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Watermark Student Success & Engagement

SS&E

Watermark is an early retention system designed to help students persist and increase enrollment. Through Watermark, students and designated staff will be notified of academic performance through automated and manual alerts, messaging, and tasks. Watermark automatically imports data from our Learning Management System and Colleague (Self Service, Datatel), including grades and attendance. Faculty will continue to update attendance weekly.

What is the responsibility of faculty?

In accordance with our institution鈥檚 focus on the retention of students in classes and programs, it is the college鈥檚 expectation and the instructor鈥檚 responsibility to send a Watermark referral on any student struggling in their course.

Additionally, automated Attendance and Midterm Grade alerts will be sent to students. To ensure that students and designated support team members are receiving alerts reflective of real-time progress,  faculty should maintain weekly attendance and report mid-term grades. This is required for Watermark to operate effectively.

When should faculty submit a Watermark referral?

While the Watermark system is a retention strategy, it is not the first option for classroom management, and should not be used as a replacement for best practices and due diligence by the instructor, including but not limited to calling, emailing, Canvas messaging, or meeting with the student to address concerns.

Please do make a Watermark referral

  • As soon as you notice that a student would benefit from additional support.
  • Watermark referrals are most critical during the first five (5) weeks of courses and prior to midterm. Referrals may be submitted as early as the first weeks of the course so there is sufficient time for intervention and improvement.
  • Whenever you mark an online student absent. That one absence covers a week of missed work.

What are the reasons to refer a student?

The following are examples of behaviors that might warrant a referral. Please note that these are just examples and do not provide an exhaustive list. Each referral will be reviewed individually and handled based on the specific circumstances presented.

a.  Sporadic Attendance

  • The student shows patterns of absences, tardiness to class, and early departure.

NOTE: The Watermark System is not to be used as an attendance-taking tool. When a faculty member sends a referral indicating that a student鈥檚 attendance is unsatisfactory in a course, it means that he or she has determined that the student鈥檚 attendance pattern is a concern and may affect student success in that course. (i.e., online weekly class attendance participation requirement, face-to-face class attendance requirement, etc.).

b.  Academic Concern

  • The student attends class but does not participate.
  • Student fails to turn in multiple assignments (i.e., homework, quizzes, projects, tests, etc.).
  • The student has performed poorly on an exam.
  • The student is not meeting course expectations as set by the instructor/department/program.

c.  Success Skills

  • The student demonstrates a need to improve study skills or time management.
  • The student lacks academic confidence or has test anxiety.
  • The student appears to have many distractions from academic success.

d.  Referrals

  • Access Services
  • Success Coaching
  • Financial Aid
  • Career Services
  • Technology Assistance

Personal/Family Issues

  • Please use the  for personal/behavioral/family concerns.

Can faculty submit more than one Watermark referral for a student during the same semester?

Yes, but Please Check Watermark Alerts Before Issuing a New Alert for the Same Student in the Same Class for the Same Problem.

  • The comment feature provides an up-to-date status of your previous alerts. The success coach will document outreach attempts and any progress made.
  • You may add a comment to a previous alert to update the Success Team.
  • You will receive an email when the previous alert is closed; however, you can check the comments at any time to see the alert’s progress.
  • Once the alert is closed, please do add another alert if the problem persists or you have new information.

You may change your preferences to receive a daily digest on your students.

How do you submit a Watermark referral?

  • You can submit an alert from the student’s profile in Watermark, from your course roster, or directly from the dashboard. Look for the Alert bell icon in Watermark SS&E.

What follow-up and timeline should faculty expect after submitting a referral?

  • Immediately after an alert is submitted, notification will be sent to the success team for the student.
  • The appropriate member of the student鈥檚 success team will attempt to make contact with the referred student multiple times which will be logged as a comment attached to the alert.
  • Faculty may receive daily email updates and view student activity in Watermark. It may be necessary to go back and check the alert on the student’s profile for any updates.

Alert Best Practices

When sending an alert, please be aware that your words become part of the student record. Remain factual and stay away from opinions and emotions. However, it is also best to be as specific as possible on the desired outcome and provide ample time for the success team to make contact. For example, if sending an alert about poor class performance,  

  • Say this: X Student has not turned in the last three assignments and is not responding to emails or conversations about her performance. Although I do not accept late work, it is important that the student understands the concepts in assignment 3 before moving on.
  • Rather than this: X Student is moody and doesn鈥檛 care about school or his grades. If he doesn’t turn something in by tomorrow, I will recommend a WX.

Contact Lindsay Riegel, Retention Manager at 636-584-6660 or聽lindsay.riegel@eastcentral.edu聽with any questions or concerns.