ARTICLE INTENDED FOR:
Faculty and Staff users of Starfish

INTRODUCTION:
Starfish allows instructors and advisers to provide feedback to students at any time of the semester through the Flag, Kudos, To-Do, and Referral buttons. These are collectively referred to as "tracking items" in Starfish. Each Starfish role provides access to a different set of tracking items. For example, only Instructors and TAs can provide feedback about a student's progress in a course.  

Tracking items can be raised at any time of the semester, not just during progress reporting periods. The earlier a concern is alerted, the better.

If similar concerns are registered by multiple instructors, advisers, and other members of the student's support network, this could signal larger problems about a student’s academic performance or even, in extreme cases, that a student is missing or in crisis.

STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Log in to Starfish.

2. Click on the triple bar navigation icon in the upper left to open the navigation menu.

3. Go to the Students section.

4. Select the desired Connection (e.g., a particular course section).

5. Check the box for the desired student(s).

6. Choose the Flag button to raise a warning, Kudos button to provide positive feedback, or the To-Do or Referral button to ask the student or others to take some recommended action.

7. Select the desired tracking item from the selection list.

8. Select the Course Context.

9. Add a comment, if desired.

10. Click Save.

Once you click Save, Starfish starts generating emails to students, their assigned advisers, and creating a tracking item in each student's Starfish folder. This can take some time to completely process.

LINKS:

• Log in to Starfish: https://starfish.psu.edu
• Faculty Senate Policy on progress reporting
• Starfish: Progress Reporting FAQ
• Starfish: Provide Information to Student’s Academic Support Network
• Starfish: Messages Sent to Students and Their Support Network when flags or kudos are raised
• Starfish: Complete a Progress Survey (Instructors and TAs only)
• Starfish: Use Canvas Grades with the Zoom In Feature (Instructors and TAs only)
• Get Help with Starfish