Early Intervention at Tougaloo College

Early intervention is a cooperative and collaborative program involving faculty, students and staff.

How and when do I make a referral?

As a member of the Tougaloo College faculty, you have the best – and earliest – perspective on a student's ability to complete the course work necessary to succeed in your class. When you observe any student struggling at the beginning of the term, you can easily refer that student for Early Intervention. The sooner a referral is made, the more effective it will be.

You can download an academic alert form from the intranet or obtain one from the CSAR/OSS office. The checklist includes behaviors that generally indicate a student's inability to succeed in the class.  The form also includes an option to let you know what action was taken by the CSAR/OSS staff. Our response may be in the form of an email, memo or copy of the form noting the action taken.

You may submit completed forms to our office through email, fax or by dropping them off at the CSAR/OSS office, which is located on the second floor of Alumni House. It is important that a referral be made as soon as possible. Hence, we will gladly complete a form for you. If it is urgent, we will gladly take a telephone referral. Again, r eferrals should be made as early in the term as possible.  

What happens after I make a referral?

 The CSAR/OSS office will contact students to arrange for them to obtain the appropriate support. We attempt to reach the student by telephone initially, and if necessary, by letter. Since it is imperative that we speak to the referred student right away, we may ask faculty and staff to ask them to report to our office. If the student cannot be located through these means, we will take other steps such as contacting a parent or guardian for the student’s contact information or going directly to a classroom or other location where we are sure to make contact with the student.

Once we make contact we may be able to resolve the issue over the telephone. Still other situations require face-to-face discussions with the student. The CSAR/OSS staff will discuss your referral with the student, will make them aware of your concerns for their academic success and provide them with options and resources for academic assistance, including:

• Tutoring,
• Advising assistance,
• Referral to the campus writing, language and/or reading laboratories, and
• Study Groups and Academic Workshops as they are available.

In addition, students may be referred to other campus resources such as Financial Aid or Counseling. Staff may continue to monitor a specific student's progress to assist them in meeting their academic goals in a particular course, or for all of their courses for the semester.

Help us Help You

If you see that a student is in academic trouble, please utilize the rapport you have with the student to help determine the cause of the difficulty. If you can offer assistance to the student that can meet their needs, please do so. However, if there are any needs that they identify that you are unable to address, please complete the academic alert form detailing the content of your discussion with the student. Our office will provide the additional support that is needed.