Gator Pass
What is Gator Pass?
Gator Pass is an early alert system designed to connect students who may be struggling with academic or personal difficulties with the resources they need to assist them in succeeding in their courses.
Students who are referred to Gator Pass will be contacted by either a member of the early alert team, or the person who manages the resource being referred to. Instructors should take care when selecting the alert reason to ensure that the Gator Pass goes directly the most relevant resource from the start.
Alert reasons include:
- Accommodations/Student Care/Mental Health Services Referral.
- Attendance Issues: the instructor needs the student to contact them.
- Contact Instructor: the instructor has not been able to get in contact with the student.
- Drop/Withdrawal Counseling Referral: the student is not performing well and should meet with an advisor to discuss their options. DOES NOT INITIATE DROP PROCESS.
- Drop/Withdrawal Counseling - Dual Credit: a dual credit student is not performing well and should meet with a dual credit advisor. DOES NOT INITIATE DROP PROCESS.
- Gator Book Pack Assistance.
- GPS Program Tutoring.
- Missed/Failed Test - Make Up Not Allowed.
- Missing Assignments/Test - Make Up Allowed.
- Tutoring/Student Success Coaching with the OASIS or Upswing.
- Other - Specify what action the early alert team needs to take.
Guidance for Submitting a Gator Pass
The Gator Pass system uses the Watermark Student Success & Engagement software to manage alert cases. Gator Passes can be submitted by logging in to MyGator and selecting the "Submit a Gator Pass" button on the Gator Pass card.
Below are a few guidelines and FAQs when it comes to Gator Pass.
If you have questions not covered here, please reach out to OASIS@lsco.edu.
Any current faculty or staff member of LSCO can submit a Gator Pass referral for any student who they feel could use further resources to succeed. Faculty and staff can find the Gator Pass form by logging in to MyGator and searching for the Gator Pass card. Once in Watermark, instructors should select a course and then use the course roster to enter the alert for the student(s). Staff will need to search for the student either by their name or R800#.
A Gator Pass should be submitted as soon as a student in your course, or that you have frequent contact with, is showing signs of distress that could keep them from succeeding in their coursework. The earlier the alert, the more time the Early Alert team has to work with the student to help them achieve success.
Common reasons for referring a student to Gator Pass include:
- Excessive absences/Infrequent course login
- Missed coursework
- Non-passing scores on assignments/exams
- Change in student behavior
- Knowledge of personal/family difficulties
While the Early Alert team does their best to help students with a large variety of concerns, there are a few situations where submitting a Gator Pass is not the best way to assist the student.
- Any situation where a Title IX report must be filed. As soon as you become aware that the student's concern is of a Title IX variety, please follow campus Title IX reporting guidelines.
- Incidents of student misconduct, including academic dishonesty or disrupting the classroom. Please review the Conduct and Discipline section of the LSCO Catalog.
- Drop/Withdrawal Advising submitted the week before or after the semester's established drop/withdrawal deadline. Early intervention is not possible at that point in the semester, and the student should work with their advisor to determine their best course of action.
Hopefully, if the student has missed assignments or earned non-passing scores on exams, the instructor has already filled out a Gator Pass to connect that student to support resources.
Drop/Withdrawal Advising should be recommended if the student has a strong chance of not succeeding in the course, even after these interventions.
The Early Alert team will continue to support the student academically, but the case will also be referred to an advisor so that the student can be made aware of their options should they need to drop/withdraw and the impact it can make on things like their financial aid.
The Early Alert team can do its job best when the referral has as much detailed information as possible.
- All of the student information will be automatically included in the alert, provided the instructor has initiated the alert by using the course roster.
- When filling out the alert, the instructor will want to pay careful attention to the alert types, as those will guide what actions the Early Alert team will take when reaching out to the student.
- Any information about the student's situation that the instructor can provide in the "notes" portion of the alert will assist in helping the student more quickly.
- If sending out alerts in bulk, please refrain from inserting specific student information in the notes, as that note will be posted in each student's case file.
YES!
Instructors can submit bulk alerts by viewing their course roster, selecting the applicable students, and creating the alert. Alerts can only be entered in bulk for students needing the same alert type, as multiple alert types cannot be entered in one alert.
Caution: Any notes written for a bulk alert will be posted in each student's individual profile. Please avoid entering very specific student information, such as grades or personal situations, into the notes for any alerts submitted in bulk.
YES!
The Early Alert team will contact the student directly, just like a traditional student, in addition to notifying the Dual Credit team and high school counselors.
Please note there is a seperate alert type specifically for recommending drop/withdrawal to dual credit students. Those alerts will go directly to the dual credit advising office.
The person monitoring that alert type receives the report and takes action on it within the first 48 business hours.
The person assigned to the case works with the student and note any updates within the Watermark system, including closing the case once the issue has been resolved.
Students who have alert cases open will have a bell displayed next to their name in the course roster. Viewing the course roster for each course then selecting the student with an open alert will lead to the student's profile. There in the alert tab, the instructor can view the Early Alert teams notes and progress with the student.
The bell appears next to the student's name when the student has an alert submitted from any source, not just the instructor of that specific course.
Instructors also have the option to "follow" students on their roster. Following a student will trigger a daily digest email that contains any updates that have occurred in the followed student(s) case.
Of course, instructors are welcome to reach out to OASIS@lsco.edu to ask any questions needed from the Early Alert team.
It depends.
Since alerts connect students directly to resources, the instructor should fill out multiple alerts if the student needs multiple resources. For instance, if the student needs tutoring and the food pantry, create separate alerts for each action needed.
If after you've submitted a Gator Pass on one issue you are not seeing improvement in a week or two, check the student's profile in Watermark to see if there have been any updates to the student's case. There's no need to create another alert for the same reason if the first alert is still open. Instructors are welcome to write comments on open alerts so that the Early Alert team can take that feedback into consideration.
OASIS Tutoring is the recommendation you select if you believe your student would benefit from help from one of the OASIS tutors.
GPS (QEP) Required tutoring is only an option for instructors who are participating in the required tutoring aspect of the QEP. If you are interested in participating in the GPS Tutoring program, please reach out to Samantha.Smith@lsco.edu.