Receiving a poor progress report is never good news, but university officials hope a new online program will give students more time to improve their grades.
By order of the Faculty Senate, the university has debuted the Early Progress Report (EPR) online system, which warns first-year students receiving below
C-level grades about their academic standing as early as three weeks into the semester.
EPR, formerly known as the mid-semester grade reporting system, began as a paper report sent to teachers to indicate which students had "unsatisfactory" performance. A letter was then sent to the student eight weeks into the semester encouraging them to meet with their adviser and with the teacher to come up with a resolution.
Nancy Herron, co-chair of the design group for Early Progress Report, is excited about the additions to EPR and the impact it will have on students.
"Sometimes students don't understand that they're not doing well," said Herron, also the university's associate dean for academic programs. "We want to be as proactive for the student as possible."
At the beginning of the third week of the semester, teachers will now receive an e-mail instructing them to log on to eLion to mark which students are performing unsatisfactorily.
Teachers may also submit a personal comment and the reason for low performance, such as low test scores or excessive absences. This can be done through the end of the sixth week of the semester. An e-mail is then sent to each student and his or her adviser, directing both to a report that explains the teacher's reasoning behind the report.
The system also sends students advice on how to improve their performance, a new addition to the original system. Most importantly, students are encouraged to meet with faculty members for help.
"It's up to them to try and get their act together. It's a wake-up call," said Eric White, executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies.
Ainsley Creamer (freshman-secondary education) said she appreciates the idea of an early progress report, but would rather solve academic issues on her own.
"I think it's a good idea, but I think it'll make freshmen more dependent," she said. "It's not allowing us to transition into adults."
Diana Lappetito (freshman-business) said the system will help students know their grades and judge where they stand academically.
"It would help me get my butt into gear for a better grade," she said.
But Jon Merritt, directory of academic advising for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, believes the site will work only if people take advantage of it.
"All you can do is hope that, for the students and faculty that use it, it is an extraordinary resource," Merritt said.
Each college within University Park is now utilizing this tool. While only freshmen can receive EPR messages at University Park and Penn State World Campus, Penn State's Commonwealth Campuses use EPR for all students.
Students can access an EPR demo at elion.psu.edu.
The EPR team hopes even more improvements can be made to the system and is optimistic for the future of the program.
