Navigate

Adopted in fall 2014, Navigate combines technology, research, process improvement and predictive analytics to enable proactive, data driven conversations with students. By leveraging 10 years of student data, predictive analytics can suggest patterns in student behavior, e.g. what courses are problematic for which students, what is the expected likelihood of success for students who perform at certain levels in specific courses or major, what additional options for success are suitable for students based on their current performance? Early identification and use of this information can positively affect student outcomes.

Introduction to Navigate

For Students

The Navigate student app and website are tools that students can use to self-advocate for their success at UW-Milwaukee. Navigate features include: 

  • Appointments: Locate & reach out to your success team in seconds! Use Navigate to communicate and schedule appointments with your assigned academic advisors and success coaches 
  • Campus Resources: Discover supportive campus resources, events, and helpful advice about UWM
  • To-Dos: Make your own to-do list and set reminders of upcoming tasks. Use the app to get reminders and alerts about important dates & deadlines
  • Study Buddies: View contact information for other students in your courses who opt into this feature, providing you with a simple way to study and connect with peers  

To login to Navigate click here or go to the UWM Home Page and select Navigate under the Current Students tab.

Please note: you will only be able to schedule appointments online with the advisors assigned to you in PAWS. If you are looking to explore a new major or meet with an advisor not listed on your Navigate account, please contact the appropriate school or college advising office. Contact and location information for advising offices can be found here.

Additional questions about Navigate can be redirected to navigate-support@uwm.edu. 

Progress Reports

Each semester we ask all UWM instructors for progress reports for their students, in order to identify students who could benefit from additional support and help these individuals connect to available resources and learning strategies. Be sure to log in to your Navigate portal https://uwm.guide.eab.com/ to review your progress report details. 

Please reach out to your instructor ASAP to talk about how you can make progress in the course. Remember, your academic advisor is also available to assist you in navigating your academic challenges. Additional UWM resources exist to support student learning (https://uwm.edu/studentsuccess) and well-being (https://uwm.edu/wellness/), and most students access these resources at some point while at UWM. We want to make sure you have the support and skills you need to reach your full academic potential. 

For Faculty

Progress Reports

Progress Reports (formerly known as Early Alerts or Academic Updates) provide students with an indication of their academic performance. The information provided by you, the instructor, is shared with each student’s academic advisor. Combining efforts to reach out to students will provide the opportunity for timely intervention.

A video tutorial on the different methods of submitting Progress Reports can be found here.

Dates updated each Fall/Spring term

Fall 2023 Campaign

Instructors can submit a progress report or alert for a student at any time inside or outside the campaign window by selecting Navigate on the Faculty/Staff tab of the UWM homepage (a tutorial is available here); the purpose of the campaign is to coordinate our efforts, allowing advisors and other support staff to identify patterns. 

The Fall 2023 Progress Report campaign will run:

Weeks 2-4 from September 11-September 25, 2023 for DFW and CGS courses
Weeks 4-9 from September 25-November 3, 2023 targeting all undergraduate courses.

Please submit your Progress Reports at a time that makes the most sense for your course. 

Some quick notes:

  • Please submit reports as soon as possible. In addition, discuss progress reports with your students and highlight the path to success in your course as appropriate. If you have a course with large enrollments, please focus on students who need additional support.
  • Additional context is available below. For support or technical questions contact navigate-support@uwm.edu. Thank you for your help with this important initiative.

Student-facing language suitable for Posting on Canvas and Syllabus
UWM uses Navigate, a powerful tool dedicated to student success. There are numerous benefits to you as a student to engage with the platform and mobile application, including learning about academic resources, setting up study groups in your courses, making appointments with your academic advisor, getting reminders on important dates, and much more.

In addition, Navigate allows instructors to send Progress Reports to students throughout the term, allowing for updates on your academic progress in a course in addition to your grade. Certain reports may encourage academic advisors or other support staff to provide outreach to you as well. You can log into the platform here:  https://uwm.guide.eab.com/ or by finding the Navigate link under the Current Students tab on the UWM home page. More information on how you can use Navigate and the app, including tutorials, can be found on UWM’s Navigate website.

Instructions for Students

To view the progress reports submitted by your instructors,     

  1. Log in to Navigate using the Current Students drop down from the UWM homepage.
  2. Select “My Docs” from the menu of icons. 
  3. Select “Progress Reports” and click the name of your instructors to view details.

For Instructors: How Progress Reports Work     

Explaining. Please post the above message to Canvas and your syllabus and also talk to your students about what Progress Reports are and what they do. Let them know when they might expect them from you, and how they can access and read them.  

Submitting. Instructors can submit a progress report or alert for a student at any time by selecting Navigate on the Faculty/Staff tab of the UWM homepage (a tutorial is available here). To participate in the campaign, please follow the link in the invitation email you received. When writing the reports, please provide a level of detail that will be helpful to students, advisors, success coaches, and the Student Success Center.     

Routing. New progress report reasons that reinforce positive course performance are received by students directly.  When someone submits a progress report on a student that is struggling academically, that student and their advisor both receive a notification from Navigate. When logged in to Navigate, the student and the advisor will both see the “Reason” you selected (e.g., “Missing Work”) and any explanation you provided. In addition, if you chose to refer the student to a resource, that office will reach out to the student. This chart shows how such progress reports are routed:

2023 Progress Report Routing


Instructors and others may also
submit an “Alert,” which leads the assigned office to create a case and reach out to the student
:

Fall 2023 Alert Routing

Reaching Out. The advisors in your school or college may be contacting students who receive progress reports but that outreach varies by school or college.      

Reaching out to students can be a significant challenge. Advisors may attempt to call, text, or email students.  Many will make multiple attempts to reach students, but they won’t always be successful. The Student Success Center will also reach out to all first-year students who receive a negative progress report.     

It’s also critical that instructors continue, when possible, to reach out to students as well. Progress reports are just one additional tool to aid student success and prompt conversations with students, and when they work they can work very well. But the course instructors are still the most critical partner in helping students succeed. 

 

TROUBLESHOOTING

If you run into difficulties with the process, please contact navigate-support@uwm.edu. The messages students receive can be found below in the next section. Here are responses to some common issues and questions:

  • All instructors assigned to a course in PAWS receive a unique link to submit Progress Reports. Instructors should communicate with each other to determine who will be submitting reports.
  • Lectures and discussions/labs may receive a separate Progress Report request. You are encouraged to submit reports for whichever section makes the most sense for your course.
  • If you don’t see a student on your course roster in the link provided in the auto-generated email, log in to the Navigate platform and complete Progress Reports there.
  • Comments that you include in Progress Reports will not go out over email to students, but will be visible when they log in to Navigate.  The more information you are able to provide, the better it is for the student, and the advisor, coach, or support staff who may be following up.

For Staff

Navigate Taskforce

The Navigate Taskforce is comprised of academic advisors and student services staff from across campus. Quarterly meetings are held throughout the academic year. The Navigate Taskforce is charged with: 

  • Sharing and exchanging ideas of how to best utilize Navigate at UWM 
  • Relaying specific needs and user perspective to improve the team experience with Navigate
  • Acting as training resources for colleagues 

Coordination and Action Plan

For the most up-to-date information on efforts and planning underway at UWM, review the tabs included in the Navigate Manager document (ePanther credentials required).

Campaigns

Targeted advising campaigns enable advisors to maximize their impact by identifying specific student populations in need of supplemental attention. The Navigate platform enables this process by making it easy to build lists of students that fit certain criteria. By deploying Navigate risk analytics in combination with work list filters and student tracking features, advisors can create highly-specific campaigns and ensure that no students fall through the cracks.

Analytics and Supporting Materials

Help Center

The Help Center is a great resource for step-by-step guides and toolkits, webinars, case studies and other training materials. To visit the Help Center just click the (?) located at the top right corner of your Navigate home page. Users can also contact their SWAT representative as needed for day-to-day help or technical issues.

Video Tutorials

Murky Middle and Declining GPA Campaigns Tutorial

Navigate Summit (July 30, 2020)

Recorded Video of Summit

Summit Wrap-Up document

Internal Transfer Student Processes (October 22, 2020)

Recorded video of session

Reports and Analytics (December 17, 2020)

Passcode: 15U!r6*5

Need Help?

Office Hours

In order to best support new user onboarding and as needed troubleshooting, the Navigate Project Management team offers office hours each Wednesday from 12-1PM, or by appointment. In order to receive the Microsoft Teams link for the office hours or to schedule an alternate meeting time, contact navigate-support@uwm.edu.

FAQs

Q: How do I get access to the Navigate platform for myself or others in my office?
A: Contact your unit’s Navigate Taskforce representative or navigate-support@uwm.edu.


Q: How do I log in to the Navigate platform?
A: Undergraduate students can access Navigate through https://uwm.guide.eab.com/ on a desktop OR download the Navigate Student mobile app and log in using their ePanther ID and password.

Faculty and staff members can access Navigate through https://uwmilwaukee.campus.eab.com/ on a desktop and log in using their ePanther ID and password OR department login. Please contact navigate-support@uwm.edu if your unit would like to set-up a unique department login.


Q: How do I download the Navigate Student mobile app?
A: Undergraduate students only: Android app on Googleplay | Download on the App Store


Q: How often is the data in the Navigate platform updated?
A: Data in Navigate is pulled from the UWM Data Warehouse nightly. Any changes made to a student’s record in PAWS will be reflected in Navigate the next day.


Q: Are student notes subject to FERPA and Open Records laws?
A: Yes, student notes in Navigate are part of a student’s educational record and subject to FERPA and Open Records laws.  Educational records are all the records maintained by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee about individual students, with seven exceptions:

  • Personal notes of UWM faculty and staff
  • Employment records
  • Medical and counseling records used solely for treatment
  • Campus Security records
  • Financial records of a parent or spouse
  • Confidential letters and statements of recommendation placed in your records before January 1, 1975
  • Confidential letters and statements of recommendation for admission, employment or honorary recognition placed in your records after January 1, 1975, for which you have waived the right to inspect and review

Q: How are student milestones determined? How is a student’s overall risk determined? 
A: Student milestones are determined by each school and college. If you are interested in reviewing or reevaluating your students’ milestones, see your school/college SWAT Team representative.

A student’s risk score is a qualitative measure determined by the EAB Risk Model, which incorporates over 20 data points on a student’s record, including but not limited to: attempted/completed credits, cumulative/term GPA, high school factors (school size, GPA, ACT/SAT scores), and demographic information. Based on the EAB algorithm, a student will then be classified as low, moderate, or high risk. This information is only available to professional staff; a student does not have access to their own risk score.


Q: Who or what determines how much access to data I have in the tool?
A: Navigate identifies 7 different “roles” within the tool, which depend on your job responsibilities. If you are interested in how these roles are determined, see your unit’s SWAT Team representative.


Q: Are trainings available?
A: Yes, there are various scheduled trainings throughout the year, see the UWM Navigate website for updates. There are also a variety of resources and guides on the site for users to review. The Navigate Help Center is also a great resource for tips and tutorials – just click on the ? in the top right corner when you’re logged into the platform.


Q: Who can I contact if I have additional questions about the tool?
A: Your unit’s SWAT Team representative should be your first contact. If they are unable to satisfy your request, contact the Navigate Leadership Team at navigate-support@uwm.edu.

Contacts

Navigate Taskforce

Navigate Taskforce Representatives

EAB Consultant

Paige Hammond (phammond@eab.com)
  • Consultant from EAB for the UWM instance of Navigate
  • Contact at the email noted for any question regarding Navigate including account management/set-up, webinars, and training

Project Management

Pachoua Lor – Retention Technology Manager, Student Success Center
Brennan O’Lena – Director, Student Success Center
Jeremy Page – Assistant Dean of Student Services, School of Education
Contact: navigate-support@uwm.edu

Technical Support and Data Transfer

Provided by Tom Lemke (UWM UITS)