Strategic Plan | Student Success
Scottsdale Community College (SCC) is committed to supporting student success by launching a powerful new tool this fall: Dropout Detective. This early alert system, already in use at other Maricopa Community Colleges, will help identify students at risk of not completing their courses, allowing staff and faculty to intervene earlier and more effectively.
This initiative directly supports one of SCC’s key goals in its ASPIRE 2026-2030 Strategic Plan: Early Alert & Academic Support. The College is committed to implementing proactive systems that reduce course withdrawal rates and ultimately improve student outcomes.
Why does this matter? When students withdraw or fail to complete a course, the student’s academic momentum and confidence can be derailed. Dropout Detective aims to change that trajectory by providing real-time data insights that allow advisors, faculty, and support teams to take action before it’s too late. In addition to using analytics to flag students who may be at risk, Dropout Detective also empowers faculty and staff with a manual alert option. Known as “Advisor Alerts,” these notifications allow instructors to share real-time concerns about a student, ensuring that personal insight and human judgment remain part of the support process.
Implementation begins with the Fall 2025 semester, with college-wide deployment planned for the Spring 2026 semester. A cross-functional team from SCC’s Academic Affairs and Student Affairs is leading the rollout. This collaboration ensures that both instructional and support perspectives shape how the tool is used to benefit students.
SCC has set a bold goal: to increase course success rates from 74.2% to 77% by 2030. Tools like Dropout Detective—and the people behind them—will help play a key role in reaching that target.