Early Alert Referral
What is EARLY ALERT?
The Early Alert academic program is a team effort by ECC faculty, administrators and support staff to boost student retention and graduation rates. The referral process continues throughout the semester up to the tenth week; however, the first four weeks are critical for student retention and success.
Objectives
- Increase retention in class enrollment
- Increase success rate ("C" or better)
- Formalize the partnership between ECC student services and faculty to impact student success
- Increase an awareness of institutional and community resources
- Increase student success and create positive student development
EARLY ALERT identifies students who have:
- Not attended or are consistently late to class
- Low participation/motivation
- Poor quality of work
- Late/missing assignments
- Low exam quiz scores
- Other: academic difficulty due to personal issues outside the classroom (transportation, childcare, etc.)
Process for EARLY ALERT
Faculty
- Faculty who wish to participate in the Early Alert system may want add a statement to their syllabus indicating that they intend to use Early Alerts.
- Suggested Wording - This class will be participating in the “Early Alert program” at Elgin Community College. The Early Alert Program is designed to promote Student Success. If I notice that you are experiencing difficulties early in the semester (low test scores, or poor attendance), for example, I may mail a notification to you through the “Early Alert” program. My letter will express my concern, request that you meet with me, and refer you to helpful campus resources.
- Faculty identify students experiencing academic difficulties (attendance/tardiness, participation/motivation, quality of work, late/missing assignments, low exam/quiz scores and others) early in the semester.
- Faculty make referrals for specific students via the Early Alert web-based program through AccessECC. Download instructions
- A letter will be generated to alert the referred students and encourage them to contact their professors with follow- up intervention by case managers as needed.
Students
When a student receives an Early Alert letter, he/she needs to know the following:
- The Early Alert letter does not mean that a student will fail and it will not be reflected on an academic transcript.
- The letter means that the instructor is concerned about certain specific issues (late or missing assignments, low exam quiz scores, poor attendance and other issues) that might be a roadblock to the student's success.
The student should speak to his/her instructor about resolving an issue identified in an Early Alert letter.