In the first week of classes, more than 1,000 students on academic probation have attended intake sessions for UNL’s new Academic Recovery Program.
Staff from the First-Year Experience and Transition Program offered 25 one-hour sessions every day of the week — including Saturday and Sunday — to meet demand. The final intake session is 5:30 p.m. Jan. 21 in the Nebraska Union.
“It’s been crazy, but we are thrilled with the students’ participation,” said Heather Ockenfels, director of First-Year and Transition Programs. ” Since it is a new program, we weren’t sure how many students we would connect with or how they react to this new initiative. Overall, the feedback from students has been very positive and students appreciate the university is making their success a priority.”
The Academic Recovery Program requires students who are placed on probation to attend a group intake session, meet individually with a recovery coach, and develop an academic plan for success. A registration hold is placed on the student’s account until the success plan is completed.
At the intake session, students learn about probation processes, how to return to good standing, and complete a self-assessment that they share with an academic recovery coach. Students also learn about other resources, such as the over 30 free academic success workshops offered in the spring semester by the First Year Experience and Transition Program and other partners such as Career Services, the Libraries, and Counseling and Psychological Services.
“A total of 184 students have already met with their success coaches and created their academic plans,” said Vanessa Roof, institutional retention and assessment analyst.
The plans are stored electronically in MyPLAN, UNL’s advising system, enabling advisers and program staff to share records and collaborate across units to help students.
“The success plans are individualized because every student has a different story of how they came to be on probation,” said Cheryl Pflueger, an academic success coach. “We strive to provide individual and personalized attention to every student.”
Bill Watts, director of University Advising and Career Services, said that overall response to the new program has been positive.
“Parents have expressed their appreciation that UNL has taken a proactive approach to assisting their students,” Watts said. “This is an opportunity for UNL to partner with parents in connecting students to resources that will help them succeed.”
The new program is also helping keep students at UNL.
“We had some students who wanted to transfer to another school,” Ockenfels said. “Parents are making many of those students stay because UNL has this support program designed to help get students back on track.”
The Academic Recovery Program is one of several UNL Academic Affairs initiatives designed to promote undergraduate retention and degree completion.
“We plan to assess this program at the end of the semester to gauge impact,” said Amy Goodburn, associate vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. “We hope that more students will return to good academic standing and ultimately earn their degrees because of this program.”
