Submitted by: Jennifer Brewer, jbrewer1@uca.edu on 09/14/2025
The Center for Excellence in Teaching and Academic Leadership (CETAL), in collaboration with Student Success Services, is excited to continue the Faculty for Successful Students campaign. This initiative equips faculty with simple, practical strategies to support students in developing habits that foster their academic success–particularly among first-year students.
This week’s Faculty for Successful Students focus is: Clarify Performance Expectations.
This theme aligns with the student campaign emphasis: DO the Work (on Time)
Clarifying performance expectations helps students understand what is required for success, reducing confusion and anxiety. It provides clear guidelines for achieving high standards, leading to better performance and academic outcomes.
Faculty Tips to Reinforce Success
Here are a few simple ways you can encourage these habits in your classes:
- Talk openly with students about how consistent work habits impact both performance and stress levels.
- Set transparent policies on late work and explain the rationale behind them.
- Encourage students to seek support early—before deadlines hit—by highlighting campus resources like Peer Success Coaching.
- Review syllabus and LMS use (again). Reach out to students who have already missed an assignment submission to make a plan for getting back on track.
- Reveal any remaining hidden curriculum issues that you have noticed students are not aware of (e.g., taking notes during a lecture, preparing questions for discussion, etc.).
- Use rubrics (and explore using the rubric tool in Blackboard) to communicate to students what successful performance will look like on an assignment and what factors will contribute to their success. When possible, encourage students to use the rubric to self-assess their work and identify and address any shortcomings before submitting it for a grade.
Bear Bites Invitation:
We also invite you to join us for Bear Bites: Meaningful Student Feedback on Thursday, September 18, at 12:15 p.m. in Torreyson West 319. This lunch program will highlight practical ways to provide feedback that supports student success while keeping your workload manageable.
👉 Register for this Bear Bites event!
Resources for You:
Together, we can help students strengthen the skills and behaviors that make them successful at UCA. Thank you for supporting this important initiative!
https://uca.edu/cetal/faculty-for-successful-students/
