Inspire Academic Alert – Teaching & Learning Excellence Division (TLED)

What is Inspire Academic Alert?

Austin Community College (ACC) is committed to student success and retention. If a student stops attending, misses assignments, or does poorly on tests, faculty can use the Academic Alert System as an intervention tool. Academic Alert is a feature of Inspire, a comprehensive student support system, that allows ACC faculty to easily and quickly communicate with students needing extra support. Faculty can identify students who are having challenges and connect them with academic guidance specialists to help them resolve issues and access resources to help students persist. It can also be used to commend students who are doing well or showing improvement in class. Alerts will go directly to the student and the assigned guidance specialist. The goal is to quickly identify the types of support a student may need to get on track to successfully complete the course and motivate students to continue to excel. ACC faculty participated in designing the options, and templates available in the alert system. Inspire Academic Alert is available through Blackboard.

GET STARTED

Via Mojo Ticket

Before faculty can use Academic Alert to support their students, faculty must first submit an “ACC Service Request Form”:

Go to the Mojo ticket system. Note: You may need to sign in with your ACC credentials to access the Mojo ticket system.
Click on “New Ticket” and then choose “ACC Request Service Request Form.”
Submit the form. You will receive a copy of your request.

ACCESS

Direct Link

After gaining access, faculty can start using Inspire Academic Alert through the direct link. Your ACCeID is required to log in. Please choose “login with netid” and enter your ACC credentials if requested.

When to Use Academic Alerts vs. CARES

Certain situations call for using one versus the other:

When to Use Inspire Academic Alert?

To support students’ best chance at success, it is important to monitor student engagement scores throughout the semester and identify those students who are beginning to struggle. With Inspire Academic Alert ACC faculty can:

build greater rapport with students
create a greater sense of accountability
foster a sense of caring and belonging for the student
communicate student value
increase and enhance individual student performance
receive positive feedback from students
increase student success rates

When to Use CARES and Student Conduct?

There are certain situations in which an Academic Alert is not the appropriate avenue for assisting a student. CARES is available to assist with students behavior that can be disruptive, concerning, and threatening. More information regarding CARES can be found on the CARES web page.

A referral for Student Conduct can be made when student behavior such as misconduct, scholastic dishonesty, misuse of college computers, etc have occurred. More information regarding Student Conduct can be found on the ACC Student Conduct web page.

Guides

Access a comprehensive navigational overview for using Inspire Academic Alert. The slides provide step-by-step instructions for getting started and using the system.

Quick start guides can answer basic questions about Academic Alert.

How to Access Inspire Academic Alert

How to Access and Update your Profile

How to Use the Inspire Academic Alert Feature

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Inspire Academic Alert system work?

When a faculty member notices academic behavior that is not in the student’s best interest, they can send an alert to the student and the student’s assigned Academic Guidance Specialist through the Inspire Academic Alert system. There are pre-loaded templates created by ACC faculty to choose from for sending alerts.

Is Inspire Academic Alert available for all programs (Academic, Workforce, Adult Education, etc)?

Yes, it is available for Academic programs as well as Adult Education and Workforce programs.

Will I have a record of the alerts I have sent?

Yes. Faculty will have a history page and be able to see all of the alerts and any commendations sent. Also, faculty will be able to see if there are still unresolved alerts on their class roster through the Inspire Academic Alert system.

When I send an alert to an Academic Guidance Specialist about a student - do I get a confirmation once it has been resolved?

Yes, faculty get a notification to their ACCmail within two business days that it has been resolved from the academic guidance specialist.

Do students get notified that a faculty member has sent an alert to an Academic Guidance Specialist?

Yes, students receive a notification through their ACCmail account

What is a general alert?

A general alert is an academic alert that can be sent at any time during the semester to any student on the faculty member’s class roster.

What is the difference between medium and high alert?

Choose High Alert if the student is in immediate danger of failure or other serious consequences. Choose Medium Alert to flag a concern that you feel might result in serious consequences if left unresolved. Give a Commendation to recognize exceptional performance.

Once I use an alert - what happens?

The process is the same for high and medium alerts. The Academic Guidance Specialist will complete what you have asked them to do in the alert. The Inspire system will automatically send the alert to one or more assigned Academic Guidance Specialists. Some students have one assigned specialist, and other students have more than one. The alert will go to all of them automatically.

What happens if an additional Academic Alert needs to be sent to a student who had previously received one?

After you have already sent an academic alert to a student, the faculty will access the academic alert button in a slightly different manner.

In the class roster, highlight the student’s name by clicking on the box next to their name. This will enable the NEW ALERT button.
Then, click on the NEW ALERT button at the top right of the class roster.
You will then be able to send an additional alert to the student and assigned advisor.

What is the difference between the dashboard for a faculty member and the dashboard for a faculty advisor?

Faculty-only roles in the system have access to only their students in their courses. Other roles such as departmental advisor, or mentors have access to students across the College.

What happens if I send an Academic Alert and I never receive an email notification that is has been resolved? Who do I contact?

On the faculty’s Inspire class roster, the student’s Academic Guidance Specialist is listed. Faculty are welcome to contact them directly to inquire about the resolution of an alert.

When should I send a commendation?

A commendation can be sent to a student to recognize exceptional performance at any time during the semester.

Is our department required to use Inspire Academic Alert?

Please ask your department chair and/or academic/workforce dean.

The goal is to quickly identify the types of support a student may need to get on track to successfully complete the course and motivate students to continue to excel.

As a faculty member, am I required to use Inspire Academic Alert?

Please ask your department chair and/or academic/workforce dean.

The goal is to quickly identify the types of support a student may need to get on track to successfully complete the course and motivate students to continue to excel.

I have reviewed the Academic Alert Guides, and I am still having issues with logging, and/or using Academic Alert, how can I get help?

If after reviewing the guides below you are still having issues, please submit a mojo ticket. When submitting the mojo ticket, please choose “ACC Service Request Form” from the drop-down menu, and in the detailed description box please add that you need help with “Inspire Academic Alert” and include the details of your issue. Academic Alert Guides:

Need Help?

CONTACT

For questions or assistance with Inspire Academic Alert, please contact Matthew Figg via [email protected].