The Student Engagement Dashboard – a new tool developed to help colleagues identify undergraduate and postgraduate taught students who require extra pastoral or academic support – is being rolled out to the rest of the university.

After a successful adoption by the Faculty of Science earlier this year, the Student Engagement Dashboard will be rolled out to remaining faculties for the start of the 2021/22 academic year.  

“The engagement dashboard has pulled together information that previously required considerable time and effort to assemble. This will mean that our year leaders can efficiently identify students with potential engagement issues and prioritise those most in need of intervention.” – Dr Keith Benedict, Deputy Head of School, School of Physics & Astronomy 

The dashboard currently compiles data from the following systems: 

• Microsoft Teams: meeting attendance data 
• Moodle: frequency of use, number of submitted/late assignments  
• Echo 360: frequency of use 

A lack of academic engagement can be indicative of a student who is struggling with their studies or general wellbeing. This data, along with what we know about the individual study behaviours of our students, will be used to identify anyone who may require support. 

“The Student Engagement Dashboard helps us to proactively support student wellbeing, mental health and motivation by providing an early warning system of students who appear disengaged.  Working with our academic staff, we are able to reach students who may be struggling and provide supportive intervention where needed.” – Kirsteen Coupar, Interim Student and Campus Life Director 

The Student Engagement Dashboard will be accessible to senior tutors and a small team of colleagues within each school with responsibility for academic engagement and wellbeing. Personal tutors who are concerned about the wellbeing of a tutee will be able to request a copy of that student’s data from a senior tutor or a member of the school/department’s Engagement team. 

The Student Engagement Dashboard will not impact grades or assessments. It will be used for welfare purposes and to support the monitoring requirements of UK Visas and Immigration.  

Colleagues with direct access to the Student Engagement Dashboard have already been contacted and will make themselves known to local colleagues in the coming weeks. Returning students will be reminded about the dashboard on Monday 6 September. 

Further development to extend the information the dashboard receives and to enhance its use will continue across 2021-22 in consultation with staff and students. 

Project sponsor and Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Curriculum Leadership. Professor Mark Bradley, said: “This new dashboard marks a step change in how the University can support and reach out to students who might be struggling to stay engaged with their studies. It allows our academic staff and our professional services staff to work together effectively to provide the support our students need, and ensures that student welfare is at the heart of everything we do.”  

If you have any questions about the Student Engagement Dashboard, please consult the FAQs for personal tutors.