Student support through
early academic
identification and
intervention



Starfish Overview
Accessing Starfish
Using Starfish
◦ Communication Items & Progress Reports
◦ Finding Students in Starfish

Starfish is a retention software tool,
embedded in Black Board, that allows
students, instructors, and campus service
providers to easily connect and communicate
with one another.
◦ “Student Success Network”
 Specific to each student

Starfish allows Success Network members to
easily:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Report student academic progress
Track/monitor student progress
Refer students to campus services
Schedule appointments online



Inform students of their course progress.
Encourage students to use programs like
tutoring and supplemental instruction.
Support staff academic intervention
through student early alert identification.
A quick walkthrough


To access Starfish
you must first sign
in to Blackboard
bb9.tamucc.edu
◦ Click “Log Into
Blackboard Learn”
 Use your TAMUCC
Credentials

To access Starfish, simply click the “Starfish”
link in the tools menu on the left side of your
Blackboard screen


Starfish will prompt
you to set up your
profile for students
This process will
include:
◦ Setting Office Hours
Starfish Dashboard can be used to :
 Access Starfish Progress Reports
(course hyperlink below System Announcement)
 Add Office Hours
 Record Attendance
Understanding and Raising
Items in Starfish

Starfish has four primary communication Items:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Flags – course progress warnings or alerts
Referrals – student referrals to programs or services
To-dos – student reminders
Kudos – commendations for student effort/performance


Communication items and notes submitted in
Starfish (Flag, Referral, To-do, or Kudo) are
simultaneously communicated to both the
student and the students’ success network of
advisors, mentors, and other support
personnel.
Campus support personnel prioritize
academic intervention outreach depending on
the frequency and magnitude of feedback
submitted for students in Starfish.

Starfish progress reports are administered
at critical periods during a semester to
help track the overall progress of students
enrolled in Developmental, Freshmen, and
Sophomore level courses.
◦ Survey Period: approximately the 4th and 8th
week of the long semester.


Faculty teaching Developmental, Freshmen,
and Sophomore level courses will receive a
Starfish progress report invitation via email.
The invitation includes:
◦
◦
◦
◦
Instructions
Survey Open & Close dates
Progress Report Course List
Link to Starfish’s Progress Survey video


When administered, Starfish progress
reports will be located as a course
hyperlink at the top of your homepage
Simply open the link and follow the
instructions provided.

Opening a progress report will provide the
following:
◦ Course Roster listed alphabetically
◦ Options to submit “No Feedback” for students.
◦ Options to submit Kudos, Flags, and To-dos for
students.
◦ Options to include unique messages for students
when submitting feedback.

How to Complete a Progress Survey (link)

To Access your students, Select “Students”,
and then “My Students from the drop down
options.


Search students individually, or
Students can be filtered by:
◦ Course/section (Connection)
◦ Semester term

Filter students
according to
Section.


Visit the CASA website:
http://casa.tamucc.edu/starfish.php
Contact:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
Offices for Retention Support and Analytics
Center for Academic Student Achievement (CASA)
Glasscock Student Success Center 101A
361.825.3653
John Fortiscue - John.Fortiscue@tamucc.edu