With the pivot to remote and hybrid learning, keeping students engaged and retained throughout their academic journey has become even more crucial. As a result, our team has been working on making sure Stellic’s platform continues to be relevant and innovative in addressing today’s challenges. Below are four key areas where we’ve developed critical technology that can help students, advisors, and administrators navigate the effects of the pandemic effectively.

Addressing Equity Gaps in Advising

With students desperately seeking guidance for an uncertain future, advising resources have never been more paramount. In order for students to visualize and map out their options, we enabled students to build multiple plans and schedules. And with new filters in place based on existing data sources, advisors can now identify students who are planning to take a term off, or those who opted for remote learning from their home countries abroad. This allows advisors to prioritize ‘at-risk’ students and quickly identify students who did not register for any classes, despite having a plan for it.

Creating Effective Communication Channels

In the work-from-home environment, knowledge-sharing among student support staff became more vital than ever before. We’ve now  developed  our note-sharing capabilities to allow all users to be able to add file attachments to notes,  filter by their source, and directly notify respective departments (financial aid, disability services, etc.) to collaborate in supporting the student. 

Another great way to communicate with students in today’s world is through text messages, and this is something we’re actively working on. Research shows that students are significantly more engaged over text and adding texting to your system will allow advisors to leverage responsive channels for more effective communication.

Supporting Constantly Evolving Pathways

Tailored and dynamic pathways to completion are essential for students because they adapt to changes in class offerings and personal/academic interests. Many of our institutional partners were able to deliver tremendous flexibility for students by enabling  them to choose their pathway for the upcoming terms. 

We also made significant investments in Guided Pathways. They can now be annotated with meta-data (like career outcomes, language requirements, co-curricular suggestions) so students have a holistic picture of what it takes to follow a Guided Pathway. Students’ plans and schedules now encompass both in-person and remote-only course offerings. This will help them visualize all their options as they plan their academic journey in a constantly evolving landscape.

Leveraging Data for High-Cost Decisions

Never before have we received more requests from Provost & Dean offices for access to our analytics module that provides data on course demand, especially for courses with lab components or extensive teaching loads. With access to student plans, degree progress and SIS data, Stellic is in a position to help institutional leaders make strategic decisions in allocating valuable resources (classrooms, instructors, TAs, etc.) to maximize impact on student outcomes.

With this in mind, we are continuing to improve our reporting and analytics module with Executive Reports. These reports are designed to provide real-time strategic data directly to program directors, department chairs, deans, and provosts and will help them make more informed, student-centric decisions.

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