Student Engagement Roster

What is the Student Engagement Roster (SER)?

The Student Engagement Roster (SER) at Indiana University is an academic alert system that relies on faculty input at critical stages of the academic term. Its goal is to proactively support undergraduate persistence to improve retention and graduation rates for all students. SER feedback is shared with students and IU Kokomo’s broader student success community, fostering a collaborative and transparent learning environment focused on individual student needs.

What input should be reported in the SER?

  • Observations about student attendance, participation, and early performance. The SER includes a range of options to report performance, including indicators that highlight positive behaviors.
  • Recommendations for improving performance, including usage of campus resources.
  • In addition to preset selections for observations and recommendations, the SER allows for more personalized, detailed feedback.

Who reviews SER information?

  • All SER feedback is visible to the individual student. However, the SER does not replace faculty-student conversations about attendance and progress.
  • Staff and faculty assigned to specific caseloads of students. Academic advisors, academic success coaches, accessibility services, athletics, 21st Century Scholarship support, and the Groups Scholars program director regularly review SER feedback.
  • Academic support services. The Math Commons, the Writing Center, and IT Training services receive a report of students recommended for these services when early performance feedback is generated.
  • The Executive Director of Student Success, the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships, the Bursar’s Office, and the Registrar’s Office. These offices use SER data to identify students who may be eligible for an administrative term withdrawal for non-attendance.
  • Campus leadership engaged in student success initiatives. Reviews of aggregate data help student success leaders identify opportunities for more targeted intervention strategies across student populations.

Calendar

Resident and adjunct instructors are expected to report first-week attendance for all undergraduate and graduate students. This deadline is necessary for financial aid to be accurately disbursed in Week 2. 

Report Attending if the student attended class or communicated their intent to join your class. If a student misses the first class and does not communicate with you, report them as Never Attended. For online courses, use course engagement (e.g., completed assignment, discussion thread participation) to report attendance.

IMPORTANT: If students subsequently attend, update their attendance status so as not to impact their financial aid.

Students with Never Attended indicators who have not made payments on tuition bills will be reviewed for administrative term withdrawal. If approved to be administratively withdrawn, students will not be charged tuition and fees, nor will they receive letter grades for the term.

Resident and adjunct instructors teaching 8 Week 1 (8W1) and 16-week sessions are expected to submit early performance feedback and to update attendance. This stage of the semester is crucial for connecting students to campus resources—students with irregular attendance, missing assignments, or declining engagement are of particular concern.In online classes, consider using a low-stakes assignment or time spent in Canvas to submit early performance feedback.

Instructors in labs, independent studies, and field placements can report if they wish, but this is not required.

Instructors are expected to report engagement, attendance, and current grades for selected students. Instructors who need to provide additional SER feedback will receive an email with a direct link to their roster(s).

The SER progress report is vital to campus-wide efforts to help students reach critical benchmarks, such as NAIA compliance for student athletes, scholarship renewal for 21st Century Scholars, and satisfactory academic progress for students on academic probation. The student’s current grade is required at this stage of SER reporting.

This feedback phase is key for identifying students who may need to withdraw before the deadline for 16-week and 8 Week 2 courses. The SER indicator Consult with academic advisor signals to student success staff that a student should consider withdrawing from the course. You are encouraged to submit feedback for any student needing additional support, not just those that are selected in the progress campaign.

IMPORTANT: Faculty can update their SER roster for any student at any point in the semester, not just at required reporting periods.

Additional Resources

Student Engagement Roster (SER)

SER Faculty Access

Get started with SER for faculty

Student Engagement Roster Help Articles.

Student Engagement Roster SER Faculty Videos

Helpful videos describing the steps to submit SERs.