Scope and goals

by | Feb 24, 2016 | Starfish Update

Any large-scale, time-sensitive project requires a clear plan and priorities to identify what needs to be accomplished immediately and what can be fine-tuned later.

Because Starfish needs to be implemented within a short time frame and in parallel with the LionPATH rollout, we are approaching Starfish as a multi-phase initiative. The first phase will primarily fill gaps created by the decommissioning of eLion/ISIS. Later phases will focus on improvements and expansions.

With the transition to LionPATH as the official student information system, the University will lose the ability to record advising notes and to send students Early Progress Reports. Additionally, many advising centers have needed an appointment scheduling system for some time. These are critical issues, and the initial implementation of Starfish will focus on resolving them quickly and efficiently before introducing other functions.

Key goals of the first implementation phase

Goals of the first implementation phase
Nov 2015–Feb 2016 Configuration decisions and development of a data feed from LionPATH
Mar 2016 Creation of a governance structure
Apr 2016 Training for academic advisers
May 2016 Starfish becomes the University-wide repository for advising notes beginning with New Student Orientation
Advising notes from eLion and EARS will be imported to Starfish, and the advising notes functions in those legacy systems will be disabled
Aug 2016 Advising appointments can be scheduled by students through Starfish for advisers who choose to use this functionality
Training for Early Progress Reporting – Early Progress Reporting is completed through Starfish during the fall 2016 semester.

Key goals of the second and later implementation phases

Goals of the second and later implementation phases
2016–2017 Explore how Starfish might be used by those in non-advising and non-instructional relationships with students
Encourage widespread and consistent documentation of advising interactions
Review and modify initial configuration decisions
2017–2018 Connect with Canvas to use some of the automated flagging functions