Starfish technology is now available to all instructors, advisors, academic support staff, and students for the spring semester.
Starfish is an early-alert system that allows UNCG to take a more holistic approach to student success. Starfish allows instructors, advisors, and other staff members to track student progress and remain in the loop about their shared students. Users can log into Starfish at starfish.uncg.edu.
Updates and Reminders
- New Starfish scheduling interface: Beginning Spring 2020, the scheduling interface and appointment scheduling screens in Starfish have been updated. This update only impacts student end users of Starfish, specifically, the steps in which students go about scheduling with their instructors and advisors who use Starfish for online appointment scheduling. Moreover, the updates ensure that students have the best experience possible when scheduling appointments on any device and continue to build the foundation for additional responsive design and mobile capabilities going forward. Please check out the updated How to Schedule Appointments resource for students.
- Communication plan for flagged students: Students who are issued academic flags and/or kudos via Starfish receive email communication addressed from their course instructors. This email communication will further personalize the correspondence that students receive and enhance engagement with their course instructors. Instructors may reference the Starfish for Faculty & Instructors webpage to see sample email templates.
- Flag options for advisors: Academic advisors have the ability to issue Personal Concern Flags and Retention Concern Flags for their advisees. Advisors should raise the Personal Concern flag to report non-emergency concerns for student well-being to the Dean of Students Office. Advisors should raise the Retention Concern flag to notify UNCG when they become aware of students who may not remain at UNCG in the current and/or upcoming semester. Advisors may reference the Starfish for Advisors and Program Coordinators webpage for more information related to the use of these two flags.
New to Starfish? Here is some information on how UNCG currently uses this technology.
Instructors and faculty use Starfish to:
- Raise alert flags for students with academic and personal concerns so that they can connect with the resources and people that may help them. *Note: You should never raise flags for emergency concerns requiring immediate attention.
- Give kudos to students who are performing well or showing improvement
- Issue referrals to connect students to campus resources that may help them
- Complete Academic Status Reports throughout the semester to flag many students at once. Instructors will receive email alerts on the following dates: February 4, February 25 & March 31.
- Post office-hour availability and manage student meetings
- For more information on instructor use of Starfish, visit the Starfish for Faculty & Instructors webpage
Advisors & academic support staff use Starfish to:
- Stay in the loop on which advisees have been flagged for academic concerns and provide additional support
- Raise the Personal Concern Flag to report non-emergency concerns for student well-being to the Dean of Students Office
- Raise the Retention Concern Flag to notify UNCG when you become aware of students who may not remain at UNCG in the current and/or upcoming semester
- Issue referrals to connect students to campus resources
- Post appointment availability and manage advising appointments
- Maintain appointment notes and outcomes
- Clear flags as concerns resolve
- For more information on advisor and support staff use of Starfish, visit the Starfish for Advisors & Program Coordinators webpage
Students use Starfish to:
- Keep track of the academic feedback they get from their instructors
- Know when to take action to improve course performance and meet with instructors
- Receive campus resource referrals from instructors, advisors, and support staff
- Schedule appointments with their instructors and advisors who use Starfish for online scheduling
- For more information on how students can use Starfish, visit the Starfish for Students webpage
Starfish Support & Training
- For Starfish assistance: Individuals, groups, or departments who would like to request a Starfish training session should send an email request to starfish@uncg.edu
- Students, staff, and instructors are encouraged to explore UNCG’s Starfish website for additional information about Starfish and available training guides
- Undergraduate instructors and academic advisors are encouraged to attend a Starfish 101 training available via Workshops. These training sessions are designed for new end users of Starfish and for individuals in need of a refresher.
