Faculty and Staff Resources
Faculty and staff are a critical component of the institutional mission to retain, and ultimately graduate, students. Research shows that faculty provide a tremendous influence in a student’s decision to stay in school.
To help support and strengthen this commitment, the Office of Academic Success provides you with a variety of resources and tools. We hope that you will utilize them and aid in our philosophy that “Graduation Starts Today.”
Start-Up Student Success
Research suggests that quality faculty interaction is a critical factor in student success. Start-Up Student Success is a recommended set of simple activities for faculty to utilize during the first four weeks of the semester that will greatly enhance your student’s opportunity for success.
- Require attendance for the first four weeks of the semester.
- Get to know the names of every student in your class.
- Ensure that students understand what is expected of them to achieve success in the class.
- Establish learning communities within the class setting. You can also encourage students to utilize messaging systems within Blackboard to set up their own learning communities or study groups.
- Have assessments/graded assignments within the first few weeks in order to provide feedback to students about how they are doing in your course.
- Raise a flag or a Kudo in Starfish to demonstrate the support for students who are struggling as well as those who have achieved success.
- Participate in the EASE program early. Within the first five weeks, we would like for faculty to assess
student success in the course and raise concerns as soon as they are evident. Concerns include low
performance and attendance, poor performance, and being at risk of failing the course.
EASE Program
EASE stands for the Edwardsville Academic Success Evaluation. This is a process that faculty utilize to communicate to students, academic advisors, and success coaches about issues the student is having in the course that could impact student success in the course. The evaluation is done through the Starfish Retention platform. Within Starfish, faculty provide information regarding the student’s current grade, attendance issues, and other areas that may hinder a student from being successful.
Student Success Coaches, in collaboration with advising units and other departments on campus, will work with students to create a plan for academic and personal success.
How does EASE work?
The 5th week of every semester, an email is sent to all faculty members notifying them that the EASE assessment has started. On the assessment, faculty will be able to provide information regarding any student’s grade, attendance, or other information for staff members to follow up.
Staff members will then work with the student to address the issues in the class, create an action plan to increase their success in the course, or adjust the student’s course schedule to help the student be academically
successful during that term.
Please view this EASE Video to get more information about the EASE assessment.
Whom do I contact with questions?
Kelly Atkins, EdD, is the Director of Academic Success and oversees the EASE program. She can be reached at 618-650-3345 if a faculty member has any questions about how the EASE program or process.
