NameCoach decommissioning

Due to budget constraints, the University’s contract with NameCoach will not be renewed, and integrations with Canvas and APLUS will be decommissioned in May 2026. This means that access to recorded name pronunciations will no longer be available in these systems. NameCoach’s Personal Namebadge remains a complimentary service to individuals.

We are looking at ways to make name pronunciations available within the University’s existing systems. We have been in contact with commencement coordinators on their options for name pronunciation at commencement ceremonies.

GPA calculator to launch in APLUS

The APLUS team completed their development work and testing on the GPA Calculator. It will be available to advisers in APLUS starting Monday, February 3 in the Academics tab. ASR will decommission the existing tool following the launch of the replacement in APLUS.

New Major/Minor roster

The Major/Minor Roster UM Report was permanently replaced with a UM Analytics dashboard on Monday, October 9, 2023. Some improvements with this dashboard include:

• Data sourced directly without the business logic that was in UM Reports
• The ability to view more than 10 academic plans at one time

The academic level and graduation plan fields will no longer be available in the UM analytics dashboard. If you have access to APLUS, you should be able to find this information there. 

You can access the replacement dashboard by the same link in the Reporting Center that you have always used (Reporting Center > Student Services > Major/Minor Roster). Note: A similar report, “Graduate Education Student Report for Majors/Minors,” is not affected by this change.

If you have any questions, please email srhelp@umn.edu.

13-Credit exemption retired

The 13-credit exemption process has officially been retired. Here are a few things to consider to make this a smooth transition for students and staff:

• The exemption will no longer be entered into PeopleSoft. If you have relied on that data in the past (e.g., awarding scholarships), a change in policies and/or practices may be needed.
• Review your communications, websites, and printed materials to ensure that references to “13-credit policy” or “13-credit requirement” are removed or updated. References to tuition costs above the 13 credits are "flat rate tuition."
• 13 credits is not enough for most students to stay on track for timely graduation or maximize certain types of financial aid. We encourage you to promote 15 credits of enrollment where appropriate.

A full-time credit fact sheet will be included in the Advising Toolkit. For details on how APLUS has adapted to this change, please attend the Fall 2023 APLUS Training.

Academic Alerts reminder

As a reminder, instructors can use the Academic Alert system at any time during the semester to notify advisors that a student is struggling, which is not limited to midterm. In addition, APLUS now allows instructors to upload a spreadsheet to provide feedback to multiple students at once. A guide for academic alerts and using APLUS for instructors is available on the ASR website.

Academic Alerts project update

Academic Alerts is replacing the mid-term grades process for undergraduate classes this fall. The new process, part of the APLUS system, will be available to instructors in early October. The Academic Alert project team is currently in the final stages of testing. The team is also putting the finishing touches on training materials for instructors. Later this week, instructors will receive communications and resources about the new process.

Academic Alert project update

Academic Alerts, a process to replace the mid-term grades process, will be available to instructors in APLUS by early October. So far, usability testing was conducted, and the project team is making final changes based on this feedback. The team is also working on a training guide for instructors and final communication plans. Instructors will be asked to have enough grading events before the middle of the term so that they can properly evaluate students’ academic performance and inform those who are not meeting class requirements, consistent with University policy on “in-progress notifications.”

Instructors will also be encouraged to provide feedback early and often as this system allows instructors to send as many updates as necessary so advisors can assess how students are doing across multiple classes and what services might be the most beneficial to keeping students on track. We will send out communications and resources after the start of the term. Instructors will receive reminders to add grades in APLUS and comments at midterm per usual. For other programs that depend on mid-term rosters, mid-term rosters will still be made available.

Academic Alert project update and implementation plan

Academic Alerts, formerly known as mid-term alerts or in-progress notifications, will be changing this fall. In the past, instructors have been notified to submit midterm grades into PeopleSoft to alert advisors if a student is at risk of failing a course. Advisors would receive an alert to follow up with the student to discuss ways they can work through academic challenges.

The current system has a low adoption rate (only 15% of 1000-level rosters were reported at midterm in Spring 2018) despite the fact that it is a requirement per University policy. Additionally, other units have developed their own systems to meet different requirements. This means that instructors may have to use different systems within the same semester. Lastly, in the current system, instructors were unsure when mid-term alerts went out to advisors or when the student had been contacted. This ambiguous time frame caused the alerts to feel less meaningful.

This fall, the following changes will be implemented:

• We will change and standardize the language from “midterm alerts,” “in-progress notifications,” or any other term used to “academic alerts.”
• We will move the process from PeopleSoft to APLUS.
• Instructors will receive a narrow, easy-to-use role in APLUS allowing them to enter academic alert information into APLUS that will automatically trigger alerts sent to both the student and their advisors. We will provide resources to instructors on how to add, modify, and remove alerts.
• Instructors will be asked to enter grades into APLUS.
• Instructors may use the Academic Alert system any time during the semester to notify the academic advisor that a student is struggling, which is not limited to midterm.
• We will reduce the number of overlapping systems. Athletics will still maintain their own system to ensure their eligibility requirements are met. But, we hope to meet system requirements for Athletics in Phase II.

Timeline:

• Usability testing with Usability Services is from August 13 - 14.
• After Usability, we will be working creating resources for faculty.
• We will send out communication and resources after the start of the term (approximately after the second week of the term).
• We will send official reminders to instructors to add grades in APLUS and comments at midterm per usual, but it’s important to note again these can be sent any time during the semester.