Benefits to Advisors  Provides early feedback for timely advisor intervention

1. The Role of Academic Advising in Campus-Wide Early Intervention Strategies ECU Early Alert Effective fall 2011, ECU implemented a new academic early alert tool (Starfish Retention Solutions™) and intervention process. Through Starfish, faculty can inform students of their academic performance within a course and connect students to appropriate support resources. Since implementation, the following notifications have been raised: Academic Advising and Starfish™ National Academic Advising Association President, Charlie Nutt (2003), suggests that advising is a central part of retention. A major focus of advising is connecting students to campus resources. Through Starfish notifications, advisors are informed of student progress which provides opportunities for early intervention. Starfish helps advisors be the “go-to” resource for students on campus. Research Methodology Professional and faculty academic advisors were surveyed to gauge Starfish usage. Focus groups were held with both advisor populations to examine trends within their follow-up strategies and perceptions of Starfish effectiveness. Conclusions Results yielded opportunities for further advisor development and strategies for intrusive intervention. Differences in the utilization of Starfish between professional and faculty advisors exist in follow-up methods, number of interactions, and overall perspective. • Benefits to Advisors •  Provides early feedback for timely advisor intervention •  Facilitates advisor-advisee relationships •  Increases collaboration between advisor, faculty, and • support services •  Allows advisor to connect advisees to campus resources •  More honest and forthcoming conversations • Expressed Concerns •  Fosters a lack of independence/hand-holding •  Perpetuates the need for affirmation/”pat on the back” •  Notification volume limits advisor responsiveness •  Shows inconsistencies in instructor notification criteria •  Faculty notifications lack descriptive feedback • Future Goals •  Expand education faculty on advisor usage is necessary • to maximize intervention strategies •  Further educate advisors on importance of • monitoring and following-up •  Provide advanced Starfish training to advisors for more • efficient and effective intervention •  Increase student awareness of Starfish I use Starfish on a daily basis. This is a wonderful tool for advisors to have so we can keep track of our advisees and to lend them advice and resources when they are struggling. This helps advisors reach out to students in need and hopefully prevents them from failing a course. I appreciate how Starfish notifies advisors about the academic progress of their advisees. When I receive notifications for my advisees, I am able to reach out to these students and identify possible resources which may assist them in succeeding in the identified class.