Paper Title
OPSA2.0 GOES TO SCHOOL: FROM AWARENESS TO EMPOWERMENT IN PROMOTING INCLUSIVE AND PARTICIPATORY ACADEMIC SUCCESS

Abstract
The Observatory for Academic Success – OPSA 2.0, developed at the Polytechnic University of Leiria (IPLeiria), Portugal, a comprehensive and innovative institutional response to the increasing challenges faced by higher education institutions, particularly those associated withthegrowingdiversityof student profiles and the need to enhance support mechanisms for academic integration, especially during the transition into higher education. Structured around seven interconnected strategic axes, OPSA 2.0 encompasses a range of programmes designed to support students at various stages of their academic journey. These include: the Mentoring Programme, promoting peer support for new students; the Tutoring Programme, providing personalized academic and personal guidance from faculty members; the Pedagogical Training and Development Programme, aimed at fostering active, innovative, and inclusive teaching practices; the Special Learning Support Programme, offering students skill-building workshops and academic development initiatives; the Academic Success Platform, which employsartificial intelligence and data science to identify students at risk of dropout, based on a multidimensional analysis of personal, academic,sociodemographic, and contextual variables; the Together with the Community Programme, encouraging partnerships with cultural, social, and sports institutions; and the Coordination, Communication, Interaction, and Dissemination Programme, which ensures project governance and promotes internal and external visibility. During its first year of implementation, OPSA 2.0 achieved several significant milestones. These included the full launch of the Mentoring and Tutoring Programmes, the expansion of pedagogical training offers, and the implementation of student-centred workshops focused on academic, personal, and motivational development. However, one of the key challenges identified was engagingfirst-year students, particularly in raising awareness of the support mechanisms available to them. In response to this challenge, the initiative “OPSA Goes to School” was launched in February 2025 as a decentralized action across the five schools of IPLeiria. Aspartofthisinitiative, a dedicated session was held ineachschool,employinggamificationstrategies as an engaging pedagogical tool to introduce the OPSA 2.0 framework and its various programmes. The sessionalso aimed to amplify students’ voices, by inviting them to reflect on their own definitions of academic success, to share the strategies they use to achieve it, and to discuss the main challenges they experience as higher education students. By promoting active participationand criticaldialogue,thisinitiative strengthened students’ connection with the OPSA PROJECT AND REINFORCED THEIR ROLE AS CO-CONSTRUCTORS OF THEIR ACADEMIC PATHWAYS This comprehensive and participatory approach positions OPSA 2.0 as a cornerstone of the institution's strategies aimed at promoting student engagement and academic success. Grounded in scientific evidence, institutional collaboration, and pedagogical innovation, OPSA 2.0 embodies IPLeiria’s strategic commitment to fostering an inclusive, supportive, and academically empowering environment that promotes equity, engagement, and excellence in higher education. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Observatory for Academic Success (OPSA 2.0) project is co-financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan - PRR, through NextGenerationEU, under Investment RE-C06-i07 - Impulso Mais Digital, sub-measure Innovation and Pedagogical Modernization in Higher Education - Programme to Promote Success and Reduce School Dropouts in Higher Education, under the responsibility of the Directorate General for Higher Education (DGES).