Starfish mid-semester progress survey open until March 20

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Starfish mid-semester progress surveys are open now until Wednesday, March 20. During this period, all instructors and teaching assistants formally listed as instructors of record for full-semester undergraduate courses in LionPATH will receive an email prompt to share information about students’ course progress.  

Progress surveys can be completed by clicking the emailed link or opening outstanding surveys within Starfish. Instructors and teaching assistants then check boxes corresponding to to-dos, flags and kudos for each student and, if they wish, provide written comments. A video on how to complete a progress survey is available on Kaltura.  

How academic advisers respond to instructor feedback   

Academic advisers are encouraged to discuss concerns with students and to close the loop with instructors by letting them know the result of their efforts. Even if a student does not respond to flags or to-dos raised by instructors or to outreach recorded by academic advisers, the process of documenting support informs our approach to interventions and student success over time. Sometimes, a student who doesn’t reply directly to outreach will still respond with increased participation. For more information on how academic advisers close the loop with instructors and students, visit the Starfish Info webpage.   

How students can respond to flags and to-dos 

Students should contact their instructors or academic advisers if they receive a flag or to-do and need help in improving their coursework. They can also seek tutoring or use resources and services suggested in progress survey emails such as learning support, disability services, basic needs support, or personal support through University Health Services or Counseling and Psychological Services. The Division of Undergraduate Studies released a video tutorial for students on how to find Penn State support services, as well as how to use the Starfish dashboard and profile.    

It is always important for students to track their own progress in a course. The absence of progress survey data should not be interpreted as the absence of concern or need for change.   

The Division of Undergraduate Studies is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education, the academic administrative unit that provides leadership and coordination for University-wide programs in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State.