Student Success & Engagement

To ensure that students and designated staff members receive accurate information about students’ progress, faculty will need to update grades in Blackboard prior to the alert deadlines.

The Watermark Engagement system relies heavily upon faculty entering accurate data in order to trigger a notice to students and staff members. Reminders to faculty will go out ahead of each Grade Alert deadline. Faculty should ensure that the course average/total is displaying the correct percentage. Faculty are encouraged to follow progress on students in their classes. In the Settings at the top right corner of the Watermark Engagement dashboard, faculty can select the option to get regular student updates through the Daily Digest.

An alert is simply a referral for a campus office to address an outstanding student issue or question. There are two types of alerts: Manual/Early Alerts and Automated Alerts. Manual/Early Alerts are manually submitted by faculty or staff when they notice a student is struggling or having a personal issue. Manual/Early Alerts are not viewable to students. The Manual/Early Alert option through Watermark Engagement is replacing the previous Early Alert form that was previously utilized to report students who were at academic risk.  Automated Alerts are sent out to both students and designated staff members based on the data that imports into the system.

 
Automatic Alerts

• Automatically sent throughout the semester
• Dependent upon faculty to enter grades in Blackboard and attendance in Self-Service
• Viewable on the Watermark Engagement Dashboard and Daily Digest Email
• Student receives this alert

Manual/Early Alerts

• Sent by a staff member when they encounter a struggling student
• Must be manually entered
• Will create an instant email to the designated contact
• Viewable on the Watermark Engagement Dashboard and Daily Digest email depending on the privacy setting of the alert type
• Student never receives this alert

If a student is struggling in your course or if you have any other concerns about a student, please submit an alert. You can submit an alert by clicking on your roster from the Watermark Engagement homepage. Use the checkbox next to the student’s name and select the alert button at the top of your screen. A pop-up alert box will appear. The drop-down allows you to select the alert type. In the text, you can write why you are creating an alert on the student’s behalf. It is okay to submit more than one alert if the student continues to struggle.

The most common used alert types are “Academic Concern” and the referrals to a specific office. If the alert is regarding a student’s mental health or personal issue, it should always be directed to Counseling. The “Counseling” alert types are private, and the information is kept confidential within the Counseling team. If you are submitting an alert for a student who is not submitting assignments or is having academic performance issues, the “Academic Concern” type is appropriate for these situations. Regardless of the alert type, students do not see Manual/Early Alerts in Watermark Engagement.

Notes and manual/early alerts are not visible to students within the system, but they may be considered part of the student’s academic record. When appropriate, inform the student that you are submitting a referral on their behalf before sending an alert. Ensure that the comments in the alert are factual and objective, avoiding any statements based on feelings or biases. It is important to submit a manual alert as soon as you notice a student struggling, as it becomes difficult for an alert coordinator to provide effective support if the student is already past the point of making up work or has missed too many classes. Submitting multiple alerts for the same student is acceptable.

Students will receive automated alerts, along with notifications sent to their assigned academic advisor, core advisor, and success coach. Faculty and staff who are “followers” of the student will also receive these alerts, depending on their personal settings. The automated alert is for a student to take action, but any member of the student’s success team may reach out to the student.

Automated low-grade alerts are triggered three times during the semester. Students with a grade below 70 will receive these alerts, encouraging them to seek assistance. The alerts are scheduled before the withdrawal deadlines to help students make informed decisions about whether to withdraw.