When to Contact a Student’s Advisor:

Mitigating Circumstances:

Contact the student’s advisor when the student presents you with a mitigating circumstance that you feel they should be made aware of. Explain to the student that you will contact their advisor regarding any situation, unless otherwise instructed. Encourage the student to contact their advisor as well.

Following is a comprehensive list of events that indicate there may be a Mitigating Circumstance which has negatively impacted academic progress:

  • Death of an immediate family member
  • Student illness requiring hospitalization (this includes mental health issues)
  • Illness of an immediate family member where the student is a primary caretaker
  • Illness of an immediate family member where the family member is the primary financial support
  • Abusive relationships
  • Divorce proceedings
  • Previously undocumented disability
  • Work-related transfer during the term
  • Change in work schedule during the term
  • Natural disaster
  • Family emergency
  • Financial hardship such as foreclosure or eviction
  • Loss of transportation where there are no alternative means of transportation
  • Documentation from the School Counselor and/or a Professional Counselor

Academic Issues:

  • Contact a student’s advisor when they are experiencing serious academic issues that they should receive tutoring and special assistance for. Recommend tutoring, the Learning Centers, or Smarthinking to the student, but advising can help you reiterate these concerns.
  • When you receive a suspension notification from advisors- immediate response is necessary when you receive one of these notifications.

When NOT to Contact a Student’s Advisor:

  • When a student is experiencing technical issues. They should contact the eCollege Helpdesk, or Student Support 1-877-872-8869.
  • When the student’s grade is below a 70%- advisors receive daily reports notifying them of a student’s academic status.
  • When a student has stopped attending your class- advisors are also given participation reports daily and they actively contact students when they have been absent from class for over 4 days.

When to call a facilitator:

** Always attempt to contact a facilitator via email before you try calling. Please allow 36 hours response time before attempting to contact them by phone.

  • At student’s request to let them know of a student illness or other emergency.
  • In a situation such as this, it is the student’s responsibility to follow up with the instructor to: provide documentation of illness or emergency; to work out any extension for late work, if it is approved by the facilitator.
  • If a student is having difficulty contacting the instructor because there is no phone number listed in class and no response to emails.
  • In this situation, calling the facilitator directly will allow you to notify them that your advisee is having a difficult time reaching them and there is an issue they need to speak with the instructor about privately.
  • To discuss a student’s attendance suspension if no response was received from the official email notification.
  • Instructors should always respond to the email notification with a clear response on the student’s suspension, but if no response was received, a phone call might be necessary.

When not to call a facilitator:

  • To request an extension on an assignment from an instructor on a students behalf.
  • In a situation such as this, an advisor should recommend that the student speak directly with the instructor, providing documentation for the extenuating circumstances that prevented them from turning in the assignment. If the instructor is not responsive, this situation should be escalated to the Program Director in that department.
  • To discuss a student with disabilities
  • Students with disabilities should follow the appropriate school procedure by contacting Student Affairs and speaking with Tim Fitzgerald. They will be provided with the appropriate documentation, and they must provide their facilitator with this paperwork directly.
  • To argue/discuss a grade
  • Any grade appeals must be escalated through the program director for that department.