After the Early Signaling pilot program debuted earlier this semester, administrators have gathered statistics about the program and received feedback. According to Vice President for Enrollment Management Bill Conley, 113 faculty members in 283 courses generated 7,326 signals on 2,660 students.

The Early Signaling program was initiated by the University’s Degree Completion Working Group, including faculty, staff, and administrators. The purpose of the program is to notify students about their progress before midterm grades, based on the criteria of academic behaviors instead of academic performance. Conley and the deans of the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Engineering were instrumental in the creation of this program.

“I spent some time talking to students about the fact that the signals represent academic behaviors, not academic performance like midterm grades. I think as we use the system in the future, faculty and students will adjust more to the different intent between Early Signals and midterm grades,” Associate Dean of Engineering Karen Marosi said.

Professors were encouraged to use a web program to give students a green, yellow, or red light signal based on the first four weeks of class. Students with red and yellow signals were notified and suggested to meet with academic resources, such as professors and deans.

“I personally feel that the interactions I had with students who responded to my emails about the signals resulted in good conversations about how they might use university resources and improve their academic habits,” Marosi said.

While the working group has not yet solicited formal feedback about the program, Marosi and Conley said that they have received positive feedback from faculty and students so far.

“From a technology standpoint, the program was well-received, as we did not hear of any problems with inputting the signals,” Conley said.

According to Conley, the Degree Completion Working Group will discuss what they learned from the first semester of the program and subsequently prepare to implement the Early Signaling program for the spring 2015 semester.