
delete
delete
delete
delete
delete
Q2. If you would like to see additional categories for reporting options, please list them here.
Q3. Please indicate your level of satisfaction with the Academic Alert system
Not satisfied
1
2
3
Very satisfied
4
5
Q4. In general, what level of improvement in students’ academic success did you observe after you submitted
academic alert notices?
Most students
Some students
No students






Significant improvement detected
Some improvement detected
Q5. What comments do you have regarding the Academic Alert system?
Q6. What suggestions do you have to improve the Academic Alert system?
Thank you for participating in this survey!
4
Appendix B. Response Frequencies
Q1a. Currently instructors may use the Academic Alert system to report concerns in the following categories.
Please indicate whether you think these categories should be retained in the alert system during future terms.
Attendance
retain delete
Frequency
Valid
Missing
Percent
Valid Percent
delete
2
1.3
1.3
retain
153
97.5
98.7
Total
155
98.7
100.0
2
1.3
157
100.0
System
Total
Q1b. Currently instructors may use the Academic Alert system to report concerns in the following categories.
Please indicate whether you think these categories should be retained in the alert system during future terms.
Poor Quality Work
retain delete
Frequency
Valid
Missing
Percent
Valid Percent
delete
27
17.2
17.6
retain
126
80.3
82.4
Total
153
97.5
100.0
4
2.5
157
100.0
System
Total
Q1c. Currently instructors may use the Academic Alert system to report concerns in the following categories.
Please indicate whether you think these categories should be retained in the alert system during future terms.
Missing Work
retain delete
Frequency
Valid
Missing
Percent
Valid Percent
delete
11
7.0
retain
142
90.4
92.8
Total
153
97.5
100.0
4
2.5
157
100.0
System
Total
7.2
Q1d. Currently instructors may use the Academic Alert system to report concerns in the following categories.
Please indicate whether you think these categories should be retained in the alert system during future terms.
Cannot Pass with Remaining Coursework retain delete
Frequency
Valid
Missing
Total
Percent
Valid Percent
delete
13
8.3
8.3
retain
143
91.1
91.7
Total
156
99.4
100.0
1
.6
157
100.0
System
5
Q1e. Currently instructors may use the Academic Alert system to report concerns in the following categories.
Please indicate whether you think these categories should be retained in the alert system during future terms.
Instructor Comments
retain delete
Frequency
Valid
Missing
Percent
Valid Percent
delete
5
3.2
3.3
retain
147
93.6
96.7
Total
152
96.8
100.0
5
3.2
157
100.0
System
Total
Q2. If you would like to see additional categories for reporting options, please list them here.
Open-ended question. See Appendix C.
Q3. Please indicate your level of satisfaction with the Academic Alert system
Not satisfied
Very satisfied
1
2
3
4
5
Frequency
Valid
Percent
Valid Percent
not satisfied
3
1.9
1.9
2
8
5.1
5.1
3
31
19.7
19.7
4
74
47.1
47.1
very satisfied
Total
41
26.1
26.1
157
100.0
100.0
Mean = 3.90
Q4a. In general, what level of improvement in students’ academic success did you observe after you submitted
academic alert notices?
Most students
Some students
No students
Significant improvement detected



Frequency
Valid
Total
Valid Percent
no students
79
50.3
56.0
some students
54
34.4
38.3
most students
8
5.1
5.7
141
89.8
100.0
16
10.2
157
100.0
Total
Missing
Percent
System
6
Q4b. In general, what level of improvement in students’ academic success did you observe after you submitted
academic alert notices?
Most students
Some students
No students
Some improvement detected



Frequency
Valid
Valid Percent
no students
37
23.6
25.5
some students
93
59.2
64.1
most students
Total
Missing
Percent
System
Total
15
9.6
10.3
145
92.4
100.0
12
7.6
157
100.0
Q5. What comments do you have regarding the Academic Alert system?
Open-ended question. See Appendix C.
Q6. What suggestions do you have to improve the Academic Alert system?
Open-ended question. See Appendix C.
Response Submissions by Date
Frequency
Valid
Percent
Valid Percent
14-Nov-2011
76
48.4
48.4
15-Nov-2011
9
5.7
5.7
16-Nov-2011
6
3.8
3.8
17-Nov-2011
4
2.5
2.5
18-Nov-2011
4
2.5
2.5
20-Nov-2011
1
.6
.6
21-Nov-2011
1
.6
.6
23-Nov-2011
1
.6
.6
29-Nov-2011
47
29.9
29.9
30-Nov-2011
5
3.2
3.2
01-Dec-2011
2
1.3
1.3
07-Dec-2011
1
.6
.6
157
100.0
100.0
Total
7
Appendix C. Verbatim Responses to Open-Ended Questions
Q2. If you would like to see additional categories for reporting options, please list them here. (34 responses)
Respondent
ID
Response
5
Willingness to seek assistance, participation
6
9
I think poor attendance and missing work go hand in hand: if they're not in class they don't get the
homework and so they can't hand it in. I think the two cateories are somewhat redundant.
I also believe that the students are well aware of their overall grade and figure out exactly how much work
they have to do to get the grade they want, that's why the category "cannot pass with remaining
coursework" could be deleted, in my opinion. I have students who do minimal work for the final, because
they've figured out that whatever low grade they might get on the final is good enough to keep their overall
grade where they want it to be.
None that I can think of.
21
Disciplinary concerns
43
I would like Instructor Concerns as a category. Or maybe that's what you want in Comments...?
50
Disruptive to class.
53
64
Would be nice if the instructor comments were not limited in space as much as they are. Can't always get
the problem across in that small of space.
It would be nice to have separate categories under "Missing Work" such as missing tests, missing quizzes,
and missing classwork. I think this would let the advisers and student know specifically what the student is
missing.
Maybe poor test scores, right now I reported that as part of Poor Quality of Work.
66
Missed Exam
70
I would like the "Quality of Work" category offer the following choices: poor, marginal, and clear. "Clear
would, by default indicate that the work is good.
I think there is a difference between poor attendence and stopped attending ... I think it would be nice to
be able to indicate poor attendence as well as stopped attending.
Include a category about the student's ATTITUDE TOWARD LEARNING.
59
76
84
86
101
Extremely Difficult to Pass with Remaining Coursework or Significant Improvement Required to Pass with
Remaining Coursework
Some students need specific kinds of assistance: time management skills, writing skills, tutoring in
particular areas -- we need room to comment on this.
Instead of 'Cannot Pass', perhaps a more appropriate category would be 'Highest Reasonably Possible
Grade' with a space to enter a grade. That gives some leeway in saying F or D when a C is numerically
possible but not going to happen. It also provides information to an advisor about whether the student is
going to fail with an F or not pass with a D.
I am not happy with the two choices "Poor Quality Work" and "Missing Work". I would prefer to separate
based on type of work. Some students don't bother doing their homework well. Other students have
trouble with exams after doing all their homework well. The two need different kinds of advice from their
advisors and "Poor Quality Work" seems to be the only way to tag both these situations.
No
104
Allow for positive input from instructors for the academic advisor's use.
109
Online Course: Not reading/responding to Instructor's email.
110
Student does not respond to email
111
You may want to include "missing lab reports" which was one of the items my alert involved and perhaps
"N/A" if that is not a component of a particular class. I emphasize the 'comments' allow me to explain
where the problem is that can't be simply addressed by check boxes.
93
98
8
114
120
126
128
(1) Lack of understanding of background material from prior courses.
(2) Perhaps we could add a category that indicates the student is not attending office hours or seeking help
even when they are struggling.
Current Class Grade field, a check box to indicate if the teacher wishes for the adviser to contact the
student.
na
132
I've used this primarily for "attendance", which in an online class means that the student hasn't accessed
the documents I provide for the course. I'm not totally sure whether or not the students use the email
system. I'd like to start requiring a "read" receipt when the student reads the email, but don't know if D2L's
email function allows for that.
Some notion of the time of grading scheme would be helpful so if a student can drop the lowest test score
that is indicated by the instructor.
A dropping grade alert due to poor attendance
136
how bout "improving", or some other positive feedback as a result of previous intervention?
138
146
Perhaps an optional field where an instructor could post a current projection of the student's final grade. I
already do this on D2L for the student, but I had to put it in the comments field to get it to the advisor.
Frequent distraction of instruction from some students during the lecture time due to their non-course
related activities such as texting, excessive talking when the class is not in discussion time, etc.
Poor participation (sleeping, unapproved use of electronics, lack of attention) in classroom.
149
current score
150
Attitude and willingness to work cooperatively with instructor and other students.
152
Can pass but only with serious improvement.
130
144
Q5. What comments do you have regarding the Academic Alert system? (97 responses)
Respondent
ID
Response
2
has alerted both student and advisors and we have been able to get students back on track....LOVE IT
3
9
I think that it is a great service for faculty and students. My only concern is those students who take no
action. Are they being notified by the advisors? Or are they just not taking action. I wish there was a way to
have the advisor report or indicate that a conversation and action plan was established by the advisor and
the student.
It's the first time that it worked, although not with all students. Maybe, because the students got the
messages as well and not just the advisors. Keep it going longer, after the withdrawl period. But maybe the
new system "First grade???" (I can't remember the name) will do that.
Some advisors are not responsive to academic alerts being filed, which reduces the effectiveness of the
academic alerts system. In some cases, there was no indication that the advisor or the student had read the
alerts and comments I submitted.
It was both easy and effective.
10
The system is not very user friendly.
12
I teach at Tulsa Community College and at the University of Oklahoma. I wish they would adopt a similar
system. I had several students who salvaged their grade after they were made aware of what they were
lacking.
A very effective tool
6
7
15
16
18
The AAS is overkill that further adds to the problem by removing more responsibilities from students for
their own academic career. Reported information is simply duplication since students already have access
everything via D2L. Perhaps it helps information flow past the barrier of FERPA. Students do not need to
be coddled any more than they already are.
a waste of time
9
19
20
23
24
26
27
28
30
31
33
35
36
I appreciate knowing I have properly reported issues with student attendance and grades. As a first-time
instructor this semester, this was helpful.
I used the system for two of my students who did not respond to the alerts in any fashion. I think the alerts
are good though.
The students I was concerned about had work related issues that could not be resolved with this system. I
think the Academic Alert system is useful.
I've only used the system for a master's class (student had stopped attending early in the semester and
never came back), so I can't comment very well just yet. I do, however, think this system will greatly benefit
my undergraduate students in the spring.
I only had to use it for one student who did not respond to either an email I sent her earlier or to what was
sent through the academic alert system.
The comment field is limited to 250 characters. I must have rewritten my comments 20 times before I
could final get the system to accept them. An open number of characters would be preferred.
This seems a system to justify so-called student retention. I had several students who have not appeared
this semester yet whose names are on my roll sheet. I used the AA system, and nothing happened, save a
note from an administrator wondering whether a student should get full refund for never attending a class.
Was I sure he never attended? Yes, I am. This is a meaningless gesture, and despite faculty filling in forms
and advisors sending emails and making calls, nothing happened in my class.
1 - It would be nice to see what was actually sent to the student and advisor. It would make responding to
both easier.
2 - I have only used it one time for one purpose, to indicate that it appeared a student had no chance of
passing the class. I hadn't thought about using it for other purposes. Releasing the pilot results would be
beneficial in terms of helping me decide whether or not to use it for the less serious cases.
Thanks.
It is a great idea. However, I did not notice any changes in the students I marked on the system. At the very
least, I was expecting a call or e-mail from both the students and their respective academic adviser. Does
the system actually work? After I submitted my alerts, I had no feedback: were the students contacted, did
their academic adviser talk to them?
It seems weird to be sending information to a student and their advisor at the same time. For example, I
wasn't sure what I could include due to Ferpa.
It is worthwhile
40
There should be a follow up email sent by the student advisor to the faculty who submitted the academic
alert to indicate if a meeting between the student and his/her advisor occurred and the steps in place that
were communicated with the student to correct the issues that caused the alert.
I think it's a great idea to have a system that allows faculty to communicate directly with a student's
advisor. It would be interesting to know what advisors do with this information once they receive it. For
example, do they summon students to a meeting to discuss their performance?
The two students who received academic alerts ended up dropping the class, so I guess that might count as
"improvement."
I would like to see a printable report of the messages I sent.
42
The system is valuable and should be maintained.
43
The system works for me. Do the students respond to it? Their advisors?
45
There is no feedback to the instructor. I have students disappear who are still on my rolls, and I wonder
what happened to them.
I think that it is a good idea, but the follow up done by the advisors needs to be a little more robust. In
cases where I submitted something through the academic alert system the advisor only sent an email. This
is not sufficient. I can (and do) sent emails to students that are struggling. I need the advisor to meet with
the student and discuss the problem and then I would like to receive a report, either from the student or
from the advisor.
It gave me an opportunity to bring a student's absences, etc. to her counselor's attention.
37
39
48
50
10
51
58
It would be nice if you enter the system to make a second annotation that you can overwrite or replace the
date of the annotation with the new date. My memory is that I was able to put in new text for a comment,
but it still carried the same date as my original comments, which was confusing.
I'd like more information about when to use the system. I talk to my students about the issues in the Alert
Systems on a regular basis. Do I still need to use the Alert System? I'd prefer not to. If alerts become a
requirement, I'll just use the alert system and stop pulling students aside to talk about their performance.
I do not know what category 4 in question 1 means. "Cannot pass with remaining coursework." What does
this mean?
This is a good tool, as far as I can tell from my end.
63
I never heard back if the students that I sent the alert to actually went to see their academic adviser.
65
I did not realize that we could see comments from the advisors until much later in the semester. It would
have been helpful to know, so I could check back after adding an alert.
Students seemed aware of the academic alerts that they were receiving and some students were concerned
about them and did stop by office hours to discuss issues with me, some students seemed to ignore the
alerts.
The Academic Alert system is helpful in identifying students who stop attending or who have excessive
absences to their advisers. This is a good thing. Unfortunately, the Academic Alert system does not change
student behavior among students who do not really care about their success or failure.
One student that I reported did not improve at all; another student apparently gave her adviser a line of
nonsense, but she did shape up somewhat.
I was surprised at the number of students who were upset that their instructor had sent an alert even when
the comments were encouraging. Some became very upset and defensive. Somehow the message that
instructors are doing this because we care about how the student is doing isn't getting through to everyone.
I like the Academic Alert system a lot, especially "Cannot Pass with Remaining Coursework" category.
Usually students simply ignore warning from me, which concerns their grades. However, many students
have concerned their grades seriously this semester because of the system.
It's a little hard for me to tell on this yet ... the one thing I have noticed is that I have gotten some students
attention with the academic alert where I was unable to get their attention with a personal email.
The academic alert system is helpful to remove questions about who instructors should contact in the event
that a student is having trouble, but in the end the only difference is that advisors receive an email from
academic alert rather than directly from the instructor. I only needed to report one student this semester
and I could have easily contacted the student's advisor directly by email, in fact, that is exactly what I did. I
sent an email and filed a report via Academic Alert. The Alert System simplifies in one area and complicates
in another. I would like to know why I should use Academic Alert rather than simply sending an email
directly to a student's advisor.
Only one of my students told me that his advisor reached out to him regarding the academic alert. I like the
idea in theory, but I don't know if anything actually happened after I submitted them. I think it's just very
overwhelming for the advising offices to get them and to know what to do with them.
It's a great tool. Even though I haven't seen students respond significantly to the alerts, I think it could be
successful in many cases.
In theory it is a good method of alerting students and advisers of potential student problems. I was
discouraged with the advisers comments or lack of such. Many said that student had contacted the
instructor when they had not. Quite a few just said VM. Some had tried to contact students without
success. I felt that there was not enough efforts or feedback to instructors.
Some advisors followed up but did not do so through the online Alert system. It was somewhat
cumbersome to use. I'm not sure the system is an improvement over direct instructor-advisor contact by
phone, e-mail, etc. It documents that a student received a message of academic concern in a class, but a
regular e-mail would do that just as well.
54
56
66
70
71
73
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
11
82
83
84
86
88
89
92
93
94
This just reinforces what we have in place within our department. I'm not sure it changes student behavior
much, but it helps us communicate the problem to teachers and advisors, forces the students to be
confronted with the problem by more than just the instructor, and offers us protection and a clear
conscience that we have done all we can to protect these students from their own bad habits and to offer
assistance if they will take advantage of it.
The issue is what do the advisors do with the information.
If an instructor says the student is not turning in homework
and/or not showing up for exams, there ought to be
some kind of intervention. Since the students are already avoiding the instructor, there has to be some
other action.
Right now what I see is that some advisors are simply emailing the instructor comments directly to the
student.
I can do that without the aid of the academic alert system.
1. Unfortunately, many faculty have reported that while the intention of AA is to help students be success,
it is not perceived that way by a significant number of students. It has been perceived as antagonistic (I am
paying for this - don't bother me) and in some cases resulted in disruptive and/or passive aggressive
classroom behaviors.
2. Too many advisors assume their role is to send the student to the instructor; this is nonsense as this level
of communication has already been tried or accomplished by the instructor. It appears like advisors are
simply "passing the buck" rather than trying to really help the student be successful. Think about it, a
student has excessive absences -- so the advisor says "see your instructor" Come on.... this doesn't do any
good, does it?
Some advisors did not contact students. Some wrote, "Student has contacted professor. Everything is OK."
Some students may have contacted me, but the situation was never OK. Most students were mad or
irritated with the process of being contacted. Some were shocked that an academic alert was necessary.
None
I had more drops that is typical. Perhaps the system forced students to be more realistic about their
performance but didn't motivate them to work any harder.
Almost uniformly, the academic advisers submitted comments to the effect of "Called student and told
him/her to talk to professor," which is one strategy, but there may be others. In at least one case, the
adviser reported that he talked to the student, who had no chance of passing, and that she gave several
reasons for her poor performance, which he then reported to me, indicating that she "would do better."
But the student had not attended all semester and had no chance of passing. In some cases, the advisers
seemed to suggest to students that things would be okay if they just talked to me. But in almost all
instances, there was no such hope. I thought that one of the functions of the system was to alert advisers to
this reality so that when appropriate students could drop before the deadline.
Response from advisors so that I know the alert has gone to them -- it seemed to disappear without
response. This is a good idea and should continue but should be fine tuned each semester.
The system seems to depend on e-mails alerts to students and advisers. This assumes that students actually
read e-mails sent to them by OSU and their advisoers, which is not always the case. Also, advisers are not
always able to connect with some student advisees who seldom drop by and/or do not respond to e-mails.
12
96
100
I think the system is good and should be retained. I,however, think that the generation of an email to the
student is enough. To have the advisor also track down the student is (in my opinion) too much handholding for an adult. If a student is struggling, (s)he should come to the advisor (the email could say this or
recommend some campus services, counseling etc.). The burden should be on the student to deal with the
issue, not the advisor. The advisor should be there as a source of support (but the student should WANT the
support-- and many don't unfortunately). Personally, I also feel EXTREMELY uncomfortable calling a
student's cell phone or home phone b/c of FERPA (I also believe students have a right to privacy, a right to a
personal life etc.). My "normal" day to day interaction occurs with them mostly either in person or via
email, so why should this be any different? If I send an email, and the system sends an email, and the
student chooses to ignore it, then there is not much the advisor could do for the student in person, on the
phone, or otherwise. Some students are choosing to tune out. For the others, an email alert, will be enough
to give them a push. But a student who is not attending class is choosing that behavior, so what is the
advisor to say other than to "go to class"? I do not feel this system is making them prepared for the
responsibilities of the real world/job world. Also, having to document everything in the system is a time
draw for the advisor, especially those of us who where more than one hat and are stretched enough as it is.
I often found myself talking to a student in person and/or emailing them and then not having the time to
change or update the system until a week or 2 later (when I would enter them all at once). The process as is
just feels unnatural-- like too much needless paperwork.
As an advisor- it is difficult to stay on top of checking the early alert messages for my students, THEN
entering into AV1 screen on SIS, THEN contacting student. Maybe a system with SIS and Early Alert
integrated? Not sure-- just seems like an extra step within where my time could be better utilized seeing
students and contacting them rather than documenting that I'm contacting them so much.
It seems to get some students' attention because it is official. I think the All-Caps helps too. Some of those
students get help they may not have otherwise sought. Other students just get annoyed that someone is
reporting on them. In my very limited, one semester experience students who just got annoyed or who
brushed their advisor off continued doing poorly. I am not sure about the purpose of the alert. If the goal is
to warn students that they are not doing well because they might not know it already and make sure they
understand how to get help and then leave it up to them to handle things from there, then I think it is set
up very well to do that.
If the goal is to identify students that are struggling and help them improve, then I don't think it is well
designed for this purpose. If that were its purpose it would probably perform better set up as log entries
which track efforts and progress over time.
I suggest changing the explanation of the comments/alerts to say that it is directed to the student and
copied to the advisor. I would also like to see a sample of what a student actually gets. Electronic
communication can be difficult to write when a somewhat nuanced response is needed. Some need a
nudge; others need a club.
I think the cut off should be earlier than the 12th week. It should end about the 6th week.
101
I think it is good. Will they also be promoting more resources for students that they can use to help them?
102
I found that I had more students withdrawn from my classes this year but I have fewer students who are
failing. I think it was helpful in letting students know when there was little chance they could be successful.
Regarding excessive absences, I wish students would understand that I am simply submitting a report
requested by the university. I do not want or expect a student to change their attendance habits because of
that e-mail, and having to address numerous e-mails about that matter takes up more of my time.
N/A
97
98
99
103
104
105
106
107
I greatly appreciated the opportunity to realistically notify a student of their status--with the knowledge and
input from their advisor--prior to the withdrawal date.
I found it odd when going in the second time at 11 weeks to enter comments about students who could not
pass with remaining course work to have to delete previous comments to make this possible. I was unsure
how this would work in the system, who would be notified, etc. But, I wanted to note if students could no
longer pass the course with remaining coursework. Perhaps this issue could be clarified somehow.
I'm glad to see a system like this in place, but there were times that I submitted an alert and the advisor
didn't contact the student (or it wasn't indicated) or the student didn't drop the class, took no action, etc.
13
108
There are too many steps involved
109
Great progress!
110
I really like this system and I think it allows us to have a team dynamic with the instructor, student, and the
advisor. I think that the more people that are in the loop the more student success we are going to have.
I had one student drop the course (of the two that I gave an alert to) and probably helps the GPA of that
student who would most likely have failed.
I submitted a lot of alerts! Some advisors seemed to do nothing. Some attempted to contact students by
email. Only a few made thorough attempts to contact students and discuss their situation.
I think it is a good program. I think it is sad that as an institution we must take more and more responsibility
onto ourselves that the students should be responsible for, but since it is the reality, I think the program will
be beneficial to all involved.
I believe that it works well and more teacher should use the system.
111
114
117
120
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
132
134
136
137
138
I believe the weak link in the system is the adviser. Some advisers did not respond to my alerts. The
advisers that did respond always listed that they emailed the students. I never received a follow up if the
student responded to the email. I wish the adviser would take this more seriously and realize that the
students are already being emailed by me! They have more methods to contact the students and get to
meet them face to face or to get them to respond to me (at least I hope they would). Also, I wish the
adviser would report back to me when something has been done.
It was very helpful. I do think that if an instructor signals that it's almost impossible for a student to pass a
class given their current grades that counselors should lean heavily on the student to drop.
What did you do for the students? It seems odd that you ask us to alert you about them and then don't tell
us what you're going to do with the information. I want my students to get help if they need it. How can
you assure me that spending time on this system will benefit the students?
I really liked being able to put in comments and let both the student and their advisor know what is going
on. Seems to have helped with a couple of students who were "struggling".
none
The system is good and I used it twice this semester. At least two students vastly improved after that, but
there were some who never responded to the alert.
I'd like to give it more time to work. In general, the response time from the Athletic Academic Services is
faster. Do they have more people available to do the work?
As an adviser I felt notification from profs helped alot. As a professor, I used the system to get the word to
my students. Since I was both professor and adviser to a significant group, it was some what redundant but
gave me documentation that I had identified deficiencies and and attempted to get the students attention.
It is apparent that SIS records are inaccurrate considering the number of wrong phone numbers I reached.
Also, some students do not have a working okstate email account. Also, some students are avoid contact
anyway.
I have hoped for something like this for years! I'm absolutely ecstatic! I can tell students increasing poor
attendance and failure to complete their work will lead to the danger of dropping grades until I'm blue in
the face, but when their academic advisors become involved, then they actually listen!
At first I didn't realize the comments would be going out to both the student and the adviser. I think for
first-time users, you should emphasize the fact that the comments go out to both parties.
work intensive, valuable, but advisors need more time to be able to do this effectively - more advisors
would help.
The tabular layout of the screen where instructors file alerts has usability problems. It's counter-intuitive to
enter comments on a particular student at the bottom of the screen. The comment input area should be
attached to the student name. Plus, given the layout of the table, a user can mistakenly select the wrong
student. I accidentally filed an academic alert on a student who had no problems. The whole method of
inputting information needs to be rethought.
In general I am very positive about it, but please see my suggestion below.
14
139
141
142
151
152
153
154
155
Once we have completed the attendance reports, and one or more academic alerts for students who never
attend, and make a mark on final grades of F, I do not think we should have to complete additional
paperwork when the student later applies for a retroactive withdrawal.
I post all grades on D2L as the semester progresses......Amazing that a few students were surprised to
receive an academic alert.
Very few students responded to attempts by advisors to contact them. The advisor's effort may have
stimulated the student to contact the instructor and work harder, but most of the time the student simply
dropped the course later. The program seems to have a very limited effect while treating young adults as
children. Trying to retain students is good, but many times the reasons students do not do well have little to
do with the coursework and are even beyond the student's control. Finances, anxiety, and depression are
such factors.
Question 4 cannot be answered just a few days after the alerts were sent. I sent these to students enrolled
in online courses, and I think particularly for this group of students, this information is extremely helpful. I
received position feedback from many students who were sent the warning, but did not hear anything from
most of them; this was true even if they decided to drop the course.
No feedback on whether a counselor got the alert or made contact with the student.
Overall a somewhat "clunky" execution of this idea. I am sure SIS limits what you can do, but the user
interface is not smooth at all--very clunky. It is terribly odd that the comments box is at the bottom of the
page. At first I could not find it at all.
I did not submit any notices, so cannot response to question 4.
As an advisor it provided useful information that help advising.
I tore up my knee and went on medical leave immediately after submitting my academic alerts, so I don't
know how it improved performance.
But it sure got the attention of some students who needed to drop.
Q6. What suggestions do you have to improve the Academic Alert system? (77 responses)
Respondent
ID
3
7
9
13
Response
To implement an accountability check for the advisor to simply indicate that the student has been notified
and a plan of action was discussed between the advisor and the student.
The restriction to 250 characters in the comment field is inappropriate. I never wrote a comment longer
than 500 characters, but I often wrote comments longer than 250 characters and then had to spend time
editing to get within the limit. I believe this limit should be increased.
Non-attendance continues to be a problem after Week 12, so I would like to see the academic alerts system
continue to be open until the Friday of Prefinals Week.
Now that regular reports of student non-attendance can be collected, I would like to see a system whereby
students can be dropped from a class after a (long) period of non-attendance (to be determined). I believe
it would be appropriate to introduce a new grade of, say, E for a student who simply makes no attempt to
participate in a class. This grade would be glossed as "non-participation."
None
18
Generate a high level of awareness in the student, make them feel that this system helps mostly in the first
years (freshman, sophomore) when time management is not a common feature.
Discontinue it and let students who do not care about their work FAIL. The inability to allow failure is a
major problem with American society.
We need mechanism to coorelate course/lab enrolled in and course/lab actually in progress. In flight labs,
little coorelation between two, meaning course roles have little meaning (and no way to submit information
on non-performing students).
do away with it
19
As the instructor, I received no notification regarding the resolution (or lack of) for the Alert I posted.
16
17
15
21
Allow for communication between instructor and adviser
23
Feedback to the instructor would be useful. Was the student contacted? Will the student try to improve
attendance? What will the student do to improve?
I think student advisors should include the faculty member (maybe bcc: on e-mail) about what action they
have taken, and the response (if any) from the student.
Force students to drop (or simply drop students) if they do not attend any classes in the first four weeks of
class. Why take their money and pretend they are full time students, when they do not attend? why allow
students to get monies form loans or scholarships when they never attend classes?
Think about how to educate students and prevent those whose entrance is a joke and an insult to those
who want to learn and attend classes. If you want ot waste our time filling out forms, then do something
with the information we sent you.
It would be nice as an instructor to get some feedback about the system. Maybe a message from the
academic adviser saying that he/she tried to contact the students.
Perhaps have options for specific comments (e.g., option A = in danger of failing; option B = will likely fail;
option C = missing work) so that the messages can be standardized across students, with the additional
option of adding an individualized message. This may increase use by faculty because it would be less work.
You are doing great.
25
28
31
33
35
39
43
I think there needs to be a confirmation email to the professor that the advisor was properly notified. I was
a little confused and felt left in the dark after I filled out the form.
Information to professors of exactly when students drop.
The students in my online course who never submitted work appeared to have the intent of corrupting the
student loan system.
Thanks for providing the system.
It would be good for the administration or instructor to be able to remove the student from the roll, with
no W or record on the transcript, if the student fails to attend.
Complete the communications loop from instructor to advisor to student to instructor, including any
comments or understandings between student and advisor.
None. I hope it helps more students succeed.
56
good system and worth the time and energy; please do clarify the perplexing phrase I note above.
58
More reminders would be helpful.
64
Mentioned above.
65
I just noticed that the system is available only through the first 12 weeks, but I would have liked to check on
comments from academic advisors that I left prior to 'drop' ending.
I think it would be helpful if the follow-up from the academic alert system was emailed to professors so that
we can see the follow up comments or at least be notified that follow-up comments have been entered
without logging back into the system.
It would be nice to receive an email that the advisor had followed up on the situation after they typed in
their comments.
See #2.
40
41
42
66
69
70
71
73
75
78
I would like to be some feedback from advisers--in one case, I assumed that the adviser didn't follow up
because there was no indication of a follow-up in the system. When I contacted the adviser, he told me that
he had followed up but that info was not put into the AA system.
I'd like an e-mail notification when an adviser responds to an academic alert I've sent so I can more easily
know what the outcome of the contact was.
It seems that some students still ignore the Academic Alert; do not correspond to their advisers, until they
receive the "Cannot Pass..." alert. Also, they do not care so much about missing classes, missing course
work, and so on. I am not sure how to improve these problems, but it would be great if students can take
the alerts more seriously and make a progress.
Make it more integrated for insturctors to talk with advisors-maybe even put an advising hold on the
student's account so that the student has to talk with their advisor about their academic alert to give it
more teeth?
16
79
80
81
83
84
86
88
92
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
It would be helpful to receive a follow-up from the student's advisor to know: a) if the student responds
and/or meets with the advisor and 2) if the advisor can offer any other information about the student's
status. When students don't respond, it is unclear what effect the alert may (or may not) have had.
Try to improve the advisers comments so instructors know what steps have been taken. Let us know what
students are doing to improve. I had several students with little chance of passing that stayed in until the
drop date. The students need to understand that an alert is important. Follow up with students to make
sure they try to improve.
The concept is good but in practice it is too complex. As I said, some advisors followed up but not via the
online Alert system, which will make it look like they ignored the Alert when they did not. Conscientious
instructors and advisors will work together on problem students with or without the Alert system.
Perhaps there ought to be a way to report that a student has
or has not met with the instructor in response to an academic alert. If not, the advisor has to take stronger
action.
Remove the limit on the number of characters allowed in instructor comment box. If the content of this
box is going to be sent to the student with important information in the spirit of helping the student be
successful, sometimes this can't be done in 250 characters.
Automatically send an email to the instructor with the advisor's comments when a student is contacted.
Add "Student should schedule an in-office visit with instructor within next x days."
and maybe
Add "Student should schedule an in-office visit with advisor within next x days."
None
Could this be integrated with prodfosu.okstate.edu more seamlessly so that there's not a separate
page/process for midterm grades and academic alerts?
Not sure that it can be improved on. I certainly do not want instructors to devote less effort to connecting
with students who need attention, because they assume that this system will attend to that for them.
feedback email that someone talked to the student.
I would suggest an auto-generated email by the system, and then perhaps the advisor. I do think a phone
call is over the top and comes across as a violation of their privacy. It is also not the normal way most of us
interact with our students.
I think it's vitally important for all academic departments to enter student concerns on SIS. As advisors- if
we don't see grades for students in all classes, then we don't have an accurate view of where students
really are performing. Students for the most part will not self-report to us that they are failing other classes
other than the class we are discussing with them. And, it's so important to start as early as possible
reporting concerns so we can stay right on top of it. Thanks for extending this survey to us. I actually have
had a lot of students say "thank you" for checking in with them- and they were suprised that I cared enough
to make them come into my office to discuss things. So, this is definitely positive!
1. More space for comments.
2. Separating the students with academic alerts. It would be nice if once I had placed academic alerts, I
could view only those students that had academic alerts instead of scrolling through the roster for them.
Change the time out feature. It is annoying that submitting a comment does not reset the timer.
101
Follow up is something that needs to be improved. Staff and faculty have other duties that may not allow
them time to follow to see if the student has responded to the emails and/or phone calls.
none
104
N/A
105
106
Incorporate an Academic Alert deadline into the regular academic calendar. More faculty will then feel
motivated to use it.
I liked having this as another way of letting students and advisors know when there is a problem.
107
Allow instructors to submit multiple alerts on one student if needed.
108
Make it simpler
109
Should have the option to report 10 week grades for ALL students not just athletes.
17
110
111
113
114
117
120
121
I wish that it would populate an email to the instructor when the advisor writes back on the system. It
makes sense that it would do this since it sends an email when you send the alert.
I like the fact that I got an alert early on.... perhaps another automated email before the course drop date
deadline just to remind everyone. Great feature for students and I like the fact that it goes to the advisor.
Perhaps if there is sensitive information that is not supposed to go out (since it goest to the advisor), you
may want to make sure that is prominantly displayed. I wasn't sure, but I listed the failing test grades of the
student in the alert and wondered about that afterwards.
It would be nice to receive a copy of the report sent to the student.
I find it particularly galling that some of my worst, most irresponsible students show up frequently in ROTC
uniforms. I believe that, just like student athletes on scholarship have academic information made available
to both academic advisors and the advisors in Athletic Student Services, ROTC cadettes should have
information on their lack of class attendance and poor academic performance made available to their
military commanding officers or advisors. To see future officers and leaders skipping class and behaving
disrespectfully to me is unacceptable.
Could instructors be notified on the action that has been taken after the alert has been placed? For
example, counselor spoke with student, etc. After submitting it, it is unsure whether anything takes place
besides the student being e-mailed, which often times, the instructor has already done many times with no
response before even placing the alert.
Encourage more teacher to use the system.
123
It would be nice to receive an email or some kind of report of what I submitted (so I have a record of it).
Also, when I went in to submit a second set of comments for the same student, I then had to erase the old
comments. It would be great to have space for more than one date so that you can report both at 6-week
grades and before the withdrawal period ends.
I would like a record of instructors comments kept. Currently, if I want to report a student again, I have to
erase what I previously listed or I run out of space. I also wish a similar thing for advisers. Currently, they
just add to what was already listed, making it confusing to read their actions.
I would like to receive an email when the advisers respond to my alert. Currently, I have to keep logging
into the system to check if the adviser has done anything.
None--it's a great idea. I really appreciate this.
124
See above. Better communicate what happens after a professor flags a student.
126
none
127
I think it worked fine this semester. None right now.
128
It seems to me that we need to make all of our systems, especially those geared to retention, as directpersonal-contact as we can. I had a conversation yesterday with an ORU student. He mentioned that he
loves his school because it's small and he can know "everybody", students and faculty.
Could we afford to assign a few more academic advising staff in each college to the alert system? What has
been the response rate from those of us among the faculty? (Facetiously, is there any way to give us a gold
star? Is there recognition for instructors who actually keep most of the students in their classes through the
whole semester?)
Make more visible and easier to use
122
129
130
132
This is a tangential issue: it is important to create an environment that sees this system as a help and not a
burden. Students need to buy into the importance of early intervention. I had the impression that many
students did not understand the alert system and how it could be helpful. It is not unlike getting students to
be more positive about tutoring. Perhaps there could be a mandatory survey at the beginning of each
semester regarding the academic alert system. Also, I believe that it would be helpful to have additional
resources for transfer students especially in their first semester.
The only suggestion is the one above; namely to allow for a place where poor attendance is associated with
a dropping grade alert even though they are in no danger of failing. For example, many of my A and B
students will lose their As and Bs due to increasingly poor attendance. It seems to grow exponentially.
Once the semester is over, it's too late!
18
133
141
It would be helpful if the academic alert could be sent straight to our email boxes, or at least broken up in
the excel sheet by advisor (sorted by advisor instead of student name, etc). It does get difficult, especially
during peak advising, to have time to check it daily. If there was something that could be sent directly, it
would be more convenient.
What I said above, and also I think the system should still be available for use after the 12th week of the
semester, because students can still begin faltering in the last few weeks of the semester.
Provide instructors a record of academic alerts they have filed - this can either be some sort of log sent to
the instructor, or a website-based method for the instructor to view all alerts that she/he has filed.
The space available for making comments about the student is way, way too small. I found that I did not
have room to really make my comments precise and that I also had to leave out significant comments. This
is especially the case with students who have multiple academic problems. Doubling the space would be a
major improvement.
Good idea.
152
No. 4 needs a "No improvement detected" option.
153
I left comments about one student early in the semester. When I went back several weeks later to make
additional comments, I found that I had to overwrite my first comments--there was no place to leave
"additional" comments. I would prefer to have a place to leave additional comments. If there is currently a
way to leave additional comments, then the directions need to be better, because I certainly could not find
it.
I think this is one of the most academically beneficial things OSU has done in years.
134
137
138
155
19