Reaching Those Who Don’t Reach Out:Developing an Undergraduate Early Alert System

Shermin Murji, Early Alert CoordinatorRoxanne Ross, Director, Student Success CentreJulie Stewart, Former Early Alert Coordinator

Student Success Centre

Learning outcomes

▪ By participating in this session, registrants will:

— Explore common challenges in student help-seeking behavior based on recent literature and experience

— Gain a better understanding of early alert and proactive advising approaches

— Consider structure and important stakeholders involved in implementing an early alert system

— Begin to develop guiding questions for pursuing the proactive advising and early alert best practices within the context of their own institution

Outline

▪ What is early alert?

▪ Discussion: challenges of connecting

▪ University of Calgary model

▪ Our development process

▪ Outcomes to date

▪ Planning your early alert approach

Why do student leave before degree completion?

Why do students leave?

Why do students leave?

▪ Low student engagement

▪ Lack of sense of belonging/community

▪ Not the right fit (post-secondary)

▪ Not the right program

▪ Financial limitations

▪ Family commitments or pressure

▪ Lack of academic preparation

▪ Part of a vulnerable/at-risk group

▪ Stress, burnout, health issues (MENTAL HEALTH)

Some definitions

▪ Retention = rate or percentage of students who return from one enrollment period to another (Habley, Bloom, & Robbins, 2012)

▪ Attrition = the “non-continuation” of students (Higher Education Academy, 2015)

▪ At-risk students = students or student groups with a higher probability of attrition (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2013)

Why Early Alert?

▪ Retention/ Efficiency of resources (EAB, 2013)

▪ Mental health initiatives

Components of Early Alert

Lynch-Holmes, 2015

Proactive outreach

early in a problem Connection to resources

Identification/alert

Proactive Advising

▪ Advisor-directed

▪ Anticipates student challenge/intervenes early in a problem

▪ Focused on motivating the student to engage in resources

Varney, 2012

Trends in Post-secondary Early Alert

Academic factors

• In-progress course grades

Behavioural factors

• Engagement

• Attendance

• Financial aid applications

Non-cognitive factors

• Motivation

• Goal orientation

• Self-efficacy

(EAB, 2013; Lotkowski et al., 2004)

Issues We See in Early Alert Students

▪ Financial/housing

▪ Personal relationships

▪ Physical health

▪ Mental health

▪ Legal/immigration

▪ Motivation

▪ Bereavement

▪ Transition (first year or international)

▪ What makes it so hard to find students early in a problem?

▪ What prevents people from accessing help when they need it?

UCalgary Definition of Early Alert

▪ Academic indicators of change from baseline behaviour (e.g., grade decline, disengagement from class)

▪ Comparing each student to their own historical performance

▪ Identifying life issues that could derail a student if not resourced quickly

Academic Development Specialists

▪ One-on-one, relationship-based support

▪ Self-regulated learning strategists

—Information processing, test strategies,

—Time management, organization, life balance

—Skills for monitoring and refining strategies

▪ Referral network

—Skills for finding and accessing help

Our Solution

Timeline

▪ Fall 2013: —Coordinator hired, working group established

—Environmental scan, faculty consultation

—Commercial early alert software testing

—Early alert development conference

▪ Winter 2014:—Small pilot with invited faculty

—Cultivating relationships with IT, FOIP officer

Timeline

▪ Fall 2014:

—Revised model piloted in select faculties

—Switch to D2L data, Cognos system

▪ Spring-Fall 2015:

—Software tool development process with IT

Timeline

▪ Winter 2016:

—launched software tools

—Launched branding

▪ Spring-Summer 2016:

—refinement of algorithm

—Faculty outreach

Timeline

▪ Fall 2016 and onwards:

—Full-campus launch of finalized model

—Hired research assistant

—Student surveying, student ambassador

How We Find Undergraduate Students

In-house analytic tool

Thrive Administrator

PeopleSoft GPA historyD2L gradebook data

Faculty report form

Student ADS

Student

ADS Student

Student

Student Student

Multiple-course View

0

1

2

3

4

Jan. Feb. Mar.

GPA

Math GPA

Physics GPA

Chem GPA

Winter 2017

Performance drop across multiple courses

First-year/First-term Model

0

1

2

3

4

IncomingGrades

Sept. Oct.

GPA

Math GPA

Physics GPA

Chem GPA

Fall 2016

Failing grades across multiple courses

Managing Privacy

▪ FOIP officer advised on development

▪ Info collected under Post-Secondary Learning Act

▪ Collection notice on university website

▪ Faculty put information into Thrive system, but do not receive information on student actions

▪ Students surveyed on approach are generally comfortable

Next steps

▪ Define “success”: what indicators to use for assessment— Uptake rate?

— Flagged students?

— Use of resources/referrals?

▪ Continue to explore developing a parallel mental health/wellbeing form and support

▪ Refine algorithm to correctly identify “at risk” students

▪ Continue to debate predictive modelling and its potential application

— How do we use specific factors ethically?

Research Questions

▪ Does flagging alone have an impact?

▪ Who are/aren’t we reaching?

▪ Are we reaching students at the right moment?

▪ How does Thrive impact the students who use it?

▪ How can we improve the Thrive system?

▪ Do certain faculties use the concern form more than others?

Reflecting on your own Early Alert plan

▪ What are your financial/human resources?

▪ Who are your allies/champions?

—Admin, student affairs, wellness, IT

▪ What is your institutional context?

—Size

—Teaching/assessment practices

—Institutional strategy documents

Reflecting on your own Early Alert plan

▪ Who is best placed to offer this support in your institution?

▪ What is your referral network once you connect with a student?

▪ What kinds of outreach are already taking place at your institution?

▪ Do you take a centralized approach to student support or is it handled by faculties or smaller units?

Reflecting on your own Early Alert plan

▪ How will you communicate your system?

—to students

—to faculty/staff

▪ How will you evaluate your system’s effectiveness?

Questions/Contact

Contact: Shermin Murji Shermin.Murji@ucalgary.caRoxanne Ross rossr@ucalgary.ca

Faculty website: http://www.ucalgary.ca/ssc/faculty/thriveFaculty concern form:https://thrive.ucalgary.ca/Concern/InfoStudent website: http://www.ucalgary.ca/ssc/advising/thrive

References

Donaldson, P., McKinney, L., Lee, M. and Pino, D. (2016). First-year community college students perceptions and attitudes toward intrusive academic advising. NACADA Journal, (36) 1, pp. 30-42.

Educational Advisory Board (2013). Hardwiring student success: Building disciplines for retention and timely graduation. Academic Affairs Forum.

Educational Advisory Board (2014). The murky middle of project: Preliminary findings. Student Success Collaborative.

Educational Advisory Board (2013). Implementing early alert systems. Student Affairs Forum.

Habley, W. R., Bloom, J. L., & Robbins, S. (2012). Increasing persistence: Research-based strategies for college student success. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Higher Education Academy. (2015). Student attrition. Retrieved June 6, 2017, from https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/student-attrition.

Lotkowski, V. A., Robbins, S. B., Noeth, R. J. (2004). The role of academic and non-academic factors in improving college retention. ACT Policy Report. Retrieved from http://ww.cfder.org/uploads/3/0/4/9/3049955/the_role_ofacademic_and_non_academic_factors_in_improving_college_retention.pdf.

Lynch-Holmes, K. (2015). Early alerts as a tool for student success: Defining what “good” looks like. Ellucian White Paper Series. Retrieved from http://www.ellucian.com/White-Papers/Early-alerts-as-a-tool-for-student-success/ .

The Glossary of Education Reform. (2013). At-risk. Retrieved January 4, 2017, from http://edglossary.org/at-risk/.

Varney, J. (2012). Proactive (intrusive) advising. Retrieved from http://www.ship.edu/uploadedFiles/Ship/Advising/Resources_for_Faculty/advisor_handbook/Proactive%20Advising%20Article.pdf.