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Early Alerts

Miami University offers the Early Alert initiative to help students stay on track in their classes. Faculty issue early alerts during the first few weeks of the semester, before midterms. 

Early Alerts help students answer the question “How am I doing?” early in the semester so their Student Success Team can help them overcome any barriers on their academic path. As a faculty member, your support of this initiative is critical.

Alerts can be submitted in two ways through Navigate for Staff and Faculty: 

Early Alert Progress Report: Alerts submitted through a Progress Report, which is a request sent through Navigate and emailed to faculty of specific courses seeking feedback about student performance. Early alerts are submitted during the fourth and fifth week of the fall and spring semesters. 

Ad Hoc Alert: Alerts that can be submitted through the “Issue an Alert” button in Navigate at any point during the academic year. Their routing and response may differ based on when the alert is submitted.

Early Alert Courses

Faculty in the following courses will receive an email request to submit Early Alert feedback twice each academic year.

  • 2025 Fall Semester: September 15 – 28
  • 2026 Spring Semester: February 16 – March 1

Oxford

All full-term sections of the following courses, which include honors sections:
  • ACC 221, 222
  • ATH 175, 185
  • BIO 115, 116, 161, 171
  • CCA 111
  • CEC 266
  • CHM 141, 142, 144, 145
  • CLS 102
  • CSE 148, 174, 252, 271
  • ECO 201, 202
  • EDL 204
  • EDP 256
  • ENG 111
  • FIN 301
  • GER 101
  • GLG 111, 115L, 121, 141
  • HST 112, 198, 231
  • ISA 125, 225
  • MBI 111, 115, 116, 131
  • MTH 025, 122, 125, 141, 151, 245, 249, 251, 252, 256
  • PHY 181/183
  • PSY 111
  • STA 261
  • UNV 101
  • Pathways sections of any course

Regionals

  • AA 602, 605, 615
  • BIO 115, 116, 121, 171, 172
  • CHM 109, 131, 131H, 141R
  • CIT, 167, 168, 268
  • CMR 242
  • ENG 007, 111
  • IDS 159
  • MBI 111, 161
  • MTH 025, 049, 122, 124
  • PHY 111
  • PSY 111
  • SPN 111
  • STA 261
  • TCE 110R
  • THE 123
  • UNV 101

Early Alert Feedback

As a part of its Early Alert process, Miami seeks information about students who may be showing early signs of struggle or concern. Review when to use the below feedback reasons.

Attendance: Unexplained change in attendance behavior

Issue this alert when there has been a change in the student’s attendance behavior that has not been explained or excused.

If the student has never attended, this should be reported through the Registrar reporting process or a Student of Concern Report through the Dean of Students Office.

Academic: Currently failing course, but could still pass

Issue this alert for students who are currently failing but can still pass the class. Including details in the comments regarding how students can bring up their grade (make-up work, turn in missing assignments, perform better on future assignments or tests, etc.) will be helpful information and used by the person conducting outreach to the student.

Academic: Currently failing course, unlikely to or cannot pass

Issue this alert for students who are failing and it is unlikely or impossible for them to pass. Depending on the time in the semester, the student may have options regarding course withdrawals and/or adding sprint courses. Please provide comments with any additional details that may be helpful to the staff conducting outreach with students regarding this alert.

Academic: Not completing assignments or not participating in class

Issue this alert for students who are not completing assignments or participating in class where this is required or expected. Please provide comments in the details about if missing assignments can be submitted and/or if there are any other details.

Academic: Lacks access to books, technology, or materials

Issue this alert for any student who is unable to access books, technology, or materials required for success in this course.

Academic: Other Concerns

Issue this alert for any other academic concerns that may not be covered by other alert reasons. Please provide a brief description of the concern and any outreach or conversations you have already had with the student.

If you have concerns related to a student's mental or physical wellbeing, please submit a Student of Concern Report through the Dean of Students Office.

Kudos: Showing Improvement

This is a positive alert to be issued for students who are showing improvement in your class. Students will receive an email with this positive feedback and encourage them to keep it up.

Kudos: Exemplary Work

This is a positive alert to be issued for students who are doing exemplary work. Students will receive an email with this positive feedback and encourage them to keep it up.

FAQs

What other information is helpful?

Providing comments and context is extremely helpful to the staff providing outreach. Staff and advisors cannot see the students current grades or Canvas information, so providing details about the concern can help staff guide the student to the best resource to meet their current needs.

What if I have no feedback to provide at this time?

Please submit the form even if you have no feedback to provide currently. If you submit the form without marking anything (providing no feedback), it will submit the progress report and let us know that students are currently meeting expectations. You can submit this by using the “I’m All Done” button to submit “unmarked” students.

I submitted feedback but I’m still getting reminder emails. What happened?

If you are only submitting the students who you have provided feedback, you will continue to get reminders regarding the remaining students in your class. Be sure to use the “I’m All Done” button to submit your whole roster.

Can my GAs or other people submit Progress Reports for my course?

Navigate recognizes the instructor on record and automatically sends the Progress Report to that person. Typically this has not included GAs. If you need to collect feedback from GAs and then submit, we encourage you to do so.

What happens when faculty submit an Early Alert Progress Report?

All progress report feedback is logged in EAB Navigate and accessible by advisors across campus. Students who receive specific feedback will receive automated messaging letting them know about the nature of the concern or kudos. This does include specific information about the course and professor.

These messages will encourage students to meet with the professor, advisor, and other campus resources to turn things around (if needed), or provide positive feedback in the case of a kudos message. Major 1 advisors, Resident Directors, and other student success staff (Student Success Center, Rinella, Tutoring and Learning Center, Student Athlete Support, Honors College, ISSS, etc.)  will also be notified depending on the alert reason and following-up with students directly.

Will I be updated about what happens with my alert?

While we cannot update each person individually, we do make note of outreach attempts and interventions in the Navigate system. For alerts that have opened a case you will be notified when the case is closed with brief information about why the case is closed.

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