How do I use the Retention Center?

The Retention Center allows you to set up rules for notification and tracking of students who may be at risk of failing the course. You can also set up rules which might highlight students having success.

To access the tool, find the link under Evaluation on the control panel and click it.

The Retention Center page will load.

Page features include a top bar indicating the number of students who fall within certain parameters, primarily, noting those ‘at risk’.

Students falling in the ‘at risk’ category are displayed in a table which includes dots highlighting the areas of performance that have triggered their inclusion in the category. You may add categories of measurement and alter the default categories to better fit your teaching style and the likely indicators for your class. Search for the “Customizing the Retention Center” article for more information on setting up the retention center.

In this example, the student is behind in the Grades and Access measures, as well as having missed deadlines.

Clicking on the red dot for  a given area opens an interactive menu that displays a description of the risk rule and offers the ability to add the student to your monitoring lists or send an email via ‘notify’.

Clicking the student’s name in the list opens a page detailing all risk rules, as well as a record of any notifications previously sent via the Retention Center interface.

Students added to your ‘monitor’ list will have a designated box on the right of the page listing their factors, making it easier to continue tracking them.

The bottom area of the Retention Center includes tracking information about the instructor’s activity. This allows you to quickly note the duration between student submission and your grading as well as noting your last activity in Course Tools such as Discussion Board, Blogs and Journals.

The Retention Center can be a powerful tool in helping instructors track student performance.