Faculty may receive requests for feedback on the academic progress of specific students through a feature in Navigate360 called Progress Reports up to twice per semester. This page provides context and information to help faculty understand what information is being requested and why, what happens with the information provided, and why this process is critical.
Who oversees the progress report process?
Student Success and Academic Advising!
What are we asking for?
This is a pulse check on student progress in your courses, similar to Roll Call, but at the 1/4 and 3/4 mark of the semester. One additional difference between progress reports and Roll Call grades is that you can provide additional information if you choose to do so. When you see the list of students we are asking for feedback on, you can choose to report on all students, or just students you see are doing exceptionally well or those you are concerned about already.
- For those who you are concerned about, we only need to know which students are currently on track to earn a C- or below in your class. You’ll have the option to mark whether you have a “moderate academic concern” or “major academic concern” for these students, give an estimate of their current grade, and include any additional comments.
- You also have the option to recognize your students doing outstanding work and on track to earn an A or A- by selecting “kudos” for these individuals.
- For students in the middle, you can simply submit the progress report without providing feedback on these individuals.
Please only select a maximum of one alert reason (kudos/moderate academic concern/major academic concern) per student.
Who are we asking for feedback on?
Unlike Roll Call, we are only asking for feedback for students we are most concerned about. This includes students in their first semester at Dickinson, students with a cumulative GPA that puts them on academic probation or close to that range, and others who have faced (known) academic and personal challenges this semester. Later in the semester, it also includes students who received multiple "U" grades at roll call or were missing a grade a roll call. This targeted outreach helps us support the students at highest academic risk on campus.
Note: If there are other students you have concerns about who are not listed on the progress reports, please contact advising@dickinson.edu or careteam@dickinson.edu, depending on the nature of your concern, and we will coordinate care for those students.
When should I submit feedback by?
Progress reports are generally open for one week. Please refer to the original email for each progress report for the specific deadline.
Why are progress reports important?
This progress report gives students who are at risk of earning a low grade timely reminders to connect with you and utilize resources. At the 1/4 mark, the goal is to give students early feedback while they have plenty of time to change their trajectory. At the 3/4 mark, the goal is to help students create a plan to successfully complete the semester, including considering a course withdrawal if necessary. Furthermore, the information submitted from progress reports allows the Student Success & Academic Advising team to pull together holistic information on students who are at the highest risk at the college. We can use the combination of reports from multiple classes along with other information such as CARE team reports to help determine which students need more encouragement and reminders to utilize support services. Progress reports help us proactively support students to help them adjust where they are headed for the semester. While we have limited data at this point, we have seen a declining number of students on academic probation each semester since we started utilizing progress reports, which may be due in part to the proactive support provided through this process.
What happens with the feedback I provide?
After you submit your progress report feedback, students who you have marked as a moderate or major academic concern will receive an automated email to connect them with further resources. The email will include your name and the course name, but it will NOT include your estimated grade or comments. The email suggests they connect with you during office hours, connect with their advisor, and utilize other resources as appropriate including the Multilingual Writing Center, the Quantitative Reasoning Center, PACT, SOAR, and Student Success & Academic Advising. After progress reports close, the Student Success & Academic Advising staff will look for further patterns to highlight which students we are most concerned about, particularly taking into account how their situation looks if they’ve received multiple academic concerns. For the students who appear to be most at risk, in close coordination with our CARE team, we will attempt to meet with them in person to discuss a plan to change their trajectory for the semester, including utilizing resources as needed.
For students you have marked with a kudos, they will receive an automated email celebrating the good work they have done so far and encouraging them to keep it up for the remainder of the semester.
Who can see the feedback I provide?
When you submit a progress report for a student, their advisor will receive a notification including the alert reason (kudos/moderate academic concern/major academic concern) and comments. (For student athletes, their head coach will also receive a notification. For POSSE students, their POSSE mentor will also receive a notification.) Alert reasons and comments are available within Navigate only to limited faculty and staff who have administrator permissions or a specific connection to that student (e.g., their advisor, coach, etc.). Progress report comments and estimated grades cannot be viewed by students.
What if I have more questions?
The Navigate team and Student Success & Academic Advising team are here to help if you have technical issues or questions about this process. Email navigate@dickinson.edu and/or advising@dickinson.edu, and we’re happy to help however we can.
Thank you for everything you do and for being such extraordinary partners as we continuously work together to build better ways to support our students, holistically.