Comments on: A new perspective on Course Progress Notifications

By: Roberto Suarez

Roberto Suarez — Wed, 22 Jan 2020 18:22:01 +0000

Ron, in response to your comment, I included in the article a link to the templates I currently use when I reach out to students. If those examples don’t meet your needs then I’m happy to meet with you to help you craft a more suitable statement.

By: Jacinta Galeai

Jacinta Galeai — Tue, 21 Jan 2020 22:40:02 +0000

Great topic! I add my own comments and I’ve seen the difference- students responding to the personal comments rather than the canned ones. I also agree that students read these more than the emails as they do look official. I’ll keep experimenting with more personal comments rather than using the given ones. Thank you !

By: Usha Ramanujam

Usha Ramanujam — Sun, 19 Jan 2020 19:30:30 +0000

Great post Roberto! I use CPNs during week 1 on Thursday evenings to those students who do not complete intro assignments. In the message I alert them that failure to submit the assignments will result in getting dropped as a ‘no show’.
Sending CPNs so early in the term, especially with a personal message, definitely gets better attention than emails and many students respond very quickly as well as complete the assignments. CPNs are very effective to reduce ‘no shows’. I do send congratulatory CPNs around the middle of the term and should be definitely sending more of them. Perhaps the subject line can be programmed to be different for a congratulatory vs. concerning CPN.

By: Ron Bekey

Ron Bekey — Fri, 17 Jan 2020 06:53:47 +0000

Roberto, thank you for your thoughtful and helpful post. I have been doing something similar, reaching out early in the term (I just sent 3 CPNs this week to students who were missing most of the first assignment). I have one question: Would you be willing to share one of the messages you send early in the term to students who are not doing well? I am interested in seeing how you start with positive comments, and express your concern while still being encouraging. I have struggled with writing that kind of message.

By: Roberto Suarez

Roberto Suarez — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 20:59:18 +0000

Bryan, I agree that email would be equally effective. In fact what the CPN tool does is send an email to students. But just to clarify this isn’t any new software requiring licenses. This is the tool we built at PCC years ago that is currently available to all faculty. My issue is that I never felt it was an effective tool until I adopted these practices with it.

Thanks for your feedback!

By: Andrea Hills

Andrea Hills — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 16:58:21 +0000

Thank you for that info Andy. At the same department meeting I noted in my first comment, a Cascade advisor was walking us through various student scenarios, and he pointed out that a big shortcoming of the CPNs was that they do not go to an advisor unless the student is in a particular program or passes the CPN along themselves. Having a system where the advisor is part of the equation from the beginning will be big improvement in offering more wrap-around support for students.

By: Andy Freed

Andy Freed — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 14:52:36 +0000

Hi Andrea, I’ll see if I can get an official update about the early alert pilot from Fall. Per Bryan’s concern, the software is something we already license called EAB Navigate. It does far more than just CPN/Early Alert and is a much more holistic student support tool that will at some point connect many (if not al) of the student support services and was adopted to support the Advising Redesign efforts.

Both CPN and Early Alert will still have the option to deliver the message via email (or text if the student opts for that). But it will do one step better in that the student’s assigned advisor will be able to see both kudos and notes of concern that instructors may be sending to the student. One goal of early alerts programs like this is that there can be collaborative support for a student that includes all of the student’s instructors, their advisor, tutors, and more. Faculty remain the most direct connection with the student during the term on a day to day basis, but the academic advisor is hopefully along for the student’s entire tenure with the college.

By: Kerry Pataki

Kerry Pataki — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 08:44:32 +0000

That was certainly my experience: Since the canned options were too absolute and constraining. I wrote statements for my students who needed some sort of reminder, and some of them replied with thanks. I recall when the idea of CPNs was moved at the EAC (I was on it) a number of years ago, and there was considerable debate. Some did not want them at all, seeing it as a sort of criticism of the student. The need for constructive comments won, and we passed the motion. Et alors, CPNs.

By: Andrea Hills

Andrea Hills — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 05:00:09 +0000

Thoughtful post Roberto; I enjoyed the variety of ideas of ways to make the CPN tool more personal, which seems especially helpful for online students who are the recipients of canned responses far too often. I send mid-term CPNs to students who are are not passing and add in my own personal comments, but I haven’t thought of just leaving off the pre-written messages, which show up first and set the “you’re failing” tone before a student sees my comments.

In response to bryan, there was just a discussion at my department meeting last week about CPNs, and many of us agreed that students will often read a CPN vs. an email as it catches their attention. Also, it seems like a more official format when a student on academic probation needs a progress report for an advisor.

I am curious about Andy’s end note that writing faculty are working on a new Early Warning pilot as I am a writing instructor (adjunct), and I have not heard anything about this project. Is there any other info available yet?

By: bryan

bryan — Tue, 14 Jan 2020 02:47:08 +0000

You can call me Mr. Wet Blanket, but I’m not sure you need a special software to do what you are talking about here, Roberto. Couldn’t you just use e-mail? It matters … because with each new license we pay for, we increase the cost of non-instructional line items, and I’d rather save all the money we can for faculty positions, advisors, and the like.