CASA Frequently Asked Questions

Academic success coaches offer compassionate, personalized support from orientation to graduation. You can think of us as your go-to for:

• Academic concerns (e.g., difficulty in classes, communicating with professors, study skills)
• Exploring the opportunities and resources that USF has to offer
• Understanding university-wide policies and procedures (e.g., adding and dropping classes, changing majors, taking a leave of absence)
• Navigating the various obstacles and complexities that students experience while enrolled in college
• Working with faculty and staff to support you with staying on track to complete your degree and making the most of your college experience

If you're struggling with anything during your time as a student, or just not sure what your options might be, contact us!

Your academic success coach can help you clarify and refine your interests, strengths, and values in order to identify some academic programs that might be a good fit for you, so an appointment with your success coach is a great place to start. We also recommend that you utilize the Explore Your Path portal and the action items listed there to help you explore possible majors and careers you might want to pursue.

Once you've explored your options and narrowed down your choices, the next step is to reach out to the academic departments for the programs you're interested in pursuing, and to request an appointment with an adviser. When you meet with an adviser, you should discuss any questions you have, how adding that program might impact your graduation timeline, when you'll be assigned to a faculty adviser for the program, and which classes you should plan to take next semester.

The final step is to complete a Change of Academic Program (select the e-Form link from the website) to officially declare the new major or minor.

Making an appointment is the best way to secure a meeting with your CASA academic success coach. For a quick question or something more time-sensitive, you can also visit any success coach's Zoom drop-in hours throughout the week. You are welcome to call (415) 422-5050 or stop by our front desk on the UC 3rd floor to schedule an appointment as well.

CASA academic success coaches cannot approve add/drop forms. You should request approval from your major/faculty adviser, as they need to be aware of any changes you make to your schedule to help you stay on track towards completing your degree requirements in a timely manner. Regardless of what class you are trying to drop (e.g., major or core), your faculty adviser must sign in the adviser section of the form.

For instructions on how to add/drop a class, please visit CASA's How to Add/Drop Classes webpage.

Although you may have met with your academic success coach to discuss important personal and academic matters, the role of the faculty adviser is to provide formal academic advising about class planning, substitutions, transfer credits, progress towards degree completion, and career and internship opportunities that are specific to the major.

There may also be policies specific to your major that your success coach is unaware of, such as the minimum grade required to "pass" a class, or the number of times repeating a failed class is allowed. While your success coach can help you look at the "big picture" of how to accomplish the 128-credit university requirement, faculty advisers are the true experts when it comes to major class curriculums, and they can guide you in making important decisions.

You are always welcome to meet with your academic success coach to discuss personal issues or challenges that may be impacting your academics. If you have questions that are specific to your major, or involve planning out which classes you should take or your timeline for degree completion, you should work with your faculty adviser. Your success coach can collaborate with your faculty adviser to provide additional support in coming up with a plan that supports your overall academic success.

CASA can only remove holds that were placed by CASA. We cannot remove holds placed by other offices or major departments. If you have an Advising Hold, please contact your major adviser or the academic department for your major. For other holds, please contact the office from which the hold originated. You can view your holds and the origin office in your Student Hub.

If you aren't sure which office to contact about a hold, you can ask your success coach and they will point you in the right direction.

CASA has asked all faculty to submit Early Alert progress reports for students who may be performing below a "C" in their classes. If you received a progress report from your professor, this means that there is some concern around your performance in a specific class. We understand that several factors may be impacting your performance, and this serves as an opportunity for you to receive important feedback from your professor and determine if you should remain in the class. This progress report is shared with your success team, which consists of your academic success coach in CASA and your faculty adviser(s), so that all parties can follow up with you directly to come up with a plan for academic success.

You can complete and submit this online Deans Certifications request form. Note that all fields on the form must be completed. It is important that students upload the necessary document(s) onto the form. Not completing the form will result in a delay in the process.

The form is processed by CASA and the Office of Student Conduct, Rights, and Responsibilities (OSCRR). The process can take up to 5-7 business days.

NOTE: Degree and/or enrollment verification needs to go through the Verifications Office. Visit their page for more information.

In addition to a faculty adviser in the major, all incoming students are assigned an academic success coach in CASA. The academic success coach will offer the student compassionate, personalized support from orientation to graduation, while encouraging students to explore their potential and aspirations. We also work closely with faculty and staff to engage in academic interventions, ensuring our students have the proper support in place to stay on track to complete their degree.

In CASA, we are committed to:

• Empowering students through coaching to achieve academic success.
• Providing a supportive environment that promotes personal growth and the values of a Jesuit education.
• Connecting students to academic programs and resources on campus designed to support their success.
• Helping students develop skills to successfully meet the demands of USF's rigorous curriculum.

1. There are multiple places from which you can access the Early Alert System:
   • From the myUSF Dashboard: Log in to myUSF, go to Top Apps and click on "Early Alert." 
   • From Canvas: In the Canvas Dashboard, click on the eye icon for Early Alerts (left-hand side of your dashboard).
   • From Banner Self-Service (Faculty): On the main Faculty Services landing page in Banner, click Faculty Early Alert.
2. To see your classes, click on the "Progress Reports" tab, then click "Submit New Report".
3. Select your class and click on "View Students".
4. Five students will show up at a time; click the "next" button at the bottom of the page to see more students in your class.
5. Locate the student you want to create a progress report for and click on "Submit Progress Report".
6. Complete the student progress report form and click "Submit" at the bottom.
7. Note: The information you include in the progress report will generate an automatic email to the student. You will be copied on the email that is sent to the student, along with their academic adviser, success coach, and dean's office staff in School of Nursing and Health Professions (for nursing students), and CASA (for School of Management and College of Arts and Sciences students).

Learn more about the Early Alert Program

• If you think your student would benefit from a one-on-one conversation about personal resources, resources on campus, or anything else → please contact the student's academic success coach directly, and they will gladly follow up with your student. You can also send the student to the CASA front desk, UC 3rd Floor, or have them call us at (415) 422-5050.
• If your student is at risk of failing due to low participation, preparation, quality of work, or test grades, or if you think a student should consider withdrawing from your class, we want to know! → submit an Early Alert.
• If your student is not attending class → submit an Early Alert.
• If your student is presenting distressing/disruptive behavior that you believe constitutes an emergency → submit a Care Referral to the Dean of Students Office.
• If your student is presenting concerning behavior that is a non-emergency → consult with CASA Associate Vice President Shona Milazo by calling x6113.
• If there is a concern about academic integrity/cheating/plagiarism → report incidents to Academic Integrity.

If you have access to Banner Self-Service:

1. On the main Faculty Services landing page in Banner, click Advising Student Profile.
2. Search for a student by ID number, email, or name, then click View Profile.
3. On the Student Profile page, you'll see an Academic Success Coach assigned to the student underneath Advisers, along with the student's Primary / Major Adviser. 
4. Click the name of the Academic Success Coach to pull up their email address. 

If you don’t have access to Banner, please feel free to contact our office at (415) 422-5050 or casa@usfca.edu to find out who a student's success coach is.