"Slipping through the cracks" is an unfortunate situation where students end up in a bad situation because something important went unnoticed for too long. Thus, creating a problem too great for them to overcome. Slipping through the cracks might show up as something like an undisclosed learning disability that prevents a student from achieving academic success. By the time said student gets the help they need, they are too far behind to catch up. Another example might be a student or advisor missing a required class until it is time to apply for graduation when it finally becomes uncovered. I tend to put the responsibility of students slipping through the cracks on faculty and staff, as they usually are the gatekeepers to information and have much more experience dealing with issues. That said, students can vigilantly advocate for themselves, make sure they stay on track, and do not slip through.
Contact Your Advisor Early and Often
Particularly in a student's final two years, they should really hold their advisor accountable for making sure classes they need will be available. With four or fewer semesters remaining, I recommend students insist on sitting down with their advisor and mapping out their final year for not just the next semester, but all the remaining semesters.
One thing that can often missed by advisors are required classes only being offered for certain semesters, which may affect the order in which students should take classes. Most advisors are on top of their stuff and usually understand graduation requirements inside and out, but weird scheduling can deceive even the best of us. This is especially the case if the advisor is a professor and not a dedicated advisor. Such situation means that their responsibilities and attention are split. Not only do professors have their advising duties, but they also are focused on their courses and research. Professors will often get subjective with some of the course's students "need." They may put you in their own classes, for example, when it may not be necessary. This is not always the worst situation, but those extra classes may make it tougher to get your requirements in. Though it may be awkward, in these situations students may need to consider finding another advisor.
Do Not Let Problems Fester
As faculty, we often put blinders on when it comes to our students, and have a hard time seeing them outside of the context of their classroom. This often means we are quick to dismiss poor performances, and explain it away as an apathetic student. Professor's rarely follow up with these students because they feel we should -treat students like adults,- and require them to self-advocate. I often find that students want to succeed, but struggle behind the scenes. Unless students feel empowered and comfortable disclosing whatever is going on to the right people, such issues will fester and really impede students' performances in the classroom.
I am not advising students to overshare to staff and faculty; most of us are not equipped to handle that kind of emotional load from students and it can compromise professional boundaries. What students should do is try to find campus resources that can help them stay on track and on top of whatever may be going on. Learning disabilities, for example, can be disclosed with human resources or another, similar campus entity. This is important, because it can help students who need it with additional test taking time and other considerations.
It also puts the disability on a faculty members radar in a way that protects the privacy and boundaries of all involved parties. For things like distracting break ups or other personal life obstacles, I recommend getting ahead of it. Do not spill all the details (you do not want to nor does your professor want to know), but simply saying that you have had a tough experience in your personal life that may affect your classroom performance can sometimes (though not always) open the path to a conversation with a professor that will help mitigate the damage.
When having these conversations, students should stress that they want to succeed and work to come with some potential solutions. Students should also continue to reach out to familiar sources of support. Just because students are off to college and on to the next stage of their life does not mean that family, friends, and mentors suddenly become unavailable.
Students slipping through the cracks is one of the most frustrating parts of my job as an instructor. For our part, I feel like faculty and staff often depersonalize students and forget they have lives outside of the classroom. The more students feel empowered to take over their situation, the quicker we can attack problems before they become insurmountable.
