UW-Madison Mathematics Department's
Early Alert System

Program Overview:

The placement system at the University tells the student which math class s/he ought to take. The system is good but not perfect, so we often see students who are taking the wrong course and are unprepared for it. Those students are at risk of failing from the very beginning. The Early Warning system tries to address that problem.

At the beginning of each semester teaching assistants are asked to be on the look out for students who are not prepared for the course they are enrolled in. TAs are encouraged to give quizzes the first 3 weeks of classes. Sometime during the third week of classes you will be asked to refer those students to an adviser. The adviser will look at the background and future plans of the student and will issue a recommendation. These recommendations range from "study harder", "enroll in the mathematics tutorial program" to "switch to a different course". The recommendation is then e-mailed to the student and his/her academic adviser. The students will not be forced to take action, we will just give them advice. It is up to them to improve their situation. This information will not be included in the student's records.

To the Students: