New Brightspace tool makes it easier to connect students with academic support

Instructors teaching undergraduate courses can now submit Academic Alerts directly from their Brightspace course sites at any point during the semester.

Student Success Technologies (SST) has launched Academic Alerts in Brightspace, giving instructors a direct way to share timely academic feedback about a student’s course performance or progress. The tool is designed for instructors teaching undergraduate courses and can be used at any point during the semester.

Academic Alerts are intended to help students connect with support, consider next steps or receive positive reinforcement while there is still time for the feedback to make a difference. Instructor feedback is shared with the student and routed through BoilerConnect so the Academic Success Center (ASC) or academic advisors can respond when follow-up is appropriate.

Three ways to use Academic Alerts

• Recommend academic resources: Connect a student with support such as peer tutoring, Supplemental Instruction or study skills consultations.
• Recommend course withdrawal: Prompt a student to connect with their academic advisor when current course performance indicates withdrawal or other next steps may need to be considered.
• Share Kudos: Recognize strong performance or meaningful improvement and reinforce positive academic behaviors.

Why instructor feedback matters

Early feedback is one of the most practical ways instructors can help students act before academic challenges become harder to recover from. Research and national practice in higher education consistently point to early-alert systems as most valuable when faculty observations lead to timely outreach, advising conversations and connections to campus resources—not simply when a concern is recorded. Instructors are often the first to notice changes in attendance, participation, assignment completion or performance, which makes their feedback an important starting point for coordinated support.

Academic Alerts also give students clear, course-specific information they can use right away. A brief alert can help a student understand what is not working, identify a concrete next step and connect with the people or resources best positioned to help. Kudos are equally valuable: positive feedback can reinforce effective academic behaviors, recognize improvement, and encourage students to stay engaged in the course.

What happens after an alert is submitted?

Students receive an automatic email that includes the selected reason and the instructor’s comments. Because Academic Alerts generate student-facing messages, instructors are encouraged to keep comments clear, supportive and focused on observable academic performance. Follow-up depends on the type of alert:

• Academic resources: The student and Academic Success Center receive the alert. The Academic Success Center may provide outreach about available services and tailored resources.
• Course withdrawal: The student and academic advisor receive the alert. The advisor may reach out to discuss withdrawal or other steps that could support success in the course.
• Kudos: The student receives the positive feedback, reinforcing strong performance, meaningful improvement or other positive academic behaviors.

Because follow-up may involve advising or student support conversations, instructors should not expect individual case updates after submitting an alert.

How to access the tool

In an eligible Brightspace course site, select Course Tools, then choose Academic Alerts. The page loads automatically for academic courses during fall and spring terms, so instructors do not need to enable it.

Learn more: View Academic Alerts instructions and process information

Student of Concern guidance: Review the Student of Concern Report process

Questions or presentation requests: Contact Student Success Technologies