Starfish is a tool that provides an efficient way to quickly offer feedback and support to all undergraduate students. The goal of the platform is to do the following:
- Ensure students receive timely feedback regarding their academic performance in their courses.
- Alert academic advisors and other HPU support staff of students who may need additional support or intervention to be academically successful.
- Build a robust data warehouse for assessing HPU’s student success and retention efforts.
There are two components of Starfish that we use at HPU:
- Starfish EARLY ALERT
- Starfish CONNECT
Starfish EARLY ALERT
Starfish Early Alert enables faculty to notify students of their individual progress in their respective courses. While feedback is valuable throughout the semester, HPU coordinates institution-wide feedback efforts via the completion of the Early Alert – 2nd Week Progress Survey each semester.
- Starfish Early Alert – 2nd Week Progress Survey – Early feedback, even a few weeks into the semester, helps students adapt their study strategies and develop their academic skills to maximize opportunities for improvement over the duration of the term.
There are two main tracking items in Starfish that can be raised by faculty for students.
- Flags – raised to make students aware of concerns their instructors have based on their current performance
- Kudos – used to send congratulatory messages to students for accomplishments in a course
STARFISH EARLY ALERT: WORKFLOW
Faculty often have questions about what occurs after they have raised flags and kudos for their students. The information below shows the communication and outreach that is triggered once specific Starfish tracking items have been raised.
- Faculty Feedback is provided in the form of a flag or kudos for a student. Faculty are able to raise flags and kudos manually for a student or through completing the 2nd Week Progress Survey.
- Student Notifications are sent for all academic flags and kudos to a student’s HPU email and contains the verbatim comments faculty have included.
- Faculty Advisors, Learning Excellence Specialists and Success Coaches Conduct Outreach via email to offer resources and support when students in their caseloads have Starfish flags raised.
- Faculty Advisors, Learning Excellence Specialists and Success Coaches “Close the Loop” by clearing a flag by adding comments that provides valuable information with the original flag raiser.
STARFISH CONNECT
Starfish CONNECT is a communication tool that allows faculty and support staff to add office hours and maintain meeting notes for student appointments.
Syncing capability between Starfish and Outlook calendars ensures there is no double booking or overlap in commitments for HPU faculty and staff and allows students to easily view appointment availability and schedule meetings based on their schedule.
RESOURCES FOR FACULTY, FACULTY ADVISORS AND SUPPORT STAFF
At your fingertips by accessing the HELP feature in the dropdown menu directly in Starfish.
The Starfish Help Center will help with the following:
- Account Profile
- Attendance & Student Performance
- Explore the Student Folder
- Office Hours, Calendar, and Meeting Management
- Progress Surveys and more
STARFISH SUPPORT
Faculty, Faculty advisors and support staff should contact [email protected] for additional assistance and guidance on any Starfish related concerns. You can also request personal training by emailing [email protected].