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Academic Advising

Non-Registered in Upcoming Term

Academic advisors intervene with students who have not registered for the upcoming term in a timely manner—after students have been advised and the opening week or two of registration has passed. Advisors send gentle nudges through email and text messages that seek to identify students’ barriers to registration.  

Intended Outcomes

The goal of this initiative is to leverage established relationship with  advisors, to encourage students to connect with resources if they are having difficulties that have led them to not register for the coming term.

If the student is not returning to USC, advisors gather context as to why.

Timeline for Intervention

Fall: Early December - Spring Add/Drop Date

Spring: June - Fall Add/Drop

Intervention Process

  1. The UAC will upload a watchlist to EAB of all students who are not enrolled for the upcoming term (and are eligible to register and not graduating).
  2. An EAB case will be opened for each student and the advisor of record will automatically be assigned. Advisors will use cases assigned to them to manage outreach to their non-registered students.
  3. Advisors will reach out to their students that are not registered with multiple “nudges” (see sample communication below).
  4. Over the course of the intervention (from start until the day after add/drop), advisors can close the case with one of two reasons: Student Registered or Student Not Returning (descriptions below)
  5. After add/drop, advisors can close all remaining cases with one of two reasons: Student Registered or Student Unresponsive (descriptions below)

Please note UAC Undergraduate Academic Advisors are asked to use multiple modes of communication (email, text, phone call) as part of this this initiative.  All other Academic Advisors are highly encouraged to do the same for consistency purposes.  

Hi [student],   
I noticed you’re not yet registered for Fall 2022. Is there anything I can do to help? I look forward to hearing from you.  Best, [yourname]

Dear [student],    
I noticed you’re not yet registered for Fall 2022. Is there anything I can do to help? I look forward to hearing from you.  [Advisor to customize wording]  
 
Advisor Name [XXX]  
Academic Advisor  
How to make an appointment:   

When closing a case, advisors will select a closed case reason according to how the case was resolved:

Select "Student Registered" if the advisor see the student has registered

Select "Student Not Returning" if the advisor communicates with the student and knows why they are not returning. Advisor will leave reason(s) for not returning in the comments for the closed case. Leaving the reason(s) in the comments will take the place of the previously used Non-Returners Form.

Select "Student Unresponsive" if the student never registered OR made contact with the advisor - this is ONLY to be used after add/drop

Select "Alert Issued in Error" if there is an outside reason the student is not registered - for example, they are participating Study Abroad, National Student Exchange, etc. 

  1. Document the notification in EAB Navigate to ensure that there is a record of the student's intent.
  2. Provide the USC Non-Returner Survey to the student and request that they share their reasons for not returning.
  3. When a Non-Registered Initiative (NRI) case is assigned at the end of the term, close the case with the status of "Student Not Returning." In the case close comments, note that the student had previously informed you of their intent to not return. No outreach is required when you know the student's intent to not return

Success in the Non-Registered Initiative

Through the Non-Registered Initiative, advisors have significantly reduced the number of students each term who choose not to return to USC. 

NRI Longitudinal Outcomes


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