Staff Initiated Alert Administration

Overview

Staff Initiated Alerts, aka Early Alerts, are used by faculty and staff at the institution to raise an area of concern regarding a student.

All Staff Initiated Alerts are set up and configured within SS&E on the Staff Initiated Alert Administration page found here. 

To learn more about setting up alert notifications, click here.

Staff Initiated Alert Reasons

Alert Reasons are used to define the different Staff Initiated Alert types available for each staff or faculty user (eg. non-student user) to manually alert on one/many student record(s).

Alert Reasons can also be used to restrict permissions on certain staff initiated alert types in order to limit which roles are allowed to create and/or view a specific staff-initiated alert.

• By default, ALL staff and faculty (non-student) users can create a Staff Initiated Alert, unless a specific alert reason is restricted on "Create". When restricted, the alert reason will only be available for certain user roles, eg. will only display in the alert reason dropdown for users with certain role(s).
• Who can view Staff Initiated Alerts is configured by Staff Initiated Alert Security Roles and can be further restricted on a specific alert reason.
• When in place, restricted "Create" permissions define which roles are allowed to create a staff initiated alert with the specific alert reason.
• When in place, restricted "View" permissions define which roles are allowed to view a staff initiated alert with the specific alert reason.
• Staff Initiated alert "View" restrictions can be overridden when the Security setting "Allow creator of alert to view and manage staff-initiated alerts they create" is checked.
  • • This setting "overrides" any alert reason limited view permissions as it allows all users to view alerts of any reason that they themselves have created, even when their assigned role(s) is not listed in Security Roles and/or is not included in the restricted view alert reason.
• Every Automated Alert/Achievement and Early Alert will have a Person Type setting that defines which Person Types are allowed to be assigned the specific alert reason so that it displays on the person's record.
  • • For more information about the Alerts person type setting, click here.
• Click here to view all roles listed in Roles Administration. From here, you can select any role to view the Role Usage "People" associated with each role.  
  • • If an SS&E user has multiple roles, they will display on all their assigned roles.
• User Settings determines what is included in each non-student user's Dashboard and Daily Digest.

Staff Initiated Alert Fields

Type

Alert type for this alert. This is pre-defined as "Staff Initiated Alert" and cannot be edited within SS&E.

Name

Name of the alert. This is usually set to "Staff Initiated Alert".

Description

Internal/Administrator description of the alert. The content in this field is not displayed anywhere else.

For example, this may be set to something similar to "Added by staff to alert when a student has an issue preventing their success". The alert reason character limit is set to 600 characters.

Active

Whether the Staff Initiated Alert alert type is active and available to use/create and view throughout SS&E. This should always be set to Yes if using the Staff Initiated Alert feature.

Staff UI Text

The template text that will be used on the news feed, in the daily digest email, and on the student's profile. This text is copied from the default text setup here for this alert type.

• When setting Staff UI Text variables, use the Insert menu displayed in Edit mode.

The following variables are available to use in the Staff UI text:

• Student Full Name - ${fullName} - The student's full name
• Student Institution Person ID - ${institutionPersonId} - The Institution Person ID is imported from the SIS on the Person data feed and is what's displayed on the Student record on the UI
• Alert Creator Name - ${creatorName} - The individual's name who created the alert
• Early Alert Course Name - ${earlyAlertCourseName} - If an staff initiated alert was sent in regarding a specific course, this variable will show the course name
• Early Alert Reason - ${earlyAlertReason} - The reason for sending the alert

Help Text

If this field contains text, the text will be shown to the creator of the early alert. Use this to help guide the creator and let them know how to use the early alerts properly. It can also be useful to point out, for instance, whether or not the student will see the comments they enter, or whether or not students will be notified of the alert when it's created (these are configurable).

Sample Help Text:  Once manual early alerts are submitted, they will be routed to the appropriate staff members based on each early alert reason.  Some manual early alerts are routed based on permissions and therefore, you may not have permission to see the early alert after it is submitted. 

Security

Roles

By default, Security Roles determine which user roles can view and are notified about a staff initiated alert.

• If the Student role is listed here, students will not be able to opt-out of viewing staff initiated alerts.
• By design, "Staff Initiated Alert" is always checked in User Settings and is not editable/cannot be unchecked. For this reason, when staff see this option checked in "User Settings - Alerts" they will not be able to opt-in or opt-out of staff initiated alerts at the "user" level.
  • • When checked, this setting is only configured at the "role" level in Staff Initiated Alert Security Roles and/or optionally within individual Alert Reasons.

Allow Creator of Alert to Modify Recipients 

This setting determines if the alert creator is allowed to customize who is notified about this alert when it is created.

• When enabled, the creator of the staff initiated alert can modify recipients of the alert "on the fly".
• When disabled, the alert will send to the default staff members, and recipients cannot be changed by the creator of the staff initiated alert.

This does not affect the "Notify Students" setting, nor does it affect who is able to view the alert when they log in. This simply allows the creator to modify who receives an email notification when the alert is created.

Allow Creator of Alert to View and Manage Alerts They Create

When enabled, this setting will always allow the creator of a staff initiated alert to view and manage all staff initiated alerts that they themselves create, regardless of any restrictions configured in staff initiated alert administration security roles or alert reasons.

This setting allows the creator of an alert a "back door" to their own alerts so that users are always allowed to view and manage Staff Initiated Alerts that they themselves create, regardless of the roles listed in Staff Initiated Alert Administration Security Roles or Alert Reason permitted roles.

• When checked, even if the alert creator does not have any role listed in Staff Initiated Alert Security Roles, they will still be able to view and manage alerts they themselves create.
• When checked, even if the alert creator does not have any role included on restricted Staff Initiated Alert Reason View permissions, they will still be able to view and manage alerts they themselves create.
• For staff initiated alerts that the user did NOT create, or if this setting is NOT checked, the Security Roles and restricted Alert Reason View role permissions will apply. 

Notification

Send Email to Staff

Whether to send an email to staff when a staff initiated alert is created.

• This early alert notification email may be sent to the student's primary success team, a group of Alert Coordinator(s), or a Default Alert Coordinator, depending on whether the alert reason has Alert Coordinators configured.
• By design, Followers are NOT notified via email when an alert is created.

Staff Email Subject

The subject text for the email to be sent to the staff when an alert is created.

• When setting the Staff Email Subject variables, use the Insert menu displayed in Edit mode.
• ONLY variables that are included in the dropdown may be used. If any other variables are included, these will not be resolved and the email will display a "broken" link.
  • • For example, when creating a link to the UI, some links use the Aviso Internal Student Id and other links must use the Avios Internal Student Affiliation Id. For this reason, alert message body notifications are usually configured and tested during implementation.
      

Staff Email Body

The body of text included in the email to be sent to staff.

• ONLY variables that are included in the dropdown may be used. If any other variables are included, these will not be resolved and the email will display a "broken" link.
  • • For example, when creating a link to the UI, some links use the Aviso Internal Student Id and other links must use the Avios Internal Student Affiliation Id. For this reason, alert message body notifications are usually configured and tested during implementation.
    • When adding a message body link post implementation, please make sure to test it first to make sure it resolves correctly and opens in the right place on the UI! For example, if a student link does not work, try the other Student Id option.
      

• When setting the Staff Email Body variables, use the Insert menu displayed in Edit mode.

The following variables may be used in the body of the email text: 

• ${student.firstName} - Student First Name
• ${student.lastName} - Student Last Name
• ${student.fullName} - Student Full Name
• ${student.emailAddress} - Student Email Address
• $[student.id} - An Internal Id used by SS&E (is not visible from the UI)
• ${student.affiliation.id} - Student's Affiliation Id
  • • An Internal Id that is used to create a link to the student record in SS&E: link text here
• ${creator.firstName} - Creator First Name
• ${creator.lastName} - Creator Last Name
• ${creator.fullName} - Creator Full Name
• ${earlyAlertReason.name} - Early alert reason name
• ${earlyAlertInitiatedText} - The comment the creator of the alert enters at the time of creation
• ${advisor.firstName} - Student's advisor's first name
• ${advisor.lastName} - Student's advisor's last name
• ${advisor.fullName} - Student's advisor's full name
• ${advisor.emailAddress} - Student's advisor's email address
• ${advisor.preferredPhoneNumber} - Student's advisor's preferred phone number
• ${coach.firstName} - Student's coach's first name
• ${coach.lastName} - Student's coach's last name
• ${coach.fullName} - Student's coach's full name
• ${coach.emailAddress} - Student's coach's email address
• ${coach.preferredPhoneNumber} - Student's coach's preferred phone number
• ${institution.avisoUrl} - Your institution's SS&E url (https://school.avisoapp.com/aviso)

For example, in order to create a hyperlink within the email message body, select the link icon, then enter the URL and the text that displays in the email message body which opens on the URL.

• In the following screenshot, "Please click here to address this identified issue." opens on the following URL: ${institution.avisoUrl}/advisor/students/${student.affiliation.id} which opens on the identified student record.

The following variable fields are also available if the early alert was created from a course section (as these are not populated when created directly from the student's profile page):

• ${courseSection.course.code} - Course Code
• ${courseSection.course.name} - Course Name
• ${instructor.firstName} - Instructor First Name
• ${instructor.lastName} - Instructor Last Name
• ${instructor.fullName} - Instructor Full Name
• ${instructor.emailAddress} - Instructor Email Address
• ${courseSection.section} - Course Section Number
• ${courseSection.course.code} - Course Code
• ${courseSection.course.name} - Course Name

Preview Email

Use this button to view what the Staff Email will look like.

Send Email to Students - Yes/No

Whether or not the student for whom the alert is about will be notified via email about the early alert.

When checked and set to "Notify Students - Yes":

• A student will be notified even if they do not have access to early alerts/the staff initiated alert reason, eg. even if they do NOT have permission to access the alert by role or alert reason.
• The email that is sent will be generated based on the following "Student Email Subject" and "Student Email Body" template fields.  
• The alert form will display "student firstname lastname will be notified of this alert."

When NOT checked and set to "Notify Students - No":

• Students will not be notified about the alert.
• The alert form will display "student firstname lastname will not be notified of this alert."

Note: There is currently an issue where the field setting label is incorrect in Edit mode, however the help text is correct. This has been reported and is waiting to be fixed.

Student Email Subject

The subject of the email that will be sent to the student (only if "Notify Students" is enabled). 

• When setting the Student Email Subject variables, use the Insert menu displayed in Edit mode.

Sample Student Email Subject: 

You have been identified for an Early Alert#if(${courseSection}) in ${courseSection.course.code}-${courseSection.section} - ${courseSection.course.name}#end for ${earlyAlertReason.name}

Student Email Body

The body of the email that will be sent to the student (only if "Notify Students" is enabled).

• When setting the Student Email Body variables, use the Insert menu displayed in Edit mode.

Sample Student Email Body: 

Our records indicate that you have been identified for an Early Alert#if(${courseSection}) in ${courseSection.course.code}-${courseSection.section} - ${courseSection.course.name}#end for ${earlyAlertReason.name} by ${creator.fullName}.

Preview Email

Use this button to view what the Student Email will look like.

Closed Email Subject & Body

When an alert is closed, the creator of the alert will receive an email notification so they are aware that the alert they created has been closed.

• The creator of the alert will always receive an email when the alert is closed.
• The person who is closing the alert can choose whether or not to include their closing comments in the "alert closing" notification while closing the alert itself.

The Closed Email Subject and Closed Email Body settings allow this notification to be customized, and supports the following variable fields:

• ${studentFullName} - The name of the student for whom the alert was created
• ${includeNoteInEmailResponse} - This is whether or not the person who closed the alert checked the box to allow the comments to be sent to the creator.
  • • The ${earlyAlertClosedNoteText} will be blank if they did NOT allow comments to be sent, so this variable isn't strictly necessary to make sure comments are not sent to the creator.
• ${earlyAlertClosedByFullName} - The name of the person who closed the alert.
• ${earlyAlertCreatedDate} - The date the alert was created.
• ${earlyAlertClosedDate} - The date the alert was closed.
• ${earlyAlertReason} - The reason that was chosen when the alert was created.
• ${earlyAlertClosedNoteText} - The text that was entered by the person who closed the alert.
  • • This variable will only be populated if the person who closed the alert chose to include the comments in the notification that is sent to the creator. Otherwise, it will be blank.
• ${earlyAlertInitiatedText} - The comment that was entered by the creator when the alert was created.
• ${earlyAlertInitiatorFullName} - The name of the person who created the alert.
• ${earlyAlertCourseName} - Only if the alert was created from a course roster page, the course's name is included in this variable. Otherwise, it will be blank.

Preview Email

Use this button to view what the Closed Email will look like.

Other

Reasons

Usually, there are many different reasons why staff and faculty would want to create a staff initiated alert for a student. 

For example, you may wish to create an alert about the student's tardiness in class, or maybe a student is experiencing issues with anxiety or homesickness, or the student shared something they need help with.

• SS&E allows you to create and track unlimited reasons why a staff initiated alert was created. 
• You can also use alert reasons to restrict who is able to create and/or view specific staff initiated alerts based on the alert reason. 
• For example, if you create a "Mental Health Concern" reason, you may want to allow all users the ability to create a staff initiated alert with this alert reason, while only allowing specific users in your counselling center the ability to view alerts created with this reason type.

To create an alert reason:

1. Select the New button displayed under Reasons. 
2. Enter a name for the Alert Reason that describes the reason for concern.
3. Assign permissions as needed to the specific alert reason. On every alert reason, you can specify: 
   1. 1. 1. Whether everyone who has access to staff initiated alerts (eg. non-student users) can create an alert with this reason, or if the alert reason can only be used by select roles.
            • • If an alert reason is restricted to select role(s), only users assigned at least one of the listed security roles will be allowed to create an alert associated with this reason type. 
              • When an alert reason is restricted and can only be used by certain security role(s), users that are NOT assigned any of the selected roles will NOT see the reason included in the list of available alert reasons.
              • This is how institutions manage who can create manual staff initiated alerts.
         2. Whether everyone who has access to staff initiated alerts (eg. non-student users) can view an alert with this reason, or if the alerts can only be viewed by select roles. 
            1. • If an alert reason is restricted to select role(s), only users assigned at least one of the listed security roles will be allowed to view an alert associated with this reason type. 
               • When an alert reason is restricted and can only be viewed by certain security role(s), users that are NOT assigned any of the selected roles will NOT see alerts created with the alert reasons as they will not display on the UI. 
               • If an alert reason is restricted to select roles and the logged-in user is not assigned any of the selected role(s), user's may still be allowed to view and manage an alert based on the "Allow Creator of Alert to View/Manage Alerts They Create" setting in Staff Initiated Alert Configuration that applies to all staff initiated alert reasons/creators.
4. Assign the person type(s) that can be assigned the specific staff initiated alert reason.
5. Set the alert reason as active/inactive.
   • • • Setting an alert reason as inactive will disallow any role from creating that alert, although roles with the appropriate permission will still be able to see inactive alerts.

In addition, on every Staff Initiated Alert Reason there are red or green lock icons displayed in the Create and View columns that indicate whether the create or view permissions are restricted, and an Active column that indicates whether or not the alert reason is currently active.

Create/View Reason Columns

The locks indicate whether the specific alert reason creation and/or visibility is restricted only to certain user roles.

• A green unlocked icon represents an unrestricted alert reason where everyone with access to staff initiated alerts (eg. all staff/faculty non-student users) can create and/or view an alert associated with this specific alert reason.
• A red locked icon represents a restricted alert reason where only users with a select role(s) can create and/or view an alert associated with this specific alert reason.

Active Reason Column

The Active column indicates whether or not the alert reason is active or inactive.

• A Yes label indicates that the alert reason is currently active and can be used.
• A No label indicates that the alert reason is inactive. All user roles are prohibited from creating a staff initiated alert with an inactive alert reason.

Edit an Alert Reason

To edit an alert reason, click on the alert reason name.

Alert Coordinator(s)

Alert coordinators are individuals who will receive an email notification about a staff initiated alert in addition to members of the student's primary success team (depending on who can receive notification and view the alert reason).

• The purpose of this feature is to allow institutions to choose when to notify a centralized group of coordinators in addition to, or instead of, notifying the student's advising staff about an early alert.
• A pre-requisite is that at least one of the Alert Coordinators assigned roles is permitted to view alerts on all student records (Full Profile View - “Can See Alerts Tab”) and that at least one of the alert coordinator's assigned user roles is permitted to view the early alert reason.

When an Alert Coordinator is defined for an early alert reason, alert notification emails will be sent to these individuals in addition to the student's primary success team.

Otherwise, if an alert coordinator is not defined for an alert reason, the early alert notification email will only be sent to the student's primary success team.

• Alert Coordinator settings do not add the alert to the alert coordinator's digest emails - it is simply an additional email notification sent at the time the alert is created/saved.

Alert Coordinators can view early alerts:

1. In their edu primary email Inbox.
2. In the Student Alerts widget, on their Home Page dashboard.
3. On the targeted student's Alerts tab.

At many institutions, more sensitive staff initiated alerts are delivered only to a specific alert coordinator(s) based on the selected alert reason. These special notifications can be based only on the alert reason or the campus/location in addition to an alert reason.

To create a new Alert Coordinator, perform the following steps:

1. Navigate to the Staff Initiated Alert, then click Edit.
2. Click the New button in the Alert Coordinator(s) section.
3. Specify the Student Campus Location, Alert Reason, and Coordinator.
   • Leaving the Student Campus Location or Alert Reason options empty will imply all locations and all reasons, respectively.
   • If a Student Campus Location is specified, your institution must be importing this data from the SIS. When in doubt, leave Student Campus Location blank.
4. Click Add when complete. 
5. A list of Alert Coordinators will display on the Staff Initiated Alert Administration screen.

Only people who have a role that is consistent with the roles specified for the Staff Initiated Alert are able to be assigned as Coordinators.

Default Alert Coordinator(s)

The Default Alert Coordinator(s) are individuals who will receive notification(s) about a Staff Initiated Alert only if no-one else is being sent a notification about the alert.

• For example, if a student does not have a primary success team, and the alert reason/campus location does not have an Alert Coordinator based on the rules defined above, a Staff Initiated Alert pertaining to this student should still be routed to someone who can take action on the alert. That is the purpose of the Default Alert Coordinator.