Testimonials
  

Impact of Starfish

"Kettering University is very pleased with the direction that Starfish is taking its early warning system. Our previous red-flag system required a lot of paperwork and manual look-ups. The current pilot program with Starfish is aimed at getting at-risk students in for help faster, increasing the number of students who are receiving support, and closing the loop with faculty that have alerted us to the issue. We are very encouraged by the feedback from our faculty and advisors that are participating in the pilot, and we look forward to measuring its impact in the coming months."

Carol Brooks
Director of Academic Advising
Kettering University

"Our students and faculty rely heavily on the Blackboard course management system. By offering Starfish CONNECT as a link from the course environment, we hope to simplify the task of scheduling office hour appointments with faculty. We know from our experience with our proprietary system that faculty want to avoid the dreaded sign-up sheet on their office doors. And students want the flexibility and convenience of Web-based self-service."

Ken Sadowski
Director of Instructional Technology and Design
The University of Chicago

"In an online class, there is no ‘back row’ from which a teacher can draw in a disinterested student. One of the best ways to gauge student engagement is to keep track of how often they log in to their online courses. Unfortunately, this is also one of the greatest challenge. With Starfish, we will know this in real time, and be able to reengage students and get them back in the class."

"The impact of Starfish on the IDLA organization is going to be very large. We are changing the way we work and the way we go about identifying our at-risk students, and helping them accomplish their goals. Starfish is giving us a chance to build better relationships with students, and communicate to them that someone cares, someone is paying attention and wants them to be successful."

Ryan Gravette
Technology Director
Idaho Digital Learning Academy

"The Achieving the Dream initiative and Tulsa Achieves program are important commitments for Tulsa Community College to ensure access and success for our students. Today’s students live in a digital world, and Starfish will connect them to services early enough to improve their chances of graduation and success. As community colleges strive to demonstrate and improve outcomes for students, we are excited about using Starfish to provide data generated in real time to inform our decisions about who needs help and how to further improve our service programs."

"Tulsa Community College is proud of our ability to use the latest technology to amplify the efforts of our students, instructors and advisors, regardless of whether they regularly visit one of our campuses or take classes online. By incorporating Starfish into our course management system, our community of full-time, part-time, adjunct and distance learning instructors will now be able to know which of their students are having trouble and be able to refer them to the right support resources in time to help."

Randy Dominguez
Dean of Distance Learning
Tulsa Community College

Simplicity and Ease

"This has been one of the most seamless integrations of a Building Block into Blackboard I’ve seen."

Ruth Newberry
Director of Educational Technology
Duquesne University

"I was really delighted that the Starfish staff communicated so well with the UMW technology staff, both in the set up and in the trouble shooting. They are amazing, with nearly instantaneous turnaround time in responding to our queries."

Joann Schrass, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, Academic Services
University of Mary Washington

"Academic institutions must make support services easily accessible to this highly mobile, digital and diverse student population. Within one week of using Starfish CONNECT, half of my 400 students made appointments with me with ease. The email notifications from Starfish allow me to prepare for each student appointment and understand any reasons for cancellations, which is important to me as an advisor. Starfish is clearly dedicated to making us successful so that we can focus on helping our students."

Keith Solarczyk
Academic Advisor for A.J. Palumbo School of Business Administration
Duquesne University

Right Solution, Right Time

"In the state of Arkansas, the legislature once again looks at making major changes to the funding formula for higher education. These changes would reward retention and graduation rates, not how many students are in the classrooms. I see Starfish EARLY ALERT as a major plus to increasing (and keeping) anyone's enrollment up and most importantly helping change and assist the educational lives of our students. We are excited to be part of the Beta program."

Terry Patterson
Director of Distance Learning South Arkansas Community College

"The complexity of today's higher education environment requires alternative ways for institutions to engage their students. By removing the roadblocks all students, particularly first-generation students, experience when attempting to connect with instructors, advisors, and counselors, students are more likely to continue in their studies. Having a strategic system in place dramatically levels the playing field for students who may be at a disadvantage."

Dr. John R. Cowles
Associate Dean, Counseling, Advising & Retention Services
Grand Rapids Community College

"I can't recall being this completely thrilled and hopeful about a new product since we first chose a CMS and went online over a decade ago. We have worked so hard (with great success) to pull up retention in undergraduate online courses. But the process has been extremely labor intensive, and I've always thought 'there's gotta be a better way.'"

Melanie Clay
Assistant Dean of Distance Learning
University of West Georgia

"Given the current financial pressures facing higher education, improving student success and retention is an important priority for colleges and universities. A new generation of software solutions offers institutions the ability to identify in real time which students are struggling – providing an incredible advantage for an institution seeking to improve student retention. By connecting to course management systems, Starfish has created a powerful and efficient way of providing timely information that helps improve how at-risk students are identified and then connected to the myriad of institutional support resources that can help them succeed."

Nicole Engelbert
Lead Analyst
Datamonitor

"For student convenience campuses are collocating student success programs such as advising, tutoring, disability services, and counseling into a single building. The Starfish Retention Suite is the natural online evolution of this trend."

Patricia Carretta
Assistant Vice President, University Life
George Mason University