Key Objectives

Currently, the Outreach Team’s primary responsibilities are:

Arranging extensions for students on projects and exercises

Offering help to students struggling in the class during 1-on-1 meetings.

Overview

As the team is growing and as we begin to shift back to in-person instruction, we expect the outreach team to adapt the ways in which we have executed our goals. Going forward, Outreach Leads are free to adopt, change, or expand upon the tools we have provided in this guide to continue supporting both students and TAs.

At the beginning of the semester

• Set up a new Extension Request Form for that semester
• Set up a new Outreach Request form for that semester
• Update links on websites to those forms
• Add new outreach team members to the shared mailbox
• Reevaluate the need for extensions and one-on-ones
• Set team goals for the semester beyond extensions and one-on-ones

Extension Requests

After Fall 2020, the Outreach Team recognized students were falling behind as the switch to Gradescope meant they were unable to submit after the late deadline of three days had passed. Unless the students felt compelled to reach out to Kris or Kaki, they were not turning in exercises and projects, which ultimately resulted in them becoming discouraged and engaging with the material less. In an attempt to support the students who were less likely to reach out, we created the Extension Request Form.

How to handle extension request form submission

If a google sheet has not been created for the form, click on the green Google Sheets icon in the form responses tab and add columns for the following information:

• Contacted (date)
• Extension (date)
• Confirmed
• Turned in
• Notes

2. Use the email templates in the templates folder in the shared mailbox to contact the student. Adjust the wording to suit the situation and set a new tentative deadline.

The extension request response template will work for most situations, however, occasionally, a student will mention technical difficulties, in which case the technical difficulties template might be more appropriate.

Our default next tentative deadline has been 3 days after the original deadline as this is the maximum extension we can give without having to submit the zip files for them. Of course, we adjust based on the situation and extend deadlines as needed.

3. Update the google sheet with date contacted.
4. Reply to any subsequent emails and update the sheet as extensions are confirmed or extended or assignments are turned in.
5. After an extension has passed, check Gradescope if the sheet does not indicate the assignment has been turned in (this is only really applicable to the extensions set 3 days from the original deadline as they can turn them in without letting you know).
6. If the deadline has passed and the assignment has not been turned in, send a follow-up email to check in with the student.

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One-on-Ones

Students who could benefit from one-on-ones are identified using the Outreach Request form submitted by TAs. In the future directions section, we address possible other ways to identify students.

How to handle one on one form submission

If it a google sheet has not been created for the form, click on the green Google Sheets icon in the form responses tab and add columns for the following information:

• Contacted (date)
• Confirmed
• Next steps
• Resolved

2. Determine what support the outreach team can offer (extension, one-on-one)
3. If appropriate, reach out to the student over email with the setting up one-on-one template.

Refer to the one-on-one question list in the one-on-one subfolder in the Outreach Google Drive folder for information on how to conduct a one-on-one.

How to add TAs to the shared mailbox

1. Go to selfservice.unc.edu
2. Click My AD Groups on the left menu.
3. Go to the My Groups tab.
4. Click the members drop down for the mailbox with the name CAS_COMP110Outre mailbox full access
5. Enter the TA's Onyen in the Entity Id search box and click Search.
6. Find their name under CN and click Add Entity.
7. Wait 24 hours for the access to sync.
8. Contact ITS if there are problems.

Future Directions for Outreach

• outreach on the team side
• supporting mentorship