In Week 3, you will begin the process of preparing to work with new students. The student population of World Campus is diverse and unlike that of the other campuses here at Penn State. Along with a unique population, the journey students follow prior to being assigned an academic adviser is also unique. Students are introduced to several individuals and receive many different communications from Admissions, Career Services and others, even before they meet with their adviser. It is important to understand their journey and information contained in each communication so we can best assist our students once they are assigned to us. You will explore the path each population of students will follow here at World Campus.

In order to be effective working with students, you need to learn to use our two student systems, LionPATH and Starfish.

LionPATH is the the online student account system where students drop/add classes, view their financial aid information, pay their bill, request an advising transcript, view their academic requirements, activate their intent to graduate, etc. Advisers have LionPATH accounts in order to view students’ academic records, such as transcripts, degree audits, schedules, grades, and more (advisers do not have access to tuition or financial aid information).

Starfish is the system where advisers make notes on interactions with students, and schedule student appointments. The functions we will show you are some of the most common that advisers use in Starfish.

You will continue team specific training with your mentor and pillar team on degree audits (academic requirements reports in LionPATH), as it takes time to learn and remember it all! Your mentors will make it fun and interesting for you – you will shadow them, and practice on your own.

You will also read the lesson on how to monitor our group email account, called WDadvising, as we are all responsible for responding to inquiries on this account. This account is monitored by advising teams during a designated day of the week. Each team has its own schedule and procedures regarding the monitoring of this account, so you will want to check in with your mentor about your team’s routine.  Next week you will be shadowing advisers who respond to inquiries, so it is important for you to get an overview of the process now.

You will complete the following online units of training this week:  LionPATH, Starfish, Degree Audits/Academic Requirements Reports in LionPATH, Working with Students in the Wdadvising Email Account and Preparing to Work with Students.  REVIEW:  of Adviser Resources, Educational Planning and Academic Records and Student Progress Management.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of Week 3, advising staff will:

Observe pillar team trainers

Continue to review degree audits/academic requirements

Learn about the 12 credit language proficiency

Read and understand the following online lessons:

Lesson 7: LionPATH

Lesson 7a: Degree Audits

Lesson 8: Starfish

Lesson 9: Working with Students in Wdadvising

Lesson 10: Preparing to Work With Students