Making Progress with Academic Progress Reporting

A Customized Tool for Faculty and Advisors

Your Presenters

Tyneka L. Harris• Current Project Leader for the VP of Student Affairs

– 14 departments

• Technical Liaison between the division and the University

• At DePaul for 6.5 years (previously a Research Analyst)

• BS & MS in Computer Science

Michael Wright

• Senior Director for Student Records

• At DePaul for 4.5 years

• MA in Higher Education Administration

Overview

See how a collaborative effort between Student Records, Student Affairs, Information Services and the academic colleges at DePaul University results in a PeopleSoft customization that allows for an integrated approach to student academic progress tracking and advising.

Agenda/Contents• Background• Current System

– Faculty View– Advisor View– Admin View– Student View

• Change Management• Challenges• Without PeopleSoft• Questions

DePaul University

• Founded in 1898

• One of the largest

private, largest Catholic

• Over 25, 000 active

students (16,000

undergraduate)

• 10 schools/colleges

• 10-week quarter system

More Facts: http://www.depaul.edu/about/key_facts/

BACKGROUNDProgress Reporting Before PeopleSoft

Background• Specialized Populations Only

– Multicultural Student Affairs (online application)– Program for students with Learning Disabilities (online/paper

form)– Athletic Academic Advising (paper form)

• Students gave consent for academic tracking

• Staff conducted individualized interventions

Background - Issues

• Duplicate Requests to Faculty (student crossover)

• Decentralized Report Data• Isolated Advising Methods• Cumbersome Reporting View (1 page

per student )

Background – Collaboration

Student Affairs

(2006-Present)

• Athletic Academic Advising• Multicultural Student Affairs• PLuS Program (learning

disabilities)

Office of Student Records

Information Services

Background – Collaboration

Academic Affairs

(2009-Present)

• College of Commerce• College of Communications• College of Computing & Digital Media• College of Liberal Arts & Social

Sciences• College of Health & Science• School for New Learning• School of Education• School of Music• The Theatre School• First-Year Academic Success (FYAS)• Honors Program• Office of Academic Advising Support

Student Affairs

(2006-Present)

• Athletic Academic Advising• Multicultural Student Affairs• PLuS Program (learning

disabilities)

Office of Student Records

Information Services

Background - Solution

• Defined report structure for all departments

• Submitted a request to Information Services

• Worked with IS for 1 year to develop a custom system for Student Affairs (version 1.0)

• Costs: time & effort of staff involved

Other areas heard about the APR and asked to join

Background - Solution

• Submitted a request to Information Services– APR System version 2.0 built for Student Affairs &

Academic Affairs

• Current system since Fall 2009• Core Team drives system requirements• Advisor Group (~ 50)• System Administrator (1)• Inbox (AcademicProgress@depaul.edu – 2

admins)

CURRENT SYSTEMAcademic Progress Reporting in PeopleSoft

Current System• One Request per Student to Faculty

– Faculty receive one request for students in multiple groups

• Centralized Report Data– All submitted data stored in University System (PS)– Reporting on the overall system possible

• Simplified Reporting View– One line per student view reporting (entire roster in

one view)– Faculty can flag students they are concerned about

• Integrated Advising Methods– Quarterly Advising Meetings– Advising Materials shared via Group site– Hierarchy for advising (primary vs secondary

contact)

Current System - TimelineWeeks 1-3 of the Quarter• APR advisor meeting• FYI Communication sent to all faculty and deans• All populations added to their respective student group in the system

Weeks 4-6 of the Quarter• Application Live• APR invitation and reminder e-mails go out to faculty with students in

the system• Department & College Staff review submitted reports & reach out to

students• Students receive e-mails if they have reports to view• Application closes at the end of week 6

Week 8 of the Quarter• Thank you e-mail to all faculty and deans

Current SystemCompleted Report Stats• Reports per term: ~7000• Students per term: ~4000 (1/4 UGRD popn.)

• Faculty per term: ~620• Classes per term: ~ 1050

On average, a report is receive for about 50% of the courses.

Opportunities

Reporting• Predictive Studies (APR grade vs Final Grade)

Increase Student Participation• Initiatives to get students to respond• Grant students access to reports from

faculty

Current SystemFinal grades earned typically equal to or a grade higher than grade reported at the midpoint (80% of the time) for those APRs with midpoint grades indicated.

20

09

-20

10

Extracted from 2009-2010 APR report by Jaclyn Cameron, Institutional Research & Market Analytics

FACULTY VIEWAcademic Progress Reporting

Screenshots

If Faculty have students to report on, the APR icon appears

Faculty View

Once in the system, A tutorial can be accessed.

Faculty can use student photos to jog their memory

Faculty View

Faculty View

Removes ‘Missed Classes’ Column

Faculty View

Screenshots

Faculty don’t have to submit for all students

Faculty View

Screenshots

#Naspatech15: Student Affairs Technology Conference | October 27-29, 2011 | Newport, Rhode Island

Faculty View

ADVISOR VIEWAcademic Progress Reporting

Screenshots

• Search for reports from faculty based on multiple criteria

• Immediately find students that have been “flagged” by their instructors for academic reasons

Advisor View

The results from the search page allow advisors to know whether their student has another advisor at the University and whether the student has been contacted by that person.

Advisors can sort by letter grade to find students who are reported as having C or below at the mid-point of the quarter

PDFs and excel spreadsheets of data can be downloaded for sharing and analysis

Advisor View

Advisors can Communicate with advisees, primary academic advisors and faculty through the tool

Advisor View

Advisors can save a PDF of the report as a document

Advisor View

Advisor View

Advisors can• Write and share notes on students• Track their attempted and successful contact of students

Advisor View

ADMIN VIEWAcademic Progress Reporting

Process Student Groups –Add students to student groups by predefined criteria

APR Schedule Set-up – System availability & communications

APR Send Email Process – Schedule APR communications

Student Group Hierarchy – Define primary group affiliation

Admin View

Admin can set the trigger dates for the system every term

Admin View

PS Mailer messages

Admin View

STUDENT VIEWAcademic Progress Reporting

Student View

Student View

Change Management

• Advisors: APR advisor meeting, APR e-mail address• Faculty: APR e-mail address• Core Team considers and creates list of possible

enhancements• New Request form submitted for enhancements• IS & SR work together to perform system enhancements• Enhancements are tested by Core Team, Advisors and

Faculty• Enhancements are made live by next possible Go-Live date

Challenges

• Defining faculty report format• Identifying advisors within academic

areas• Troubleshooting with faculty• Establishing regular reports/metrics• Encouraging more faculty to report• Encouraging students to respond

What if I don’t have PS?

• Know what’s possible in-house• Choose a tool/solution that is scalable• Communicate the Initiative (retention implications)• Partner with Advisors in Academic Affairs• Don’t collect more than you can act on• Constantly collect feedback from stakeholders• Study Metrics (midterm vs final grades, retention

rates)

Questions?

Contact• Tyneka L. Harris

– Project Leader– Office of the VP for Student Affairs– DePaul University– E-mail: tharris6@depaul.edu

• Michael Wright– Senior Director for Student Records– Email: mwrigh21@depaul.edu