Student Success and Service

In today's economy, private universities and colleges, more than any other higher education group, are focused on building strong relationships between their students and the campus community. The reason is simple. Parents and students are asking themselves '" is the extra money for tuition worth it? And particularly for tuition-driven institutions, helping keep students in good academic standing is not only good for students, but it is also critical for the financial stability of the school.

How do you ensure that your students will receive the level of service and attention that they expect, while maintaining the level of academic quality that helps define your institution?

Meeting Service Expectations

Your students are busy. In addition to their demanding course work, they are actively involved in a range of activities that can distract from their academic success. When they need help, they are looking for convenience and access. Starfish CONNECT gives students 24/7 access to see who can help them address their concerns '" whether it be an advisor, an instructor, residence hall staff, or a financial aid counselor '" and to book time with that person immediately over the Web. At the same time, your advisors and other service personnel can efficiently keep track of their students and manage their efforts to help. See Features and Benefits of Starfish CONNECT.

Respecting Academic Standards

More than likely, your students are academically prepared to attend your institution. But it is not uncommon to find pockets of students within every institution who are falling behind. Starfish EARLY ALERT helps your instructors and advisors efficiently and securely share information about their students so they can together help a student overcome a potential barrier to success. Starfish makes it easy to get feedback from instructors to identify potentially at-risk students, route those concerns to the students' advisors and other support services, and then keep track of the efforts to intervene. Ultimately, Starfish is available to help all your students succeed while ensuring that your academic standards for success are maintained. See Features and Benefits of Starfish EARLY ALERT.

Outcomes You Can Measure

Starfish offers comprehensive reporting where you can evaluate potential trends within your student success initiatives to help guide your decision making. Through the use of Starfish, institutions are reporting measurable outcomes in a number of areas, including:

• Institutional accreditation or reaffirmation of accreditation support data
• Student persistence and retention measures
• Referrals to support services (e.g., tutoring)
• Active instructor participation in early alert process
• Evidence of students being helped through the number of cleared flags
• Number of students completing term in good academic standing
• Insight into challenge areas (e.g., courses, cohorts, demographics)