FAQs – Starfish

What feedback items are included on the Mid-Semester progress survey?
- The Mid-Semester Progress Survey has six choices. Instructors should choose the one that best fits the course and student situation.

Default: No feedback to student – All students are automatically marked to receive no feedback when a survey is submitted. No message is delivered to the student or the student’s assigned adviser. This is appropriately used when there is no information to inform one of the other available choices.

Beyond the default, instructors may choose to provide feedback from one of the five choices below. These choices are meant to range from positive feedback, to neutral feedback, to warning about a specific area of deficiency. Since the available choices are not appropriate for all course contexts, instructors should use the categories that are most relevant to their course, and disregard those that are not.

Keep up the good work – provide positive reinforcement for students who are meeting or exceeding expectations (e.g., good attendance and participation).

Adequate progress – provide neutral feedback to students whose performance is neither good nor unsatisfactory. This is an alternative to no feedback, and may be used to engage students who could improve, but who are not at risk of failing.

Unsatisfactory participation – alert students that their participation is not meeting expectations (e.g. inconsistent attendance, not completing out of class work, not participating in clicker questions, etc).

Unsatisfactory scores on graded work – alert students who receive poor grades on assignments, quizzes, tests, or other graded work.

In danger of earning below a C –alert students that they are in danger of earning below a C grade in the course based on the sum of their current efforts.

There is overlap between the three alert options. You should select the feedback that you think best conveys the needed information to the student. If you wish to convey additional information, a comment can be added to any student’s message by clicking the add comment icon after choosing a feedback item.

What messages are sent to students and assigned advisers when I choose a feedback item?
- See here for templates for all messages sent by Starfish
Can the messages sent to a student be customized by the instructor?
- If you wish to convey additional information, a comment can be added to any student’s message by clicking the add comment icon after choosing a feedback item.
How do I access progress surveys for my course?
- Login to Starfish.
- A link to your Outstanding Surveys will be displayed at the top of your Starfish homepage.
- If your course has multiple instructors or TAs appropriately assigned in LionPATH, they will also receive a link to the progress survey. Where there are multiple instructors or TAs, you are encouraged to work together to identify who will report progress.
- Follow the link to reach the survey grid. Check the appropriate box next to the student’s name for whom you would like to report progress. You can add comments for individual students by clicking the plus sign after selecting a feedback item.
- If you wish to complete the survey in multiple sittings, click SAVE to save your progress.
- Click Submit to record that you have reviewed your students and send messages to students and their assigned advisers. Even if you don’t have any progress to report, it is important that you click Submit. You will receive a confirmation email.
- Items you raise will generate messages to students and their assigned advisers. Students are expected to take action based on your feedback.
What if the timing of a progress survey doesn’t make sense for my course?
- Progress surveys are meant to facilitate feedback during critical times of the semester. Instructors who don’t find the survey format helpful, or who don’t find the survey timing to fit their course needs may use the Flag and Kudos buttons at any time to deliver feedback to their students.
What if the feedback items included on the survey don’t make sense for my course?
- The full array of Flags and Kudos are available at all times, and may be used instead of those included in the progress survey.
Why are some of my courses included, but not others?
- Progress surveys are currently configured to include all courses at University Park that enroll first-year students and all undergraduate courses at other campuses.
Another instructor or TA for my course will submit feedback. How can I stop receiving emails from Starfish?
- You can submit a survey with the default “No Feedback” selected for all students to stop receiving reminders about course sections another instructor will complete.
I’m also an assigned adviser and want to better control the number of emails I receive about my advisees. How do I do this?
- You can manage your preferences for receiving Starfish email, including turning off emails or requesting a daily digest. Instructions are included in the Getting Started guide.
What is the difference between the Early Indicators Report and the Mid-Semester Progress Report?
- The Early Indicators survey deployed during week 3 was meant to alert students to patterns of behavior that are (or are not) correlated with success in a particular course (attending class, using out of class web materials, etc). Graded work was not expected to be available for any course.The second survey, the Mid-Semester Progress Report, is similar to the university’s previous reporting structure. It should be based on graded work and patterns of student behavior where available.

General

When should I start using Starfish to document advising notes?
- You should start using Starfish to document student interactions now. Starfish’s student information is fed from LionPATH, so it a more recent view of the student record. eLion will remain available for documenting for the summer, but by the start of fall semester, it will no longer accept new notes. A copy of all eLion notes will be imported to Starfish in the fall. You are strongly encouraged to use Starfish as much as possible beginning now.
How do I get access to Starfish?
- If you have assigned advisees or if you are teaching a course in the current semester, you will have access to Starfish in the Assigned Adviser or Instructor role. If you need a different role, you need to request access to the appropriate Starfish role. This request is made through a security form, with signatures from your supervisor and your Area Security Representative (ASR)
What will I be able to see in Starfish?
- Starfish shows a daily snapshot of some basic student information from LionPATH and the notes, meetings, and tracking items raised in Starfish for which you have view permissions. Starfish does NOT include student transcripts or degree audits; these records are in LionPATH. See additional information in the Previous FAQs FAQ section,
When I log in to Starfish, I get an error that says I do not have a user account in the Starfish system. What should I do?
- If you are not in a Starfish role, you will get an error at log in that says, “You do not have a user account in the Starfish system. Please contact your system administrator if you should have or would like to gain access to this application.” If you believe you should be in a Starfish role, you need to work with your supervisor and your Area Security Representative to request access to the appropriate Starfish role.

Home page

Why are there messages for “recent changes” appearing on my home screen for students who I don’t know?
- If you have the General Adviser role, you are connected to literally all students and your Recent Changes box will show all activity for all students. You are encouraged to shrink this box (by clicking the line in the upper right corner) and move it to the bottom of your dashboard so it’s not a distraction.
Why am I managing flags for students who I don’t know?
- If you have the General Adviser role, you are connected to literally all students, and you have the ability to raise and lower (e.g., manage) flags for all students. Like the “Recent Changes” box on the Home page, the “Flags I’m Managing” box is not useful information to see on a dashboard, and you are encouraged to shrink the box and move it to the bottom of your dashboard.

Profile

There is incorrect information in my profile. When I change it, the next day it’s wrong again. How do I fix this?
- Your profile information is being imported from LionPATH and any changes you made in Starfish will be overwritten each night. You should work with your Human Resources representative to correct this information in the Central Person Registry, which is where LionPATH gets its information about you.

Student information in Starfish

Why can’t I find a particular student in Starfish?
- Starfish only shows students who are currently enrolled in Penn State courses or students who have matriculated to the University. If you can’t find a student in Starfish, you should first check to see if the student is in LionPATH. If not, then the student must follow the admissions process for your campus/unit. If the student is in LionPATH, check to see if the student is in Matriculation status and if it is within seven days of the student’s Orientation date. Both of these conditions must be met for Starfish to display the student record.
- This means that students who have some status other than Matriculated (such as students who started in Dual Enrollment and are now pursuing a degree), are not meeting the criteria to be seen in Starfish. We are working on a solution to this. In the meantime, these students will be visible in Starfish the day after scheduling courses.
I don’t see the students I expect to see. Why?
- Go to the Students tab, and check to see which connection you are using. Some Starfish relationships connect individuals to particular students, while other relationships show all students.
- Check to see if you have a filter applied. Filters never automatically clear, even after you log out.
- Make sure you are not in the “Tracking” tab when you intend to be in the “My Students” tab.

Student views of Starfish

When can students start using Starfish?
- Students enrolled in courses can use Starfish now to connect with their instructors and assigned advisers, and to find contact information for advising offices across the university.
Can students schedule appointments through Starfish now?
- Students can only schedule their own appointments via Starfish if an adviser has created appointment availability using the “Office Hours” or “Group Session” buttons in the Starfish Appointments tab.
What will students see in Starfish?
- Students have three main Starfish pages: Home, Services, and their profile page. See Student Views for a set of screen shots, including student views of adviser/instructor calendars.
Will students see notes written by their advisers?
- Students do not see notes written by anyone in Starfish unless the note writer chooses to email a copy of the notes to the student.
What emails does Starfish send to students?
- Starfish email message templates are available here.

Starfish Calendars

How do I cancel a Starfish appointment?
- Go to the Appointment tab. Hover over the calendar icon for the appointment. Click the Cancel button on the pop up dialog box.
How do I remove particular appointment times from a block of availability?
- Once a block of appointment times are made available, it’s not possible to change just a portion of that block. Rather, use Reserve Time to take that availability away from the block.
- (click to enlarge example)
How can I connect Starfish to an external calendar?
- You must use an Exchange or Google calendar, and work through your unit’s IT department to connect Starfish with your external calendar.
How do I know what appointments came from Starfish and which came from my external calendar?
- If you are looking at the Starfish Appointments tab, calendar items from your external calendar will have a small calendar with a lock icon. If you are looking at your Exchange or Google calendar, items from Starfish will name Starfish Calendar as the organizer.
I canceled a student appointment on my external calendar. Why is it still in Starfish?
- Appointments made in Starfish need to be canceled in Starfish. Once you delete a Starfish appointment, you will receive an .ical that will remove the appointment from your external calendar.

Previous FAQs

What is Starfish? What will it do? Why did Penn State choose it?
- The Starfish Enterprise Success Platform is a suite of academic advising tools that will integrate with LionPATH to replace systems Penn State has used for many years. Eventually undergraduate and graduate students, advisers, faculty, and staff will all use Starfish to plan, monitor, communicate, refer, and encourage successful progress toward degree completion. LionPATH is replacing the Integrated Student Information System (ISIS), which manages student data for admissions applications, billing and accounts, financial aid, course scheduling, transcripts, and advising records. Starfish is replacing the academic advising tools housed within eLion (advising notes, academic summary, roster management, and early progress reporting), as well as introducing additional features, such as online appointment calendaring and a communication networking system to connect students with their instructors, advisers, and support offices. Penn State selected Starfish, by Hobsons, Inc., after evaluating proposals and considering feedback from the academic advising community.
What does it mean for the University? Will all colleges/campuses use it? Specifically, whom will it affect? What will it change?
- Starfish, along with LionPATH and other new information tools, will change the way students plan, monitor, and accomplish their academic goals. It will also change the way advisers, faculty, and staff communicate with, guide, and support them along the way. Starfish tools will be introduced in phases. Initially three components will be available: a University-wide advising note system, an online advising appointment scheduler, and a student alert/early progress report and kudo feature to acknowledge concerns as well as accomplishments and progress. Later a communication system will be released for advisers, faculty, staff, tutors, and counselors to connect with students, share information and referrals, monitor progress, and include other Penn State staff identified as part of the student’s academic success network. Functions for roster management, academic reviews, and retention/progress monitoring will be available in the near future as well. Later rollouts will include selected access for additional support personnel, such as tutors, student aid and health counselors, athletic advisers, etc. The Starfish suite of tools highlights academic advising as a critical component of student success and facilitates the way advisers and students work together to develop meaningful educational plans. All colleges and campuses across the system will use Starfish and LionPATH, and both graduates and undergraduates will, too.
How will Starfish relate to/interact with LionPATH?
- Penn State is implementing a number of new information tools within similar time frames, to include Starfish, LionPATH, and Canvas (replacing ANGEL as the new learning management system). These new systems will complement each other and will be available to students, faculty, and staff through a single landing page currently in development. Each audience tab will lead to a customized dashboard, where links to these tools and resources will exist for easy access. An illustration of the way Starfish will integrate with other Penn State information tools is available at What You’ll Find in Starfish.
What will I do in Starfish? LionPATH? Canvas?
- In Starfish
  For academic advising – Look up basic information about an advisee, filter advising roster, communicate with students, see advising appointments, document interpretations of policies and recommendations, refer students to key resources, provide academic reviews to students
  For course instruction – Enter progress reports, alert a student’s academic adviser if a student needs help
  For student services – Look up basic information about a student, refer students to key resources, see students who have been referred to you
  For students – Make advising appointments, see progress reports, see who is in your support network
- In LionPATH
  For academic advising – See complete and official student information (admissions information, recently changed information, etc.), look at a transcript, run a degree audit, run a what-if audit, look at the schedule of courses
  For course instruction – Access course roster, enter course grades
  For student services – See complete and official student information, look at transcript, look at the schedule of courses
  For students – Pay your bill, register for classes, run a degree audit
- In Canvas
  For academic advising – Nothing. Canvas is a course-based tool.
  For course instruction – Post course materials, interact with students/assignments, post grades and attendance records
  For student services – Nothing. Canvas is a course-based tool.
  For students – Access course materials, submit assignments, communicate with instructor and classmates, check grades and attendance
When will Penn State begin using Starfish?
- After training sessions for academic advisers in spring 2016, a phased roll-out of Starfish capabilities will begin in May 2016 in time for New Student Orientation. The first available tools will provide a University-wide advising note system, an online advising appointment scheduler, and a student alert/early progress report and kudo feature to acknowledge concerns as well as accomplishments and progress. Beginning February 2016, students will be able to log in to LionPATH, view the fall 2016 Schedule of Courses, and register for fall classes. (Students will continue to use eLion to schedule summer 2016 classes.) A calendar of the development and phased release of Starfish functionalities appears at Timeline, and periodic progress reports will be posted at Updates.
How and when will staff, faculty, students learn how to use Starfish?
- Training sessions for academic advisers and support staff will begin in spring 2016 in time for New Student Orientation. Other training sessions and opportunities to learn about Starfish and LionPATH tools will be announced to the Penn State community as they become available. Look for news releases and email announcements, as well as information posted on this website at Resources.
Who can answer questions about Starfish?
- If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions that are not addressed on this website, please contact the Starfish Implementation Team. A comment form is available at Contact.