From: RIT 365 Facilitators Date: October 26, 2023 Subject: PULSE 9: We Value You
Greetings RIT 365 Facilitators,
In this week’s issue:
Supporting Students Through Difficult Events
Seeking Observation Feedback
Starfish Early Alert #2
Starfish FAQs
Faculty Interviews
Important Reminders
This Week’s Expert Advice - FROM YOU
SUPPORTING STUDENTS THROUGH DIFFICULT EVENTS This has been an incredibly difficult week for our RIT family, and we all process tragic events uniquely. Please understand some of your students may need time to process these tragedies and each will respond differently. We hope you are able to share that their mental and emotional health matters to you and to the university while offering appropriate resources for the challenges they may be facing (see below). You can do this through in-class time, an email of support or some time after class to speak in private.
Your mental and emotional health is important to us as well as the university. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us or services on campus if you need support for yourself or your class.
We value each and every one of you. This is a difficult way to start our newsletter. We also can’t lose sight that part of the ways we support students is through our everyday work of providing community and connection in RIT 365. You’ll find the remainder of our newsletter is filled with much of our everyday information to continue providing support for the important everyday work you all do.
SEEKING YOUR FEEDBACK ON OBSERVATIONS This semester we’re fortunate to have Delaney Ball completing his Master’s internship with the YOP Team. His focus is on investigating potential improvements to our current facilitator observation model. Soon, you’ll receive an email from Delaney seeking your voluntary participation in this project. All information collected will remain anonymous. We appreciate your participation in our improvement!
EARLY ALERT SURVEY #2 The 2nd Academic Progress Report is now open and will close on 11/5 at 11:00pm.
ANY STUDENT WHO RECEIVES A FAILING GRADE IN THIS COURSE SHOULD
HAVE RECEIVED A MINIMUM OF ONE EARLY ALERT FROM THEIR
FACILITATORS.
Starfish Early Alert FAQs Where can I find instructions on how to use Starfish and submit Early Alerts?
Refer to the Step-by-Step guide available on the Facilitator Resources website and also on
pages 71-76 of the Reference Handbook to complete the survey.
Can the Peer Facilitator submit alerts in Starfish?
No. Although the Faculty/Staff Facilitator will be the only one with access to Starfish, all
decisions about which alerts are submitted should be made jointly between Facilitators.
I don’t have any students of concern. Do I need to still submit the Progress Report?
Yes! Action is still required even if you don’t have any “flags” to raise. Simply open your Progress Report Survey and click “submit”. This acknowledges that you reviewed your students’
progress and lets advisors know that there are no issues for their advisees in this particular
course. You can also submit a “Kudos” to thank students for their contributions in class and/or
for their insightful Portfolio submissions!
I’ve sent alerts to students but they haven’t made any changes and are still failing. What
do I do now?
Continue to reach out to the student and document all outreach. Offer the student care, concern and flexibility. Sometimes students who are overwhelmed/struggling with managing their workload focus their energy on other classes and take the F in RIT 365. Each student has the right to fail this class. While we can’t drag them through the door to passing, we can keep that door open if they are able to complete the assignments.
You can also contact the student’s Academic Advisor directly. If the student is struggling in RIT
365, chances are they may be struggling in other areas as well. Sometimes advisors have more
insight and can provide recommendations.
What if a student becomes in danger of failing after the survey closes on 11/5?
You can send an alert (“raise a flag”) at any time. Refer to the step-by-step guide for
instructions.
FACULTY INTERVIEWS All class sections will soon be or are already engaging in the Faculty Interview “Do” experience. This is one of our favorite experiences (and the students’ too...although they may not realize it at first!). Please reiterate that students should be choosing one of their current professors. This is to normalize the value of these types of connections, to help establish stronger relationships
between professors and their students, and to support overall student success.
Interviewing a TA, GA, Coach, or Advisor is not appropriate.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
Planning time. The Faculty Interview week is a perfect time to meet with your Co-Facilitator and catch up on grading, coaching notes, and other administrative responsibilities.
Diversity Plan/Reflect Guides. If you are looking for the Plan and/or Reflect Diversity Theater activities that we did during in-person training, they are now posted on the Facilitator Resources site, in the Class Planning section.
FROM OUR EXPERTS (YOU!) Thank you to everyone for attending and contributing to our Bi-Weekly meetings. Some ideas that emerged from recent meetings include:
When class energy or focus seems to be fading, try a fun or goofy question. Here are some ideas.
What was your favorite ever halloween costume?
What’s your favorite emoji to use?
What’s your favorite comfort movie?
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Tell us something weird that happened this week.
Name something you have on your bucket list.
What food would you eat every meal the rest of your life?
For questions that can not be answered by visiting the Facilitator Resources website, feel free to contact one of us as follows.
PRIMARY POINTS OF CONTACT
ÔùÅ Facilitator general questions:
Deborah (faculty/staff, ddlyop@rit.edu) or Robyn (peers, rmrldc@rit.edu)
ÔùÅ myCourses, PDR guides, course schedule, “Do” experiences: Wendy (wsgrla@rit.edu)
ÔùÅ Generic questions (not time sensitive): yop@rit.edu
