Early Alert for Advisors

⭐Navigate Notes

• Instructions to only show your progress reports in Navigate
• Advisors will get an email if the student has an unsatisfactory flag (not if they have "no academic concerns")
  • Sample Emails an advisor might see
• Documenting in Navigate
  • Don't log emails as an appointment in Navigate unless you met with the student
  • You can email the student via Navigate so that it documents it for you (conversely you can email them through Outlook and document the action in Notes)
    • Emailing the student is considered closing the loop for the Flag

 

Tips on Maximizing Use of Early Alert

1. 96% of advisors use email to follow up with students, which often prompts a face-to-face meeting.

2. Send an abbreviated message

Although the initial inclination of an advisor might be to send a detailed list of  everything the student needs to do, a long email message may be off-putting to students (and difficult to read on a phone). Instead, a short, informal message expresses concern and availability to the advisee.
Messages should encourage a response from the student and ease into a dialogue between the student and advisor. Including specific details about the student’s academic situation will help the advisor remember the main details about this student’s academic performance. An example of the initial follow-up message is below:

Hi, Will – Hope you are enjoying this warm weather! I saw that you had a flag for your Ethics course and wanted to make sure everything was going okay. Let’s talk soon!   Kelly

3. By using the abbreviated email outreach, students have an open-ended opportunity to respond that reflects their individual situation. In yearly surveys, many advisees indicate appreciation for the effort that the advisor made and often offer an explanation for their struggle or simply let the advisor know that they are “back on track.”

4. Strategies for managing a high volume of notifications and/or staying organized with Early Alerts

   • Schedule a daily or weekly time dedicated solely to notification follow-up. This is a helpful time management strategy, especially when advising calendars fill up early. This time can be used to read through notifications, prioritize notifications, and reach out to students.

   • Prioritize students in academic difficulty and at risk for suspension for follow-up.  It is recommended to reach out by phone instead of email to encourage a meeting and discuss progress in the semester.

   • Take a more intrusive approach in following up with students who receive three or more academic difficulty notifications in order to investigate factors that may be affecting academic success.

   • Email instructor of the class to inform them of the intervention with the student

   • You may also find this presentation on proactive advising helpful, from the National First Year Experience Conference in 2015.