• Course Location
    The RETAIN pilot for Spring 2011 includes all faculty from Texas Campus, Continental Campus, and Distance Learning.
  • Terms included.  Surveys are sent separately.
    • Jan 10 - May 6
    • Feb 7 - Apr 8
    • Mar 7 - May 6
    • Mar 7 - Jun3
    • Mar 7 - July 1
    • Apr 11 - Jun3
    • Apr 11 - Jul 1






RETAIN Early Alert Warning System
Faculty Instructions: Example - Part I

 


Hello Professor {#Last Name#},

Please read through this entire email for complete information.

Central Texas College is dedicated to increasing student retention.  January 2010, CTC purchased the nationally recognized automated email software from Hobsons- RETAIN - to increase communication efforts to students.  Implementation began with 14 faculty members during the summer and increased to 26 members in the fall.  The implementation plan for the spring 2011 semester includes all Continental, Distance Learning, and Texas campus faculty members in pre-selected course dates (Example Jan 10 – May 6).  You are receiving this email as an integral participant in CTC’s student retention efforts. 


RETAIN consists of three main tools:  automated email for departmental use, Early Alert Warning System for identification of at-risk students, and data tracking.  The survey included in this email is part of the Early Warning System.  The data produced will be reported at the end of each semester. 


This email includes your survey for the semester listed below and provides instruction on how to use the Early Alert Warning System.  For additional information, examples, and Q&A click on the following link - http://www.ctcd.edu/retention/earlyalert.html .   You can also navigate to the link on the CTC website Faculty and Staff tab, under Teaching, click on Retention. 

 

Survey Course Dates:  25%,    Mar 7 – May 6
Survey Expiration Date (Eastern Standard Time):  April 6th 11:00 PM
Survey Link

 

For each course start-end date, faculty will receive two emails that include the faculty survey:  at the 25% and 50% completion of each course.   Faculty will click on the survey link in the email bringing up their current course rosters.  Students can be identified in either of two at-risk categories:


attendance – lack of attendance that specifically results in a possible overall grade of F or W.
academic – low grades in assignments, quizzes, tests, etc. that specifically results in a possible overall grade of F or W.

DO NOT mark anything on students that are no longer or have never been on your class rosters.


Due to the timeliness of student emails, faculty have one week to complete the surveys. 

 

After the expiration date in the faculty survey, the RETAIN software creates a collective list of all students identified from the specific faculty survey (For example:  25% of the Jan 10-May 6 course dates) and automatically sends the identified students an email that includes the alert type, course, and professor.  An updated example can be viewed on the CTC website mentioned above.   NOTE:  Once you have marked a student with an alert and the expiration date has expired, the automated system does not allow for any intervention.  Effectively this communication is directly between you and the students that you identified. 

 

Detailed Instructions

  1. A survey is sent to your colleague primary email twice – once at 25% and the other at 50% completion of each course.

  2. You will click on the survey link, which is located inside the body of the email, to view your class roster(s), (term start-end date specific).

  3. Inside each class roster, you will see a list of students (including those who dropped prior to the course start date and those that withdrew during the course – ignore these).  You will also see two alert types (Academic and Attendance). Choose all that apply for each student that you consider at-risk of not successfully completing your course. Next you will see a comment box, adding comments are very helpful and highly encouraged.

  4. Once comments and alerts have been notated for each student considered at-risk, the completed roster must be saved and finalized before exiting. 

  5. Students that you identified in either of the two alert types will receive an email one day after the expiration date in your survey automatically. The email includes your name, course title, and the alert type you selected.  It also encourages them to contact you.  Additional resource links are also included. 

  6. Identification of self-paced students that you consider at-risk of not successfully completing your course is at the discretion of the individual faculty member.  The student email example, which includes a paragraph for the self-paced student, is on the CTC website Faculty and Staff tab, under Teaching, click Retention.  http://www.ctcd.edu/retention/retainexamples_students.html

  7. DO NOT identify any student in prison populations or dual-credit high school classes.

  8. If an entire class roster is not yours, select save and do not mark anything.  Notify the Worldwide Retention Coordinator at 254-526-1650.  Classes that were created, but did not ‘make’ are still included – ignore these.
 

Pop-ups     Must be allowed during the survey.

SAVE/Finalize     Must click on finalize with or without alerts checked.

Expiration     Date survey will expire.

Comments     Students cannot see your comments.

 


Retention takes a village!

Sherri MacWillie
Coordinator - Worldwide Retention
Sherri.macWillie@ctcd.edu
254-526-1650
Bldg 139, Rm 199