Academic Navigators help faculty improve student engagement and success by providing personalized outreach to students who may be struggling academically or becoming disengaged. By serving as an additional point of contact, Academic Navigators help students feel recognized, connected, and supported before small challenges become larger barriers to success. Faculty referring students early gives Navigators the greatest opportunity to provide classroom support by increasing student engagement, improving responsiveness, and supporting positive academic outcomes.
Individualized SMS Communication
Email and Canvas messages are easy for students to overlook, especially when they are disengaged or struggling. Academic Navigators use personalized SMS text messaging to connect with students through a communication channel they are more likely to notice and respond to. This timely, one-on-one outreach helps increase student engagement, encourages meaningful conversations, and allows Navigators to identify challenges early, so students receive the support they need before small issues become larger barriers to success.
Increased Student Engagement
Academic Navigator outreach increases each student's sense of visibility and belonging, helping ensure that no one falls through the cracks. Through personalized, one-on-one communication, Navigators reinforce that each student's success matters, and that support is available when challenges arise.
Quicker Student Response Rates
Faculty who partner with the Academic Navigator team often see students take positive action within 24 hours of outreach, such as responding to messages, attending class, meeting with an instructor, or accessing campus support services. By identifying the underlying barriers affecting a student's academic performance, Navigators can quickly connect students with the appropriate campus resources. This early, coordinated intervention removes obstacles, strengthens student engagement, and helps students return their focus to academic success.
Eliminate the Instructor-Student Power Dynamic
Many students find it difficult to tell their professors when they are struggling academically or facing personal challenges that affect their success. Academic Navigators have the time to build trusting relationships with students and the training to uncover the underlying issues that may be impacting their academic performance.
Once a student's needs have been identified, Academic Navigators connect them with the most appropriate campus resources, such as academic support, tutoring, financial assistance, mental health services, or other student success programs. This personalized approach helps students access support earlier, resolve barriers more quickly, and stay on track toward their academic goals.
The Academic Navigator team provides a welcoming, supportive, and nonjudgmental environment where students can openly discuss their challenges, ask for help, and develop a plan for success. By making it easier for students to seek support, Navigators help foster greater student engagement, persistence, and academic success.
Benefits of Support
Amanda Gonzales
Associate Professor of Practice, Accountancy
"The academic navigators have been incredible partners in supporting my students. They don’t just see what’s happening in my classroom; they have a broader picture of each student’s experience and can connect them to the right campus resources at the right time. They can also offer support without the instructor-student power dynamic, which helps students feel more comfortable opening up and being honest about what they’re facing. Finally, their ability to reach out by text has been especially helpful, meeting students where they are to get timely responses. I'm incredibly grateful for the work they do."
Refer to Navigators When... the First Signs of Academic Struggle Appear
Attendance concerns, missed or late assignments, declining grades, and reduced participation are often early indicators of larger academic, personal, or financial challenges. Addressing these warning signs early gives students the best opportunity to overcome barriers before they become more difficult to resolve.
In large classes, faculty may not have the time to follow up individually with every student who needs additional support. Academic Navigators provide personalized outreach, meet one-on-one with students, and work to identify the underlying factors affecting their success. Together, Navigators and students develop individualized success plans and connect with the campus resources that best meet their needs.
Early referral to an Academic Navigator helps students receive timely support, increases student engagement, and improves the likelihood that they will persist and succeed in your course.
Partner with Us
You can greatly improve student outcomes in your class by partnering with the Navigator team. Dr. Julia McQuillen has incorporated the AN team into her SOCI101 syllabus. Here is her experience...
Dr. Julia McQuillen
“Working with the AN team has made a big difference in helping students turn hard times and challenges into learning how to navigate what is for many a new and overwhelming situation - being in a class with 160 to 250 students. Requiring that students meet with an AN to have late penalties removed or to make up an exam provides a connection to a knowledgeable, helpful, and resourceful UNL support person who can sometimes simply remove penalties and more often add a variety of skills for success in life. Having a way to connect students to a guide to resources for their specific situation is more equitable than requiring doctor notes or the negotiation skills that tend to come from middle and upper than lower income families. Reasons why students hand in late work, fail to hand in work, or miss tests are varied and sometimes complex. Giving students a chance to talk through their situation with an Academic Navigator is an entrée to resources, support, knowledge, skills, habits, insights, and as necessary, additional medical, psychological, academic, or financial support. Over last 7 semesters I have consistently referred about 1/3rd of the class to an Academic Navigator - some for something brief (e.g. having the flu) some for more complex situations (difficult roommates, a parent with a serious illness, housing insecurity, depression). More students pass the class and/or discover that they need a different path at the moment than being at a large university. If they must leave the university, doing so with help and not incurring additional debt and shame is a gift that could potentially bring that student or other students to the university when the time is right. So far, all students have expressed gratitude for a way to get back the "penalty" points AND learning that the university provides customized support when students have various needs that interfere with their education."