Academic Concerns FAQs

The following FAQs provide additional details about the Academic Concern system.

What happens after I submit an Academic Concern when it's related to "academic progress"?

If you are the primary instructor of a course, submitting for students in your class, the students will immediately receive a message from the college student services office which prompts them to make an appointment with an advisor and shares useful learning resources offered by campus partners. This message may be customized by the college to include their specific resources or contacts.

What happens after I submit an "other" concern when it's possibly related to a conduct or personal challenge the student is facing?

No automated message will be sent to the student. The college students services advisor may contact you if they need additional information beyond what you’ve described on the form.

When should I submit an Academic Concern form - before or after I have spoken with my class or the student about exam or paper grades?

After. The students should hear from you first and not via the automatic and immediate Academic Concerns message.

Should I report Academic Integrity violations on the Academic Concern form?

If you’d like to have a conversation with the college student services advisor about providing support to a student who is facing an academic integrity issue, select “Conduct in Academic Settings” under “Other Concerns” and ask that an advisor contact you in the description text box. Otherwise, the Guidelines for Instructors provided by the Office of the Dean of Faculty are very useful, but if you have a question about the AI code, contact your college’s Academic Integrity Hearing Board Chair.

Can my graduate TA or other instructional staff (not undergraduates) submit concerns for students in my course?

Yes.

If I have more than 5 students to submit a concern about, should I use the bulk upload function?

Yes. The bulk upload function is a great time saver when you have 5 or more concerns to submit.

I teach a large lecture course where it's not uncommon for students to be absent, even though attendance is part of their grade. Should I still submit a concern for those who elect not to attend class?

Yes. It’s particularly helpful for the college student services offices if they can see whether a student has been absent from multiple courses.

Are students aware that the Academic Concern system exists?

We’ve encouraged faculty to include a syllabus statement describing Academic Concerns and details about the system are described on the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education website. In addition, the colleges are being proactive in letting students know that if they struggle in a course, they could receive a concern notice.

Will I be contacted by the college student services office about the concern I submit?

Not likely if it’s a straightforward “academic progress” concern. If you submit an “other concern,” then you may be contacted for more information. Of course, if on the form you specifically request to be contacted, an advisor will be in touch with you.

Can I specifically request on the form that an advisor contact me to discuss the student?

Yes.

Should I submit additional concerns for the same student if the academic issue persists?

Yes. The college student services offices would like to be aware of continuing challenges.

What should I do if there's an issue with a student that's not academic, but seems personally very urgent?

For urgent matters during regular business hours (M-F, 8am-5pm), call Student Support and Advocacy Services at 607-254-8598. For emergency or during after hours contact Cornell University Public Safety Communications Centers at 607-255-1111 or 911, Administrator on-Call at 607-255-1111 (ask for an Administrator on-Call), or Cornell Health After-Hours (ProtoCall) - 24/7 mental health professionals at 607-255-5155.

Additionally, it would be helpful to submit a Student of Concern form (select the "Student of Concern Referral" under "Report Type"), so that a member of the Dean of Students’ Student Support and Advocacy Services team can assess the situation and contact the student as appropriate.

What's the difference between Academic Concern and Student of Concern forms?

The Academic Concern form is routed to the college student services offices and focuses primarily on addressing student academic challenges. The Student of Concern form is routed to the Dean of Students’ Student Support and Advocacy Services team that manages urgent and emergency personal student situations. Regardless of which form you submit, your issue will be routed to the appropriate office, as the college student services offices and the Dean of Students Office collaborate closely to support students.

You say that the Academic Concern system helps with providing useful information during the college academic review process at the end of the semester. What are some examples of this?

A review of academic concerns that a student received over the semester is enormously useful to the faculty and staff who are making academic action decisions. It provides an understanding of whether the student responded to outreach and made a sound decision about remaining in a course, and it offers an instructor’s perspective to the academic review process.

Worthy of note is that some colleges report that they experienced a noticeable decrease in academic actions cases when they experienced an increase in academic concern submissions. This suggests that students are receiving the help they need to either improve their learning in classes or are being proactively advised to drop or withdraw from a course before their progress suffers further.

What should I do if I can't log into the system, or it doesn't seem to be working?

Please email the Salesforce support team at salesforce-support@cornell.edu to have the issue resolved.

Will the information that I share on the form be shared with the student?

Only if the student requests access to the form, which is exceedingly rare. The form becomes part of Cornell's administrative record keeping and therefore may be available to students to which it pertains under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. Cornell University Policy 4.5: Access to Student Information and the related Student Record Privacy Statement explain how FERPA is implemented at Cornell.

I have additional questions. Whom should I contact?

Please email the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education.