Expanding Coordinated Referrals

Owned by Bulldog Connect
Last updated: May 08, 2024
2 min read

The adage “it takes a village” is often applied to challenging but worthy missions, and no initiative on campus is more important than ensuring that students succeed. When the “village” comes together, students are more likely to see a return on their investment in education. With Bulldog Connect, those who play a role in student success come together to support students more efficiently, intelligently, and meaningfully.

If your program is interested in joining the network, please take some time to fill out the form. Once you complete it, someone will contact you for training and to formally set up the referral.

Referrals are a way to draw attention to a student who might be at risk for various reasons, such as losing financial aid, needing tutoring, or intending to withdraw from the institution.

A Case is an electronic case file where staff across departments (e.g., financial aid, career advising, tutoring, counseling) can coordinate and collaborate on the follow-up with the student. Cases create a formalized next step for action or intervention on the issued Referrals, should that be needed.

Triage of Referrals

We strongly believe in the benefits of having Referrals to generate Cases. Doing this provides the following benefits:

  • Facilitates a coordinated response to an early referral when several offices are involved.

  • Improves the student experience by ensuring guidance is synchronized and comprehensive.

  • It allows for easy, quantitative evaluation of early referral programs. Cases also allow for easier confirmation and tracking that the intervention happened.

We don’t necessarily believe that every early referral should generate a case. Let’s look at how to determine your case protocol. 

  • Consider capacity. Only open cases that staff can address in a timely manner.

  • Consider the need for coordination. Cases coordinate many points of contact.

  • Think about actionable follow-up. Don’t open cases unless follow-up requires direct contact between staff and the student.

  • Consider if you have any use for reporting. Don’t open cases unless you have a specific use or need for data/reporting.