Supporting university academics in proactive outreach to at-risk students

This article examines the trialling of an academic support toolkit that aimed to place teaching staff in the initial outreach role to at-risk students studying at a regional Australian university, while ensuring minimum additional workload. Many regional and rural tertiary students, particularly those of mature age with family and work commitments, must study by distance and the support processes available to them should provide equivalent opportunities for success as on-campus students. This article describes one regional Australian university's implementation of a technology solution to enhance the outcomes for regional and rural university students. The technology toolkit developed was focused on providing teaching academics with the key information about student engagement and progress daily to allow them to make informed decisions about student support requirements. Examination of student completion, engagement, and disengagement before and after the toolkit implementation and an analysis of Unit Coordinator surveys indicated the approach was effective, most noticeably due to academic-led early outreach. The implementation of the toolkit also afforded a reduction in the transactional distance between the student and teaching staff.