excerpt from Academic Alert Procedure Manual: Faculty Responsibilites

Academic Alert Referral Procedure:  Faculty Responsibilities

Who to Alert

Preference if given to Academic Alert Referrals for 1000 and 2000 level courses but upper level courses will be considered as time allows. The Academic Alert System is also open to courses administered through the Austin Peay Center at Fort Campbell and to Web-based classes.

 Faculty are encouraged to submit an Academic Alert Referral for any student enrolled in their 1000 and 2000 level courses who shows signs of deficient academic progress or who have a grade below a C. See Figure 2 on page 9.

What to Alert

The Academic Alert Referral Form contains a list of predefined Issues from which Faculty may choose based on each individual student’s performance. Academic Alert Referrals may be sent only for the Issues listed on the Academic Alert Referral Form. Academic Alert Referrals may be sent for students who exhibit one of more of the following Issues:

• Poor attendance
• Habitual tardiness
• Lack of engagement/participation in class
• Late or missing assignments
• Poor quality of assignments
• Writing Skills not at the level required for success in this course
• Low quiz/test scores
• Inadequate/underdeveloped foundational academic skills (reading, writing, content background)
• Ineffective study skills, time management skills, organizational skills
• Inappropriate classroom behavior that is disruptive to learning environment*
• Grade below a C.

*Faculty who wish to submit an Academic Alert Referral for a student who exhibits disruptive classroom behavior must also send an additional email to the Academic Alert Coordinator describing the student’s behavior in detail or call the Coordinator with an explanation.

When to Alert

The Academic Alert Coordinator announces the opening of the Academic Alert Referral for each semester and term through “the gov says,” the University wide internet announcement board. Faculty should be mindful of these dates, and submit Academic Alert Referrals at the first sign of deficient academic progress. An early alert provides the student and the Office of Academic Alert with more time to develop a solution to the student’s academic issues. It is especially important to closely monitor students who have a high risk of academic failure such as students who have been conditionally admitted or are returning on Academic Probation or from Suspension.

Student Contact Procedure

(Please note at bottom of this section special procedures for Ft Campbell Referrals.)

Standard Procedure

The Office of Academic Alert follows specific contact procedures for each Academic Alert Referral. When Faculty submit Academic Alert Referrals, the Academic Alert System within INB generates an email. The Academic Alert email is sent to the alerted student’s APMail account, to the APSU 1000 instructor if that student is currently enrolled in APSU 1000, to the Academic Advisor, and to the Academic Alert email account at academicalert@apsu.edu. The student’s copy of the Academic Alert Referral is considered the initial contact.

The Student Contact Procedure begins when the Academic Alert email reaches the Academic Alert email account Inbox. The following steps are performed for each Academic Alert Referral.

• On Monday and Thursday of each week an ARGOS report is run which contains all students alerted since the last report
• Three business days after the Academic Alert Referral Report is run if the alerted students have not responded a telephone call is made to each student. 
• If the student is not reached or does not respond to telephone messages left for the student within three business days, a second generic email is sent asking him or her to contact the Academic Alert Coordinator.
• Three days after sending the student email, if the alerted student has not responded, a letter is mailed to each student.  
• If the alerted students do not respond to the letter after five a Faculty notification email is sent to the alerting Faculty. The Faculty Notification email informs the instructor that the all attempts to contact the student were made with no success
• NOTE: A face-to-face appointment with the Academic Alert Coordinator is offered to all students.

Special Case Procedures

Fort Campbell Students

Fort Campbell terms are condensed into accelerated 8 week terms, i.e. Fort Campbell Spring I (8 weeks) and Spring II (8 weeks). One week of classes for a Main Campus student is the equivalent of 2 weeks for a Fort Campbell student. Because of the accelerated nature of the Fort Campbell terms, it is critical that the Academic Alert Student Contact Procedure be accelerated accordingly. If an Academic Alert Referral Report contains Fort Campbell students, the letters are generated and mailed the same day the report is run. Telephone calls are also attempted the same day. If a Fort Campbell student has not contacted the Office of Academic Alert after 3 days (Thursday for a Monday report and Tuesday for a Thursday

The above time table for contacting alerts is under ideal conditions. During certain periods of the semester and term the large number of alerts received may delay this process by several days.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ALERTED STUDENTS

When a student is contacted, either in person, over the telephone, or by email, the Academic Alert Coordinator and/or support staff member will discuss possible resources to address the Issues listed in the student’s Academic Alert Referral.  Possible  recommendations and referrals are

APSU  RESOURCES

ACADEMIC SUPPORT CENTER INCLUDING THE WRITING LAB

(http://www.apsu.edu/academic_support_center/)

CLASSROOM RESOURCES

Instructor  The first recommendation for alerted student should be to speak to their course Instructor. The Instructor knows the most about the course requirements and the student’s relative performance in regard to those requirements. The student should meet with the instructor during the instructor’s office hours.

Fellow Classmates  Set up a study group with fellow classmates. Fellow classmates can be an invaluable resource, especially if a student has had attendance problems. Fellow classmates can provide alerted students with make-up notes, extra notes, and alternate explanations of concepts.

ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT RESOURCES

Tutoring  (Some Academic Departments offer tutoring outside of the Academic Support Center.)

Academic Advisor in Major Department

APSU 1000 (If a student is enrolled in an APSU 1000 course, the Academic Alert Coordinator may refer a student to their APSU 1000 Instructor or Peer Mentor for assistance with issues addressed in the APSU 1000 course curriculum.)

APSU MILITARY STUDENT CENTER

COMPUTER HELP DESK

CENTER FOR EXTENDED AND DISTANCE EDUCATION

MULTIMEDIA LAB

OFFICE OF CAREER SERVICES

OFFICE OF DISABILITY SERVICES

DEAN OF STUDENTS

STUDENT HEALTH SERVICES

TRiO   STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES

COUNSELING CENTER

CULTURE CENTERS

            AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURAL CENTER

            HISPANIC CULTURAL CENTER

COMMUNITY SERVICES:    CTA (Clarksville Transit Service); Tennessee Child Care Resource and Referral Network; Montgomery County Health Department, Salvation Army