Throughout the semester, students may encounter many different types of issues that require support from you as their instructor. This support flow can give you an idea of the English 100 protocol for addressing student concerns. However, you are always welcome to reach out to the E100 admin team with any questions about specific incidents or students; please do not hesitate to do so.

Student Absences and Lack of Engagement 
(Academic Concern Report)

At the first sign of academic concern – missing classes, missing work, lack of engagement, incomplete or insufficient work – you as the instructor can reach out to the student either in person or via email, indicating concern and asking the student to meet one-on-one during office hours to discuss a solution.

If the student does not respond or the behavior continues, you can fill out an academic concern report, a Qualtrics survey solely for E100 that goes directly to the English Academic Advisor, Erin Polnaszek Boyd. You can do this in lieu of contacting the E100 admin team, though you are always welcome to contact any of the E100 directors if you have specific questions about a student.

When an academic concern report is received, Erin will email the person who submitted the report within 24 hours (except for weekends, holidays and if an out-of-office message is received). This message may ask for additional clarification and outline next steps, which may include contacting the student’s academic advisor or other on-campus support, reaching out to the student directly via phone or text, or looping in the Office of Student Assistance and Support (OSAS, formerly the Dean of Students Office) if the situation requires.

If you have already filled out the academic concern report with Erin but the student either has new concerns or continued concerns, you are welcome to connect with Erin directly on the existing email chain.

After initial referral or outreach to students, Erin will follow back up with you. Following that conversation, Erin will aim to check in again within 2-3 weeks of the last message to see if any change has been noticed. You are always welcome to connect before that.

Please save the following link to the survey for future reference: https://uwmadison.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9Eo45qfMvtbP542. 

The survey will also be linked on the E100 Canvas instructor training page.

Early Interventions (Fourth Week Survey)

To provide an additional checkpoint, students in English 100 will be asked to respond to a survey asking about their transition to campus. We aim to distribute this survey during the fourth week of classes.

This survey will provide another data set indicating how many and which students may need additional resources, support, or connection. The data will initially go to the English Academic Advisor and the English 100 admin team for evaluation, and we will then determine outreach and next steps for those indicating need/questions. As part of these next steps, data will potentially be provided to other key institutional partners who can provide support or resources for students. However, the admin team will protect student responses in case of sensitive student disclosures. Instructors will not receive copies of the data unless the admin team deems it necessary for student support.

The survey asks the following questions:

1. I am struggling in one or more classes
2. I have questions but do not know who to ask for answers
3. I have the course materials I need for my class
4. I would like to know more about available academic resources
5. I have talked with my E100 instructor one on one at least once
6. I have talked with an E100 classmate(s) at least once
7. I am having technological difficulties completing my coursework
8. I am considering not returning to UW next semester
9. I am attending all of my classes regularly
10. Is there anything else you’d like to share?

The survey will be distributed to students during the fourth week of class. We ask that all instructors provide five minutes in class during that fourth week to encourage students to complete the survey. Please provide students with context for the survey, particularly emphasizing our goal to use the information to connect students with resources.

Note: this is a new survey as of Fall 2023. Please email Erin or Sara Kelm with any questions, concerns, or suggestions about this form and the process; we welcome any feedback you might have!

Student Behavior Concerns
(Student of Concern Report, Office of Student Assistance and Support)

The Office of Student Assistance and Support (OSAS, formerly the Dean of Students Office) can act as a comprehensive resource for students, assisting to bridge to resources campus-wide and in the greater area. If you have a student who is displaying behaviors that may interfere with their own success or disrupt the learning of others, you can submit a Student of Concern Report to the OSAS. A list of examples of concerning behavior can be found at the link, but you are welcome to submit the form for any student that raises concern.

If you are not sure if a Student of Concern Report should be filed, you are welcome to consult with Erin Polnaszek Boyd, the English Academic Advisor, to discuss the situation (erin.polnaszek.boyd@wisc.edu). You also may contact any member of the E100 administration team.

Once the form has been submitted, the OSAS will email the instructor to acknowledge that they have received the report and will begin attempting to connect with the student. If there is no mental health concern present in the report, the OSAS will attempt to reach out three different times using three different methods. The last attempt will indicate that they are there for the student to offer support whenever they are ready.

If a mental health concern is present in the report, the OSAS will work more closely with campus resources and networks to contact the student.

For emergency situations in which you  are concerned a student may be at immediate risk to themselves or others, you can call or connect students to the Mental Health Services crisis response line at 608-265-5600 (option 9). You may also contact the OSAS by phone if the issue is pressing; there is almost always an OSAS staff member on call during business hours.

There isn’t always a feedback loop back to the person that submitted the report to confirm the interaction with the student, so you should not be concerned if you do not hear back from the OSAS Office.

You can also connect with the Office of Student Assistance and Support at 608-263-5700 or osas@studentaffairs.wisc.edu if you have any specific questions about student support.

Disturbing or Concerning Content in Writing Assignments

If a student has submitted writing that contains concerning or disturbing content indicating an immediate personal or mental health challenge, you have options for how to proceed.

First, you may want to connect with the student, sharing their concern and providing resources and support. Additionally, depending on the severity of the concern, you should submit a Student of Concern Report and let the student know that they will likely be hearing from university resources. You may also want to reach out to UHS Mental Health Services if there is a mental health concern. Finally, feel free to reach out to the E100 admin team with your concerns, and we can collaborate on a solution.

With concerns about written content that is offensive or discriminatory, we recommend that you meet with the student and have a conversation about the inappropriate nature of the writing. The E100 admin team is available to consult on the situation and/or sit in on the conversation, if you would like support.

During this conversation, you may want to refer to any class policies you have in place that prohibit particular discriminatory language, or you may discuss the rhetorical situation and how the language or argument used is not productive in advancing an argument. You also may want to ask the student about their interpretation of the assignment and consider whether the assignment itself should be revised to preclude particular student interpretations or misreadings.

Ultimately, you may ask the student to rewrite or revise their project if you can point to particular elements of the assignment’s learning outcomes or goals that were not met adequately. If the conflict continues, involve the E100 Director or Associate Director immediately, and we will consider next steps.

For any situation involving potentially triggering content, you should consider the possible impact of this writing on other students. Students read and discuss each other’s work as part of the writing process, and students reading difficult content may be triggered due to their own traumatic experiences. Consider requiring topic proposals before drafts, reading drafts before peer workshops, and encouraging students to apply trigger warnings to their work as a classroom community safety mechanism. Be flexible with any students who request accommodations or exemptions based on their particular personal circumstances.

Title IX Disclosures

If a UW-Madison student discloses that they have been sexually assaulted or witnessed a sexual assault of a student, all UW Employees are required to submit a Campus Incident Reporting Form (for Sexual Misconduct and Clery Violations) as soon as possible.

Submitting this form will alert the Title IX office coordinator, who will then connect with the submitter by email to discuss the details. If the name of the victim is provided, the Title IX officer will reach out to the victim to provide resources.

For instances of sexual harassment or violence, please see the list of options, support, and resources (both campus and community) provided on the Student Support Information webpage through the Sexual Misconduct Resource and Response Program. Instructors can also access online trainings provided by the Office of Compliance on “Prevent Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence at UW-Madison, Responsible Employee Training and Sexual Misconduct and Clery Crimes in Youth Activities: Reporting and Prevention.”

If you have additional concerns about how best to support a student who is navigating a traumatic experience of this nature, please contact the E100 admin team, and we will work with you to provide support and flexibility to the student.