Navigate

Navigate is an advising portal that helps foster student success.

Robert Morris University faculty and staff play a key role in identifying undergraduate students of concern and how they can help them achieve academic success! They have a large role in a student's academic journey, and Student Success encourages faculty and staff to utilize academic alerts in Navigate to help us identify students in need of academic support. Navigate is a tool that they can use to ensure that their students succeed at RMU.

Why Use Navigate

While each department has their own uses for Navigate, all staff will primarily use Navigate for monitoring and managing student success. Below are some of the main uses of Navigate for RMU staff:

  • Access to searching all students
  • Appointment scheduling management
  • Managing academic alerts (CSS only)
  • Creating student watch lists
  • Tracking and recording class attendance
  • Setting appointment availability
  • Issuing academic alerts
  • Emailing/texting students via Navigate

Additionally, full time faculty have the ability to complete student progress reports and have access to academic advising resources.

The Navigate Help Center is a great tool for faculty and staff to utilize. There you can search for solutions through troubleshooting and FAQ’s, explore common workflows in the platform, and learn about Navigates features. Learn how to access the Navigate Help Center here!

What is an Academic Alert?

Issuing an academic alert in Navigate allows faculty and staff to notify Student Success that a student is struggling academically. Faculty/staff can submit an academic alert for any student that they feel could benefit from academic support. This could include information regarding tutoring, concerns with attendance, or overall poor academic performance.

Submitting An Academic Alert

If you notice that a student is struggling academically, needs additional assistance or support, or is not performing well in the course, you should submit an academic alert via Navigate as soon as you notice these concerns so that Student Success can connect with the student.

Note: If the concern for the student is primarily behavioral or emotional, submit a CARE report instead. CARE reports will go directly to the RMU Counseling Center. Go to rmu.edu/careteam to submit a CARE report. The link to the CARE Team website is also located on the student’s page in Navigate under “Links”.

How to submit an academic alert?

  1. Log into Navigate
  2. Search the student of concern by first and last name
    1. You can also look through your assigned student list to find the student
  3. On the student’s page, locate the “Current Alerts” menu on the right hand side, and then select “Issue an Alert”
  4. The pop-up window will prompt you to enter the alert information. 
    1. Choose the alert criteria that is the most appropriate for that particular student
    2. Select if the alert is or is not affiliated with a specific course
    3. Share FACTUAL qualitative information that will help the staff best understand why and how the student is marked as at-risk
    4. Please provide insight on any steps or actions you have taken as a faculty or staff member in regards to this student situation so that we understand the plan of action moving forward
  5. You will receive an email confirmation that your alert has been submitted to the CSS
  6. Once the case process has been concluded for that student, the CSS will close the student case. You will receive an email when the student case is closed

Here is a walkthrough on Issuing an Academic Alert that provides a full visual guide for faculty and staff through the process of submitting an academic alert.

Academic Alert Case Process

Academic alerts are received and managed by the case manager in the CSS. The academic alerts case management system allows faculty and staff to submit alerts for students to our office if they are noticing the student is struggling academically and/or could benefit from academic support and resources.

  1. Alert issued: Faculty or staff submit an alert to express academic concern about a student.
    1. Note, it is helpful for faculty and staff who are issuing the academic alert to include relevant information regarding the concern as well as action steps they may have taken to address this concern!
  2. Case opened: The CSS case manager opens a case for that student and assigns it to the student’s Success Coach.
  3. Outreach: The CSS case manager and/or the student’s Success Coach will initiate contact with the student within 48 hours of receiving the case to concern. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts to reach a student, so we will continue outreach and try to initiate connecting with the student for a month after the case has been opened.
  4. Plan created: The Success Coach meets with the student to create an action plan where the student will set realistic academic, professional, and personal goals that will foster academic success.
  5. Case closed: Once the student and Success Coach meet / correspond and have a successful plan moving forward, the Success Coach will close the case. The alert issuer will be notified via email once the case has been closed. The appointment summary regarding the case can be viewed on the students dashboard. Additional comments/notes regarding the case will appear in the closing email.
    1. After 4 instances or one month of failed attempts to reach the student, the Success Coach will close the case.

Questions?

For questions regarding academic alerts, cases, or the overall case management process, please contact the Student Success case manager, Madison Neavin at neavin@rmu.edu or 412-397-6869.

If you have questions or require technical assistance, please contact the RMU Help Desk at help@rmu.edu or 412-397-2211.