Faculty encouraged to utilize student success tool; student progress survey now available

 

Ohio University faculty are encouraged to participate in the midterm progress survey within the MyOHIO Success Network that will provide insight to individual students taking their courses between Feb. 20 and March 6.

Faculty completion of this important survey will help their students to better understand the current status of their academic performance at this point in the semester. Faculty will be prompted to follow the survey instructions after logging into their MyOHIO Success Network portal. 

National data reveals that students who receive early class performance feedback improve in measures of student success and make better decisions about when they should drop a class. 

By faculty submitting these progress surveys on MyOHIO Success Network, students who are struggling, or succeeding, will receive important, personalized feedback from their professors regarding their academic progress thus far this semester. 

Tracking student progress via MyOHIO Success Network

MyOHIO Success Network is a student retention and resource tool mainly utilized for students in 1000 or 2000 level courses on all of OHIO’s campuses. The program is especially helpful for identifying students who are struggling by giving faculty members the to raise a concern regarding course performance with an individual student and connect them with available campus resources geared toward helping them attain their degree. 

Faculty members who are not currently utilizing the MyOHIO Success Network will find they can accomplish a great deal and connect with their students in a short amount of time. Through the program, faculty can review each of their courses, and each student’s progress within them, and identify if student is currently failing a course, missing assignments or whether there might be a class attendance problem. 

If a flag is raised on a student, the student receives a personalized email regarding the issue that details what the student’s next steps should be and who is available to help them. Jenny Klein, assistant dean for student persistence and success, explained that if an advisor followed up with a student on a flag they received and resolved the issue, everyone who was initially informed about the flag will also be notified.

Recognizing student success via MyOHIO Success Network

Faculty can also give kudos to students, complimenting their hard work. However, it’s not required that each student receives feedback — faculty can simply raise flags for struggling students, and provide personal suggestions for success, if they wish.

Todd Eisworth, associate professor and chair of OHIO’s Department of Mathematics, was one of more than 140 faculty members who have had a student speak with them about a concern they raised on the platform last semester. 

Eisworth said MyOHIO Success Network has been a “very effective” way of encouraging students to take action, as concerns raised in the program are communicated to advisors as well as students. This builds cross-campus communication in support of students. 

“This potentially gets more people involved in conversations, and helps identify students who may be struggling in several different courses,” Eisworth added. “It was also nice in that it let me easily compliment students for doing good work, and encourage them to keep it up. This is not always possible to do with standard email communications when one is teaching large classes.”

Chase Hill, a student in the College of Health Sciences and Professions, said MyOHIO Success Network changed his life. He added he was thankful for the program because it changed the way he approached his academics, and allowed him to create a connection with his professor that he was previously afraid to create.

“I would consider myself to be a professional person and I try to create a professional image for myself,” Hill explained. “When I received an email about my low performance in my class, it was almost embarrassing because it doesn't reflect the image that I try to maintain for myself.”

Additional information about the MyOHIO Success Network, including answers to frequently asked questions, is available online. 
 

Published
February 20, 2019
Author
Alaina Bartel