Summary: During the 8th week of the Fall semester, all first year students are asked to complete a 10-question survey, inquiring about their sense of belonging, academic support needs, wellbeing, and plans to return after the first year. Individual results are shared with advisors to prompt meaningful conversation and targeted intervention for students who indicate a need for additional support.
Results: Approximately 88-94% of first-year students complete this survey, providing an informed snapshot of the wellbeing and needs of the first-year population. Aggregated results from the Fall 2025 First Year Check-In can be viewed on the First-Year Check-In dashboard (accessible to those with Elon faculty and staff credentials)
Summary: Student matriculating into Elon are asked to complete the Transition and Wellness Survey – an instrument designed to understand the student’s efficacy related to their future social connections, academic success, wellness success, and other needs. Many of the questions mirror those provided on the First-Year Check-In that students take in their 7th week of courses.
Based on their responses, students receive an individualized offering of resources that could be useful as they navigate their transition. In addition, results are shared with advisors and others in the student’s Success Network (with permission) and included on the Student Success Dashboard. Results are also aggragated in support of the university’s retention goals.
Results: About 90-95% of students complete the survey, providing a strong understanding of student needs as they matriculate into the university. Results from the Fall 2026 survey can be viewed on the Transition and Wellness Dashboard (accessible only to staff and faculty with Elon credentials).
Summary: Monitoring student academic progress relies on an interdisciplinary network of support across Elon’s campus. Two vital components of this network are the E-warning system and Midterm grades. Previous internal assessments indicate that e-warnings provide key information about the student’s likelihood of being retained after their first year.
This assessment aimed to understand how faculty currently use e-warnings and AR midterm grades across nine first year foundational and introductory courses. Data was obtained to provide details on the number of students who failed, if they received at least one e-warning and/or an AR midterm grade in the failed course for each full semester beginning in Fall 2022.
Results indicate that faculty are increasingly submitting e-warnings, prompting students and advisors connect to resources before a failing grade is earned. However, there is still significant room for improvement: nearly half of students who failed a class had not receiving an early alert in the class they failed. Recommendations include increased nudges and a critical examination of the e-warning process to make it more user-friendly and student success-oriented.
View a summary of the this assessment here (access is limited to those with Elon credentials).
Summary: This assessment looked at whether a first-year student’s participation in certain Elon experiences is related to their retention at Elon. Using a sample of roughly 9000 first-year students, we looked involvement in experiences such as service, leadership, club involvement, employment, and research to determine whether participation and degree of participation are associated with retention.
Results: Overall, students who participate in Service, Leadership, and new Organizations had higher retention rates compared to those do did not. Relationships between each of these was highly statistically significant, indicating a strong positive relationship between Service, Leadership Roles, joining New Organizations and Retention.
A summary report can be viewed by students, faculty, and staff with Elon credentials here.