The Early Alert Program 

The Early Alert Program was instituted during the autumn 2007 semester as part of the University's Student Success Initiative.  The program is designed to identify students who might be having academic difficulty and to direct them to assistance.  An integral part of this process is the early grading procedure using the mid-term grading function in CyberBear. First, instructors teaching courses numbered 200 level and below will identify students who are performing poorly in a class ("D" work or less). Then these students will be connected to advisors to provide academic assistance and direction.

Important points regarding the initiative:

• The Provost has asked that all instructors teaching subjects at the courses numbered 200 level and below participate in Early Alert each semester. Only those students who are experiencing academic difficulty should have a grade of DEF (deficient) or RDEF (remedial deficient) entered into CyberBear.
• Students who are doing satisfactory work in the course should not be assigned a grade at this time.
• Please announce to your class that you will be providing mid term grades for those students who are having difficulty, and that students can see if they have received a deficient grade by logging onto their secure CyberBear account.

The Early Alert/Mid-term grade function will be available to you beginning in October.  If you have any questions about the process or have difficulty accessing your grade rosters, please contact the Registrar's Office.

The instructions for processing Early Alert/Mid-term grades follow.  Thank you for your efforts in helping to assure that our students succeed.

EARLY ALERT GRADING INSTRUCTIONS

Early Alert grading is much like mid-term grading, except a grade of deficient (DEF) or remedial deficient (RDEF) is submitted ONLY for those students performing "D" work or below as of the end of the 4^th or 5^th week of the term. Grades are submitted electronically in CyberBear using the following process:

1. Access CyberBear by clicking on the following link: http://www.umt.edu/cyberbear.
2. Click on Login.
3. • Enter your NetID and password.  Information regarding your NetID and password can be found on the Registrar's web page titled CyberBear Instructions in the Faculty/Staff tab.
   • Click on Cyberbear for Faculty and Advisors.
   • Read FERPA WARNING, then click on "I understand the FERPA Warning" button.
   • Click Mid Term/Early Alert Grades link on the left hand side of the page.
   • Select the appropriate term and click Submit.
   • Use the drop down menu to select the CRN you wish to access, then click Submit. 
   • Click the Submit button at the bottom of the page. (Remember to submit grades often. There is a 30 minute time limit on a single session.)
   • For linked courses, the grades will be submitted for the lecture roster instead of the discussion/lab rosters.

If you are grading more than one class:

1. After submitting the grades for the first class, click on Return to Menu
2. Click on CRN Selection
3. Choose the next class you wish to grade from the drop down menu and click on Submit
4. Click on Mid Term Grades
5. Enter grades and click on Submit

 If you require any assistance, please contact Diane Flamand at 243-2416 or Bonnie Holzworth at 243-2997.