“ I made a difference for that one.”
We are…
•
A Student Success Company
We believe…
•
A college community engaged with a student will lead to that student’s success.
We help academic institutions…
•
Identify which students are at risk now
•
Connect students to their success network
•
Simplify student planning, case management & tracking
•
Optimize program delivery through better data

We Focus On:
• the latest research around student retention and success
• the special mission of community colleges
• the complexity of multi-campus systems
• the ways faculty, advisors, counselors, tutors, and students actually work
• the technologies that make data flow from one system to another
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And we know that at the end of the day, what matters is the success of your students

State Systems 4 Year Public 4 Year Private Community Colleges Online
Ivy Tech Community
College (IN)
PeopleSoft, Blackboard,
DARS
South Dakota Board of Regents
Colleague, Desire2Learn,
Pearson MyLabs
Kentucky Community and Technical
College System
PeopleSoft, Blackboard,
Blackboard Collaborate
Virginia Community
College System
PeopleSoft, Blackboard
University of Hawaii
Community Colleges
Banner, Sakai
University of Nebraska at
Lincoln
PeopleSoft, Blackboard,
Departmental Notes
University of North
Carolina at Greensboro
Banner, Blackboard
University of Kansas
Blackboard
Bowie State Universit y
(MD)
PeopleSoft, Blackboard
University of
Massachusetts Lowell
PeopleSoft
University of Texas at El
Paso
WebCT
Cleveland State
University
Banner, Blackboard
Seattle University
Colleague, Canvas
Paul Smith’s College (NY)
Power Campus, Noel-Levitz CSI
Becker College (MA)
Colleague, Blackboard
The University of Chicago
Blackboard
Seton Hall University (NJ)
Banner, Blackboard, Mobile
Duquesne University (PA)
Banner, Blackboard
The New School (NY)
Banner, Blackboard
University of Findlay (OH)
Banner. Blackboard, Tutortrac
Marymount University (VA)
Colleague, Blackboard
Chemeketa Community
College (OR)
Banner, Blackboard
Davidson Community
College (NC)
Colleague, MoodleRooms
Leeward Community
College (HI)
Banner, Sakai
Grand Rapids Community
College (MI)
PeopleSoft, Blackboard
Lone Star College System
(TX)
PeopleSoft, Angel
Columbus Technical
College (GA)
Banner, Angel, Tutortrac
Greenville Technical
College (SC)
Colleague, Blackboard
SUNY Fingerlakes
Community College –
Online
Angel
Charter Oak College
(CT)
Jenzabar EX, Blackboard
Excelsior College –
Online (NY)
PeopleSoft, Blackboard
Drexel University – eLearning (PA)
Banner, Blackboard
Troy University – eCampus (AL)
Colleague, Blackboard
Minnesota Online High
School
Blackboard

Early
Identification and Alert
Student
Support
Services
Building a
Culture of
Evidence

Early Identification of At Risk Students
How Do You Currently Identify At-Risk Students?
Faculty Observations?
Achieving the Dream emphasizes the importance of Faculty Engagement.
Who else is involved in the early warning process?
Do you have automated methods of recognizing when a student is at risk?

Academic goal setting and planning
Orientation/First-year experience
Student success course
Learning community
Experiential learning beyond the classroom
Tutoring
Registration before classes begin
Class attendance
Alert and intervention
Source: Center for Community College Student Engagement

Advising
Counseling
Typically viewed as the primary means for enhancing student retention and graduation rates, “most underrated.”
20% improvement among community college students receiving pre- and post-admission counseling.
Tutoring #1 most effective technique to help students.
Mentoring
Campus
Involvement
TRIO SSS
10% improvement when faculty mentoring was combined with student orientation programs.
10% improvement when specific student populations are included in a program designed to help them feel connected.
7-9% improvement when students have access to Student Support
Services (SSS) for academic and non-academic help.
All sources can be found in the Strategic Enrollment Management: Practical Application of Technology to
Drive Student Retention White Paper.

Source: Center for Community College Student Engagement

 Blackboard
 Moodle
 Desire2Learn
 ANGEL
 Sakai
 and others
 Ellucian
 Jenzabar
 Datatel
 PeopleSoft
 and others
 Smarthinking
 Noel-Levitz CSI
 DegreeAudit
 MyLabs
 TutorTrac
 and others

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Harper College (IL): In the first term of a pilot program,
69% of faculty completed progress surveys
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Davidson Community College (NC): Saw an increase in faculty response rate on progress surveys from an average of 74% on the first survey in the Fall, to 92% for the entire Spring term, and 98% for a midterm survey.
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Leeward Community College (HI): In the first semester using Starfish, the number of faculty referrals for Early
Alert doubled to 1082 over the prior semester using previous manual process.

Starfish EARLY ALERT
Raise Alert Flags
Manually or Automatically
Access a Secure
Central Student Folder
Track and Manage
Student Issues
Close the Loop and
Communicate Resolution
Monitor Attendance
Gather Faculty Input
Starfish CONNECT
Give Students a
Personal Success Network
Schedule Appointments and
Manage Walk-ins
Document Student
Intake Information
Reach Students through
Email, Text, and Facebook
Create Plans and Blueprints for Student Success
Share Notes with
Other Resources

Connecting Students to Resources on Campus
Proactive
Identification
Early Alert Advising Counseling
Campus
Involvement
Mentoring
Learning
Communities

Success Plans help students see actionable steps towards their goals
Present To-Dos and
Referrals – and due dates – through a Success Plan
Help the student track their progress along the Plan

Tabs let advisors get the whole picture
See alerts, success plans, and other data right away
All information is stored in a single, secure, online folder

Receive notifications of critical issues in real-time
It’s easy to manage and prep for advising meetings
Assess your caseload and prioritize student issues
Address walk-ins with waiting rooms and a Kiosk

Achieving the Dream encourages colleges to use data to inform decision-making and guide efforts to improve student success
Collecting, analyzing, and using data is a continual process.

Institution Outcomes
Optimizes academic advising across three campuses
 Used Title III Grant Funding
 Reported that 19% more students passed their class when flagged by Starfish for academic concerns
Supports “intrusive advising” model for first-year students
 In Spring 2013, faculty raised 10,529 flags and
3,751 students received alerts and/or kudos through the Starfish system
Promoted an 11-course pilot program into a System-wide solution
• Used Title III Grant Funding
• Saw significant impact in hybrid and distance learning courses, where student success rose by 10% and withdrawal rates were cut in half

Join next week’s Best Practices Webinar:
“ Fostering a Comprehensive Academic Advising Program ”
Thursday, October 31, 2pm ET
Presented by the University of Illinois Springfield
Register at www.starfishsolutions.com/webinars lconnolly@starfishsolutions.com
703.260.1186 www.starfishsolutions.com