Student Success

AccuCampus Retention Tool Extends Student Analytics

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 10/09/17

Physical presence indicates a level of student engagement. The more students turn up in class, keep their tutoring appointments and show up for advising sessions, the more likely they are to succeed in their academics. That's the idea behind AccuCampus, the flagship application for Engineerica, a Florida firm with several attendance tracking systems for education and business.

Recently, the company updated AccuCampus to add machine learning, a student analytics dashboard and a custom query engine.

The latest update has added artificial intelligence algorithms to assess student risk based on demographic data, academic information and behavior. The modeling is unique to each institution. Based on the student's risk level, existing functionality will kick into gear and notify the students to consider using resources on or off campus to increase their participation.

The calculated student risk score is also visible on the new student dashboard, which gives users (such as student advisors) information such as contact details, enrollment and recent tracking data.

A custom queries engine lets authorized staff access the data collected with AccuCampus directly for custom report generation. The program already includes built-in reports for the most commonly requested information.

The program already features a mobile app for Apple and Android devices, which helps steer students to campus services that can help them get up to speed in academic or other areas. When the student "zooms in" on a specific resource, the app lets them schedule an appointment or just walk in for help.

The mobile app can also be used for recording attendance. Earlier this year, the company introduced an upgrade to the its software that uses Bluetooth beacons for data collection regarding student presence. Small beacons equipped with Bluetooth capabilities are placed in physical locations. When students enter the location, the beacon connects with an app on their phone and marks them as present. The app can also pull up a basic questionnaire on the smartphone so students can answer questions prior to receiving service or the start of class.

Among current users of AccuCampus are Jacksonville University in Florida, which uses the software in its student support and tutoring centers and Seattle Central College, which uses the program in its tutoring center.