Educause Panel: Are All Alerts Created Equal?

A Discussion of the Efficacy of Alerts & Nudges with Colorado Mesa & Alabama A&M Universities.

For several decades, many studies have confirmed the effectiveness of early intervention, alerts, and early alert systems in improving student persistence and success.

Our panel discussion hosted by university IT and Institutional Research leaders from a state public institution (Colorado Mesa University) and an HBCU (Alabama A&M University) will elaborate on promising new enhanced analytical tools and the potential of automated at-risk alerts driven by timely location and behavioral data from the campus Wi-Fi network.

Our panelists understood that all at-risk alerts are not created equal. They wanted a deeper understanding of areas such as:

• What type of alerts require immediate response?
• How many alerts should trigger an intervention?
• Who should respond?
• Which type of alert (class attendance, on-campus time, dining time, time in academic spaces, etc.) is more significant?
• Does the time of the semester it was generated matter?

Our panelists will share their findings on the potential for automated alerts using Wi-Fi data to predict student persistence and provide practical strategies for encouraging student engagement. 

This is a longer version of our Educause Panel delivered on October 18, 2023. The full-length version is available below: