Submitted by: Jennifer Brewer, jbrewer1@uca.edu on 10/13/2026
We’ve reached Weeks 8 & 9 of the semester, which means we are firmly in mid-semester territory.
Grades are accumulating. The calendar is even more crowded. That one assignment a student was definitely going to catch up on this weekend may now have survived several weekends.
And this is often the point when some students could really use a little help—but may not know how, when, or even whether to ask for it.
For October 12–23, the Faculty for Successful Students campaign is focusing on providing individualized support.
Provide Individualized Support
Individualized support doesn’t have to mean creating a completely different experience for every student. Often, it’s simply noticing when a student may be struggling, opening the door for a conversation, and helping them identify the next step.
A few ways to reinforce that support:
- Complete progress reports and use them as an opportunity to help students see where they stand while there’s still time to make adjustments.
- Consider offering brief conferences or check-ins with students. You might devote part of a class period, use office hours, or invite students who could benefit from a conversation.
- Keep a file of commonly used grading comments so you can quickly customize meaningful feedback without rewriting the same explanation 37 times.
- Remind students that office hours really are for them. They do not need a dramatic academic emergency—or a formal invitation—to stop by.
- Continue pointing students toward campus support, including Tutoring and Academic Support, the Center for Writing and Communication, Peer Success Coaching, and other Student Success resources.
The message that students are seeing during these two weeks is simple: ASK for Help.
We’re encouraging them to talk with their instructors when they’re confused, pay attention to feedback and ask follow-up questions, and make use of the many academic support resources available to them.
Sometimes the biggest hurdle isn’t finding help—it’s convincing a student that asking for help is a normal part of learning.
Brightspace Byte: Find the Students Who May Not Ask
Not every student who needs help will send an email or show up during office hours. Brightspace’s Class Progress tools can help you spot students who may need a little help by giving you a closer look at things like course activity, grades, content progress, and other markers of engagement.
You don’t necessarily need a lengthy intervention. Sometimes a quick message—
“I noticed you’ve had a rough couple of weeks. How are things going in the course?”
—can be enough to start a conversation.
You can also make it easier for students to reach you by clearly telling them how you prefer to be contacted in Brightspace—Email, Discussions, Instant Messages, or another method.
Because “Reach out if you need anything!” works considerably better when students know where “out” is.
Keep These Handy
- Faculty for Successful Students Webpage
- Tutoring & Academic Support
- Center for Writing and Communication
- Peer Success Coaching
Thank you for the conversations, comments, check-ins, referrals, and small moments of encouragement you offer students—especially the students who may not quite know how to ask for them yet.
Those moments can make a much bigger difference than they seem.
🗓️ Save the Date — Bear Bites!
Helping Students Recognize Their Strengths
Facilitator: Charlotte Strickland
November 12 | 12:15–1:30 p.m.
