UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Starfish early progress reporting window for the spring 2023 semester will open Monday, Jan. 23, and close Wednesday, Feb. 1.
Early progress reporting gives instructors of full-semester undergraduate classes the opportunity to provide feedback and, if necessary, activate a larger support network for students.
Progress reporting can act as a simple but personal intervention. Instructors can quickly fill out progress reports by clicking a link, checking a few boxes and, if they wish, providing written feedback to students.
Starfish administrators at Penn State report that across all campuses, 93% of people who open a progress survey go on to complete it. In fall 2022, 56,839 students received a flag or kudo from 2,741 instructors during the early progress reporting period.
Because few grades have been recorded by the third week in the semester, instructors can be on the lookout for major impediments to success, like lack of technology or frequent absences. Instructors can also issue kudos to let students know they are on the right track.
David Smith, associate dean for advising and executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies, said Instructors are central to the efforts of helping students reach their academic goals.
“Starfish provides us a direct way for instructors to gain support from academic advisers and others who can reinforce classroom expectations that will help our students be more successful,” Smith said. “Working together between instructors and advisers we can make significant differences in the outcomes of our students.”
When an instructor raises a flag in Starfish, it alerts a student’s academic adviser to potential issues and helps activate a broader network of support. The Starfish Success Network includes services such as Penn State Learning, the Morgan Academic Center and the Multicultural Resource Center. A video for instructors and teaching assistants on how to complete a progress survey can be found on Kaltura.
Academic advisers are then encouraged to close the loop with instructors when possible by letting them know the result of outreach. Even if a student does not respond to the academic adviser’s recorded outreach, raising a flag still helps Penn State learn more about interventions and student success over time. For more information on how academic advisers close the loop with instructors and students, visit the Starfish FAQ.
Students are highly encouraged to act upon messages they receive in Starfish by contacting their instructors or academic advisers if they receive a flag or by reflecting on what has helped them to succeed so far if they receive a kudo. 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 dashboard and profile.
Students should not assume their instructors have no concerns about their progress just because they did not receive any flags in Starfish. It is always helpful for students to track their own progress in a course by checking in with both instructors and academic advisers.
Changes coming to mid-semester progress reporting
For spring 2023, the mid-semester progress reporting period will be over the course of three teaching weeks, not counting spring break, offering flexibility to instructors to include midterm grades.
The longer mid-semester progress reporting period of Monday, Feb. 20, to Monday, March 20, is intended to give instructors the opportunity to complete the survey at the time that works best for their class.
Submitting feedback as early as possible within the reporting period is still important and allows students, advisers, and others supporting the student enough time to respond appropriately.
The Division of Undergraduate Studies is part of Penn State Undergraduate Education.