New programs have been developed recently at Bakersfield College, but one program has been brought back by the administration with hopes for better results: the early alert program.
The Student Success Intervention Initiative was once a program here at BC but had been closed some years back due to budget cuts. This program, which has been practiced at other colleges in California, was brought back to BC by President Sonya Christian, Vice President of student affairs Zav Dadabhoy, and other faculty administrators. Currently, counselor Grace Commiso is running the program.
This early alert program is not to be confused with the emergency alert emails that are sent out to all students.
Commiso explains that essentially this new initiative is to alert students early in the semester that they need to get additional help in a certain class. “That’s why it’s called early alert, so students can have that intervention early on in the semester in order for them to be more successful,” she said.
She did explain how Dadabhoy and the faculty that helped bring this program to BC felt this new initiative would help bridge the gap in communication, so students who are having difficulty and need to get assistance can get the help they need early in the semester.
Even though this program may just be getting reintroduced back onto the BC campus, this semester, the initiative has been a work in progress for faculty members and administrators at Bakersfield College for some time now.
It is the student’s instructor who acknowledges the trouble the student is having and goes into this program to create an intervention for that student. The instructor can email a Student Success notification that will inform the student how they feel the student can utilize certain programs that are available to help benefit them in that course, with specifics on what type of program it is and where they can locate these services on campus.
Commiso has received emails in response from students who have said if this type of program had been available years ago they would not have dropped out of college the first time and would probably have been finished with school earlier.
Dadabhoy did state how this program was once used here at BC for years but was not as efficient as it is now. He claims that with technology being more advanced now then it was some years ago, this program can have more promise and positive results this year, since the program will now be sent out through email and not manually.
Commiso wants students to know that these notifications are not being sent to students to make them think they are in trouble. It is only to inform the students they need help in a certain course, and there is help on campus for them.
These notifications will be sent out through email via your Bakersfield College email address that every student has. There are alternate ways of communication for a follow-up if the student fails to respond.
With students unaware of the many different programs that are available to them at BC, the Student Success Intervention will bring attention to services that are there and have always been there for students to use who are in need of help.