Starfish at UNCG- Faculty and Advisor Guide. Holly Grabowski, Coordinator of Academic Outreach Students First

Transcription

1 Starfish at UNCG- Faculty and Advisor Guide Holly Grabowski, Coordinator of Academic Outreach Students First

2 Introduction to Starfish Starfish is an early alert software that is accessed through Blackboard to support student academic success at UNCG. Please note: You do NOT have to be a BB user to use Starfish as long as your courses are activated in Blackboard. Through Starfish, faculty can inform students of their academic performance in a course so that identified students can be connected to appropriate support resources. Features include: Early Warning & Student Tracking System: Starfish enables faculty to flag students to inform them of their performance in a course so that they can get help in a timely manner Monitoring: Specific individuals and resources will be notified when a student receives a flag notification. Individuals include advisors, coordinators of Learning Communities, and the Coordinator of Academic Outreach. Additionally, reports can be generated by type of flags, departments, class prefixes, and others. Student Success Network: Starfish can connect students to academic and support resources on campus. Appointments: Starfish provides a scheduling option for creating office hours and easily managing multiple appointments. As of Spring 2011, Starfish has officially replaced the Unsat report for the Undergraduate Student Population. Faculty will be now asked to complete the brief Academic Status Reports twice a semester. The goal of Starfish is to identify at-risk students as early as possible in the term in order to connect them with support in order to positively impact student success and retention, which is a campus-wide initiative. 2

3 Starfish s First Year at UNCG 2011/2012: UNCG rolled Starfish out campus wide for all undergraduate students. Results of the first year were promising: 15,292 flags were raised 4722 students (many had multiple flags) 1584 (17.1%) of these flags were positive 4,111 positive kudos were raised In spring % of faculty members participated in Starfish Early Alert Spring 2012 Starfish Feedback Form for Faculty 87.3% of respondents reported that Starfish is easy to access and use 89.3% agreed that the flag surveys were easy to complete 71.2% of faculty agree that it is helpful to monitor student performance via Starfish 90.5% indicated that over the course of the semester, they only spent 1-3 hours using Starfish Respondents agreed that tracking absences and low grades are most effective Spring 2012 Starfish Feedback Form for Students 77.3% of students reported that it was beneficial to receive an update on the students academic performance through Starfish correspondence 70.5% of students reported that when a professor raised a flag using Starfish, he or she felt as if the professor was paying attention to class performance 3

4 Getting Started with Starfish

5 Accessing Starfish Step 1: Go to and sign into Blackboard using your UNCG username and password. Step 2: Once you are logged into Blackboard, you will see the Starfish tab, link, and module. Click on one of them. 5

6 Accessing Starfish *If this is your first time signing into Starfish, you will likely see the following screen. Select Close and it will bring you to the main Starfish homepage. Outstanding Academic Status Reports/Flag Surveys will appear here! You will have an opportunity to add office hours at a later time. Adding office hours in Starfish creates an active Starfish calendar for students to make appointments with you. 6

7 Starfish Menu Options Home- Selecting Home will take you back to the Starfish homepage. Located at the top of every page! Appointments- Selecting Appointments will take you to your Starfish calendar where you will be able to manage your office hours and appointments. Adding office hours activates a Starfish calendar for students to make appointments with you. If you do not wish to use the Starfish calendar, please do not add office hours. Students- Selecting Students will take you to your list of students whom you are currently teaching or advising. Success Network- Selecting Success Network will show you a list of campus resources/services that can be connected to a specific course if you so choose. Profile- Selecting Profile will take you to your Starfish profile where you can add a picture, profile information, change appointment preferences, and adjust notifications. Help- Selecting Help will take you to the Starfish wiki where common questions can be answered. **More detailed information regarding these menu options follow this slide** 7

8 Menu Option- Home Your homepage will look like this. Notice that at all times, you have access to two tool bars at the top of the page for easy navigation. 8

9 Menu Option- Profile (Institutional Profile) Make sure you click on these tabs too! See following slides for more information. Add a photo! Edit your profile information as you see fit. 9

10 Menu Option- Profile (Appointment Preferences) Go ahead and set your basic preferences but remember that this can be edited at any time if things change. On this page, you can set your basic appointment preferences. You can choose appointment length, scheduling deadlines for students to avoid same day appointments, and add multiple locations. If you would like another staff member to have access to your calendar, you can assign privileges here. 10

11 Menu Option- Profile ( Notifications) If you are utilizing the Starfish calendar or are an Academic Advisor or have relationships with students in some way, you will want to set notifications. Starfish will communicate with you as frequently or infrequently as you prefer. You can choose if you would like appointment reminders or alerts here. **If you would like to sync your Starfish appointments with your ispartan calendar, you must check these two boxes for calendar attachments!! More information on slide 36. A sample tracking summary is on the next slide. If you prefer to not receive the tracking summary, simply uncheck these boxes. 11

12 Tracking Item Summary notifications will be sent from Quick view of flags included in the (flag type and student name). More detailed information regarding the flags. 12

13 All students you have a connection with. Menu Option- Students (My Students) View, sort, and search for flags of students with whom you have a connection in Starfish (view of Tracking on the next slide). You have the option to track students attendance here. Clicking here will allow you to view the student s profile. Select connection (role of course section) and appropriate term. **On this screen, you can view your roster or advisees for a specific course/term. You will be able to view profiles, , or raise flags. 13

14 Menu Option- Students (Tracking) Resolve flags, comment, , or create plans for students who have been flagged. Search for students by name or sort flags by clicking on the various columns. Select connection (ex. instructor, major advisor, etc.). You can narrow your search by using Advanced Search 14

15 Menu Option- Students (Attendance) Attendance is a relatively new feature of Starfish. You are not required to utilize this tool. Your students will appear in a list here. You can check multiple boxes to mass , add notes, or raise flags. Click here to mark students attendance for a specific day. You can quickly and easily sort your students by attendance here. 15

16 Menu Option- Success Network The Success Network is a list of services/resources on campus. Basic information is included at first glance with the ability to add additional information. **If you have a resource/service you would like listed in the network, please contact Holly Hebard at hmgrabow@uncg.edu Students are able to see all available resources in their Success Network in Starfish. Services/resources can also be linked to a specific course. Student s view is shown on a later slide. 16

17 Raising Flags/Kudos in Starfish

18 Raising Flags/Kudos There are three ways in which faculty can raise flags/kudos on the students enrolled within their courses: 1. Completing the Academic Status Report that will be sent out at 2 points during the semester (3 times for student athletes) 2. Viewing the class roster through Starfish 3. Viewing a student s Starfish Profile What happens when a student is flagged? Once a flag is raised, the student will receive an immediate notification from either Holly Grabowski Hebard in Students First or Mary Anderson in the Dean of Students Office. Notifications vary based on the type of flag being raised; however, notifications will include any instructor comments that were added with the exception of Personal/Mental Health, Academic Integrity Concern, and Disruptive Behavior. Slides show the different templates. Students are directed to campus resources that can meet their academic needs as well as encouraged to talk to faculty, advisors, or Holly Hebard for academic guidance. The next five slides detail the flag/kudos raising process. 18

19 Raising Flags- Academic Status Report Your Academic Status Report will look like this: **You are asked to complete this as soon as possible; however, if you do not yet have grades for students yet and would like to wait for a more convenient time, it will stay open indefinitely. Click the appropriate box beside your students names. The default setting on Academic Status Reports is No Concern. If you do not have anything to report, simply click Submit so that we have record of your response. If you forget what each flag/kudo means, simply hover over the blue i next to each flag name for a description. 19

20 Raising Flags- Class Roster View You can access this screen by selecting Students from the Starfish menu and then My Students. You will have to select your connection (course, role, etc. and term). Step 1- Select the box of the student who is receiving the flag. You can check multiple students if they are all receiving the same flag. Step 2- Click on either Raise Flag or Add Kudo and a menu will appear (this menu is shown on slide 22). Step 3- Select the flag/kudo from the menu and save. 20

21 Raising Flags- Student Profile You can access a student s profile by selecting the students name from the class roster view. *Michaela gave permission for her name, profile, and picture to be used as part of this training manual. Step 1- Click on Raise Flag or Add Kudo and a menu will appear (this menu is shown on the next slide). Step 2- Select flag/kudo and save. You can also view available information such as courses the student is taking, tracking, appointments, and notes on this screen. 21

22 Raising Flags- Flag Menu When you raise a flag/kudo through the roster or student profile page, you will see a menu that looks like this. Select the appropriate flag/kudo from the drop down box, add comments (optional), select course context, and hit save. **Comments are seen by the student on their Starfish homepage AND are included in the notification for the 3 academic flags. Comments are required for Personal/Mental Health, Academic Integrity Concern, and Disruptive Behavior and will not be seen by the student. 22

23 Raising Flags- Academic Status Report Academic Status Reports will be sent to all faculty on 9/18 and 10/9. If you have a student athlete in your class, you will also be asked to report on that student during the 12 th week of the semester (11/13). You will receive the following from Holly Hebard. **You are asked to complete this as soon as possible; however, if you do not yet have grades for students yet and would like to wait for a more convenient time, it will stay open indefinitely. 23

24 Starfish Flag/Kudos Options for Fall templates for the 4 of the flags and the 2 kudos below are on slides The Disruptive Behavior and Academic Integrity Concern flags do not generate an due to the nature of the concern and will be handled by the Dean of Students Office. 24

25 Student Notifications The following slides show the text for the s but are not formatted exactly as they will be when ed.

26 Low Test/Quiz Scores Dear StudentName, Your professor alerted us via Starfish that there is a concern about your test and quiz scores in CourseName. Your instructor raised this flag because UNCG cares about you and your academic success. [if comments] Here are your instructor s comments: These are my comments! [if no comments]your instructor did not include comments; however, if you would like more information about the reason for the flag, please feel free to ask. It is not too late to bring this grade up! We believe that you can be successful in your academic studies and hope that you will take advantage of the suggestions below for assistance in this course: Contact your instructor to discuss how you can make improvements in this course. Office hours and contact information will be listed on your course syllabus. We understand that there are many factors that may be contributing to your grade and every student s situation is different. If you would like to discuss your situation with someone who cares and brainstorm strategies or resources that will aid in your success, please feel free to make an appointment with either Sarah Buchanan or Holly Hebard in Students First. You can make appointments online through Starfish by logging into Blackboard > clicking on the Starfish tab > and finding Sarah or Holly s name in your My Success Network to access her calendar. In some cases, dropping a course may be advised. Please make an appointment with Students First (336) in 061 McIver Building or your academic advisor to discuss this option. Please note that the last day to drop a course without academic penalty is Friday, October 12 th, UNCG has many resources that can contribute to your academic performance and assist with personal concerns: You can find a list of offices that students are commonly referred to on the Students First website. Many of these can be found in your My Success Network in Starfish. The Learning Assistance Center (LAC) has free tutoring for many courses. You can view supported courses and sign up online on their website. The Counseling and Testing Center (CTC) offers free counseling to students who may need emotional support If you are a student athlete, please make an appointment with Nick Vaccaro via Starfish or by ing Nick at ntvaccar@uncg.edu. Remember, we are here to help you achieve your academic goals and are available to help in any way possible. Please feel free to make an appointment today! All my best, Holly Coordinator of Academic Outreach Students First 061-D McIver Building 26

27 Unsatisfactory Coursework Dear StudentName, Your professor alerted us via Starfish that there is a concern about your coursework in CourseName. Your instructor raised this flag because UNCG cares about you and your academic success. [if comments] Here are your instructor s comments: These are my comments! [if no comments]your instructor did not include comments; however, if you would like more information about the reason for the flag, please feel free to ask. It is not too late to bring this grade up! We believe that you can be successful in your academic studies and hope that you will take advantage of the suggestions below for assistance in this course: Contact your instructor to discuss how you can make improvements in this course. Office hours and contact information will be listed on your course syllabus. We understand that there are many factors that may be contributing to your grade and every student s situation is different. If you would like to discuss your situation with someone who cares and brainstorm strategies or resources that will aid in your success, please feel free to make an appointment with either Sarah Buchanan or Holly Hebard in Students First. You can make appointments online through Starfish by logging into Blackboard > clicking on the Starfish tab > and finding Sarah or Holly s name in your My Success Network to access her calendar. In some cases, dropping a course may be advised. Please make an appointment with Students First (336) in 061 McIver Building or your academic advisor to discuss this option. Please note that the last day to drop a course without academic penalty is Friday, October 12 th, UNCG has many resources that can contribute to your academic performance and assist with personal concerns: You can find a list of offices that students are commonly referred to on the Students First website. Many of these can be found in your My Success Network in Starfish. The Learning Assistance Center (LAC) has free tutoring for many courses. You can view supported courses and sign up online on their website. The Counseling and Testing Center (CTC) offers free counseling to students who may need emotional support If you are a student athlete, please make an appointment with Nick Vaccaro via Starfish or by ing Nick at ntvaccar@uncg.edu. Remember, we are here to help you achieve your academic goals and are available to help in any way possible. Please feel free to make an appointment today! All my best, Holly Coordinator of Academic Outreach Students First 061-D McIver Building 27

28 Excessive Absences Dear StudentName, Your professor alerted us via Starfish that there is a concern about your attendance in CourseName. Your instructor raised this flag because UNCG cares about you and your academic success. [if comments] Here are your instructor s comments: These are my comments! [if no comments]your instructor did not include comments; however, if you would like more information about the reason for the flag, please feel free to ask. Missing class content can affect your grades and academic performance. It is not too late to change your attendance habits! Below are some suggestions for assistance in this course: Contact your instructor to discuss how your absences may be impacting your grade and how you can make improvements. Office hours and contact information will be listed on your course syllabus. We understand that there are many factors that may be contributing to your absences and every student s situation is different. If you would like to discuss your situation with someone who cares and brainstorm strategies or resources that will aid in your success, please feel free to make an appointment with either Sarah Buchanan or Holly Hebard in Students First. You can make appointments online through Starfish by logging into Blackboard > clicking on the Starfish tab > and finding Sarah or Holly s name in your My Success Network to access her calendar. In some cases, dropping a course may be advised. Please make an appointment with Students First (336) in 061 McIver Building or your academic advisor to discuss this option. Please note that the last day to drop a course without academic penalty is Friday, October 12 th, UNCG has many resources that can contribute to your academic performance and assist with personal concerns: You can find a list of offices that students are commonly referred to on the Students First website. Many of these can be found in your My Success Network in Starfish. The Learning Assistance Center (LAC) has free tutoring for many courses. You can view supported courses and sign up online on their website. The Counseling and Testing Center (CTC) offers free counseling to students who may need emotional support If you are a student athlete, please make an appointment with Nick Vaccaro via Starfish or by ing Nick at ntvaccar@uncg.edu. Remember, we are here to help you achieve your academic goals and are available to help in any way possible. Please feel free to make an appointment today! All my best, Holly Coordinator of Academic Outreach Students First 061-D McIver Building 28

29 Personal/Mental Health Concern Dear StudentName, A member of our campus community contacted the Dean of Students Office out of concern for you. I want you to know that we are here for you if you need anything. We can help you communicate with your professors if you've missed classes, explain your options to you if you are struggling in any areas of university life, and get you connected to resources that can help you with your personal and academic success. I also wanted to make you aware of the fact that counseling services are available through the Counseling and Testing Center which is free to registered students. The Counseling and Testing Center is located within the Gove Health Building, I encourage you to use this service for extra support at UNCG. If you'd like to meet with me or someone in our office, you can contact us by calling (336) to schedule an appointment. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to assist you. Sincerely, UNCG Dean of Students Office 29

30 Outstanding Academic Performance 30

31 Showing Improvement 31

32 Clearing/Resolving Flags in Starfish **The terms clearing and resolving may be used interchangeably within Starfish.

33 Clear/Resolve Flags Flag raisers have the option to clear a flag at anytime. This will remove the flag from the student profile and the student s Starfish homepage. Flag raisers can resolve a flag through the Students (Tracking) tab, Student Profile, or Flags I m managing section of the Starfish homepage. In order to keep the systems view of active flags up to date, all flags will be automatically cleared prior to each new semester. You will receive a request to complete the Academic Status Reports on September 18 th and October 9 th. If you have student athletes in your class, you will also be asked to report on them November 13 th. 33

34 Clearing Multiple Flags You can clear multiple flags at one time from the Students (Tracking) page. 34

35 Office Hours and Managing the Starfish Calendar

36 Office Hours Step 1- Click on the Appointments link from the homepage and select Add Office Hours. Step 2- Enter all information and submit. Office hours will be added to your Starfish calendar. **You can add multiple office hours. For example, MWF from 1-5 pm and TR from 8-12 pm would be two separate office hour entries. 36

37 Additional Calendar Information Currently, as long as your notifications are edited properly, appointments and office hours that are added in Starfish will appear on your ispartan calendar. However, if you add something on your ispartan calendar, it is not automatically sent to your Starfish calendar. This feature will be available soon! If you need to block out time in your Starfish Office Hours, you can do so by simply clicking on Appointments/ Reserve Time and entering the time you need to reserve in this pop-up box. Students will not be able to see what you enter; however, you can leave the default Meeting if you are in a hurry. This will keep you from getting double booked until we are able to sync the calendars properly. 37

38 Starfish Calendar If you choose to use Starfish for online scheduling, this is what the student will see when they click on your name. Dates you have office hours will be bolded here: Students can select appointment times here! If students have made appointments with you, the time slot will say unavailable so that you are not double booked. 38

39 Starfish Your ispartan Calendar You will receive an with an ical attachment if your settings are set correctly (see previous slide). **If you delete the Office Hours event from your Google calendar, you will be deleting your office hours from Starfish. If you do not wish to receive s about your office hours and do not want it to show up on your Google calendar,, you can change your notification preference by clicking on Profile ( Notifications). See previous slide for clarification. 39

40 Edit Office Hours If you set your office hours to repeat but need to edit them at some point, you do so at any point throughout the semester. Next select how you wish to edit your office hours. 40

41 Support *Information in this guide is subject to change as Starfish Retention Solutions implements updates to the software. *This guide was adapted from ECU s Faculty and Advisor Guide to Starfish. *Permission was granted from students whose information is shared in this presentation. 41