For faculty and staff
The Division of Strategic Enrollment Management and Student Success encourages VCU faculty and staff to promote student success. Our early notification programs, which utilize the Navigate network, help faculty and advisors proactively manage student academic progress.
We've provided additional resources and recommendations below.
Training and guides
Banner 9 grade entry
Watch a video tutorial and follow step-by-step instructions for entering grades in Banner 9.
Degree Works auditing tool
Access tutorial and instructions for using Degree Works to help students track degree progess.
Protecting student privacy
If you have access to student data, you are responsible for handling student records in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and university policy. For more information, visit:
Resources for student success
Academic support services
Expand your education
Additional academic support
Student well-being
Tools for faculty
Show your support
Research and resources
Equity-minded framework (versus deficit-minded)
- Understanding equity-mindedness (USC CUE)
- 5 principles for enacting equity by design (AAC&U)
- Non-traditional students and the equity imperative (AAC&U)
- Equity-minded syllabus (USC CUE)
On instruction and pedagogical strategies
- Instructional Strategies (University of Texas at Austin)
- 50 Course-Related Knowledge & Skills Assessment Techniques (CAT) by Angelo and Cross
- Checks for Learning During Instruction (University of Texas at Austin)
- Blumberg, Phyllis. (2009). Maximizing Learning Through Course Alignment and Experience with Different Types of Knowledge. Innovative Higher Education, 34, 94-103.
- Brookhart, Susan. (2004). Assessment Theory for College Classrooms [PDF]. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, no. 100, 5-14.
- Fink, L. Dee. 2003. A Self-Directed Guide to Designing Courses for Significant Learning
- Loes, Chad, Salisbury, Mark, & Pascarella, Ernest. (2015). Student perceptions of effective instruction and the development of critical thinking: a replication and extension. Higher Education, 69: 823–838.
- Nilson, Linda. 2016. Teaching at Its Best: A Research-Based Resource for College Instructors. 4th edition. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
- Reeves, Thomas. C. (2006.) How do you know they are learning?: The importance of alignment in higher education. International Journal of Learning Technology, 2 (4): 294-306.
On working with first-generation students
- You First at VCU
- Who’s in First (Generation)?
- Lessons from a first-generation Latinx student
- We Must Help First Generation College Students Master the Hidden Curriculum (from The Chronicle of Higher Education)
- 22 tips for teaching first-generation college students at CSUF
- Ortega-Villalobos, L. “Understanding and Supporting the Learning Process for First Generation College Students at CSUN,” [PDF] 2009.
- Ward, Lee, Michael J. Siegel, and Zebulun Davenport. "First-Generation College Students: Understanding and Improving the Experience from Recruitment to Commencement." San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012.
- Collier, Peter J. and David L. Morgan. “Is That Paper Really Due Today?”: Differences in First-Generation and Traditional College Students Understandings of Faculty Expectations. Higher Education: The International Journal of Higher Education and Educational Planning (April 2008).
- Additional first-generation resources from NACADA
On working with financially stressed students
- I Was a Low-Income College Student. Classes Weren’t the Hard Part. (from The New York Times)
- What Colleges Can Do Right Now to Help Low-Income Students Succeed
- Supporting students’ basic needs with a syllabus statement (Hope Center)
- Broton, K. A review of estimates of housing insecurity and homelessness among students in U.S. higher education,Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless. (2019)
On working with students from traditionally underrepresented communities
- Advice for Teaching First-Generation Latinx Students (from Inside Higher Ed)
- 9 Ways Colleges Should Support Underrepresented Students
- Improving Underrepresented Minority Student Persistence in STEM
- Beyond a Deficit View (Inside Higher Ed)
- Inclusive Teaching Strategies Checklist (from U of Michigan)
- Additional References for Inclusive Teaching and Learning (from University of Texas)
On helping students develop appropriate study skills
On the importance of holding office hours
- The Realities of Office Hours (Harvard Gazette)
- Introducing FOH: Faculty Office Hours (video - Arizona State University)
Syllabi recommendations
To promote student success, consider including in your syllabi:
- More assignments, earlier in the semester
- Classroom attendance/logging in to Canvas (success indicators that are behavioral vs. academic performance)
- Early grades
- The following Student Success statement: Success in this course includes attending class regularly, reading your syllabus, monitoring assignments and grades in Canvas, meeting with me (your professor) during office hours, going to the Campus Learning Center and the Writing Center, and using resources in the library to support your learning.
Words of wisdom
"Student success does not arise by chance. It requires that institutions commit themselves to intentional, structured, and systematic forms of action that involve faculty, … staff, and administrators alike."
-Vincent Tinto, Completing College