Academic Progress Reports: Instructor Guidance

What are academic progress reports? 

UWM uses an advising software called Navigate360 to support student success through the use of Academic Progress Reports. Academic Progress Reports help identify students who may benefit from additional support or individualized attention. This information can not only activate institutional supports for students but can help instructors make adjustments to teaching strategies or course design to better support student learning in a given semester.  

What do instructors need to do? 

Instructors are likely to be involved in Academic Progress Reports in the following ways: 

• Progress Report Campaign: All instructors are invited by the Navigate360 Leadership Team to participate in a Progress Report Campaign. This campaign occurs between Weeks 5-9 each fall and spring semester. During the campaign window, instructors are encouraged to identify and submit alerts on any students enrolled in their course(s) who may need additional academic support. The priority is to provide outreach as early as possible in the semester to students who are demonstrating “unsatisfactory academic performance”. Click here for a 3-minute video tutorial on how to submit Progress Reports during the campaign window.   
• Ad hoc Progress Report Alerts: all instructors have access to Navigate360 outside of the Progress Report Campaign window to submit alerts on students as needed throughout the academic year. View a 2-minute video tutorial on how to submit ad hoc (as needed) Progress Reports outside of the campaign window.   

All instructors are encouraged to include a brief comment with each report to be sent directly to students and their assigned Success Team (e.g., academic advisor, success coach). Students can view all Progress Report comments in the Navigate360 Student app under “My Docs”.  For more information, including platform updates, visit the UWM Navigate360 webpage for Faculty. 

Why do academic progress reports?  

Academic Progress Reports play a key role in advancing student success. Providing students with timely course performance updates can encourage them to act, prompt staff members to intervene, and open the door for communication between instructors and the student. The process also provides a moment for instructors to reflect on how well the course design is meeting current student needs to determine whether any modifications or adjustments may need to be made.  

The practice of academic progress reports ensures students receive timely feedback on progress, provide an opportunity to reflect and chart a path to success, as well as reinforce the performance expectations for a course, all of which are high-impact elements of quality course interactions.  

How can these reports inform my teaching or course design? 

After sending out Navigate 360 reports on student academic progress, instructors have a valuable opportunity to reflect not only on individual student needs but also on broader patterns across the course. These reports can reveal trends in where students are struggling, which may point to areas in the course design, pacing, or assignment structure that could benefit from adjustment. Supporting students externally is important—but equally vital is reflecting upon and considering how pedagogy or course structure might better support learning for all students moving forward. 

Here are some questions to aid in instructor reflection on potential mid-course changes:  

• Are there common ways in which students are struggling or themes of the Academic Progress Reports submitted (e.g., specific assignments, concepts, or weeks)? 
• What aspects of course design or delivery might contribute to student challenges? 
• How might upcoming assignments, activities, or supports be adjusted to better align with student needs? 
• What feedback mechanisms might be used to check with students and ensure changes are helping? 

For instructors: How do progress reports work?   

Explaining. Instructors are invited to post a message to Canvas, their syllabus, and talk to students about what Progress Reports are and what they do. Let students know when they might expect them from a course, 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 Navigate360 on the Faculty/Staff tab of the UWM homepage (click for a video tutorial). 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. When an instructor submits a progress report on a student who is struggling academically, that student and their advisor both receive a notification from Navigate360. When logged in to Navigate360, the student and the advisor will both see the “Reason” selected (e.g., “Missing Work”) and any explanation you provided. Below are Progress Report reasons that instructors can choose from to indicate “unsatisfactory academic performance”.  Instructors and others may also submit an “Alert,” which leads the assigned office to create a case and reach out to the student. 

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. The Student Success Center will conduct outreach based on the number of unsatisfactory progress reports a student receives as outlined below: 

# of Unsatisfactory Progress Reports	Student Success Center Outreach
One	Student receives a supportive, action-orientated email highlighting relevant steps a student should take to improve their course performance
Two	Student receives an additional email and text message with supportive yet more urgent language
Three or more	Student receives a phone call requesting that they meet with a staff member in the SSC

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.  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, but the course instructors are still the most critical partner in helping students succeed.