By Josh Hildebrand ’22, staff writer
This semester, LVC launched its new student success platform — Starfish.
Starfish has a variety of handy features to ensure students have access to resources apt to help them succeed. Beth Julian, assistant dean of student success and retention, said the program’s variety of features is what lead LVC to adopt it.
“Student success and retention is always our top priority,” Julian said. “Starfish has so many capabilities, including appointments, office hours, a complete list of student services, the ability to ‘raise your hand’ and ask for help and much more.”
Julian also works in the Center for Academic Success and serves as the lead advisor for exploratory majors. The main responsibility of her position entails frequent student interactions, the goal of which being to ensure students are granted the ability to reach their full academic potential.
“We are on week two of a full-campus rollout, and already I can see how easy it is to communicate with students and with those in a student’s success network,” Julian said. “Starfish is a one-stop shop for help and connects the campus community so that LVC students are supported academically, socially and emotionally.”
Previously, LVC relied on a “home-grown” program to keep track of students in need of aid. While that program was largely effective during its use, Starfish makes tasks easier for students and professors.
“When professors previously made CARE referrals, it was difficult to close the loop when a student issue was resolved or addressed,” Julian said. “Since professors can see who has a stake in the student’s success, as shown in their success network, they can create a more holistic approach to helping students.’
The main challenge posed by switching from a well-known program to a new one is adaptation. Julian is quite pleased with the embrace of the new program.
“Learning a new program isn’t easy by any means, and launching Starfish means shifting how we think about student support,” Julian said. “Professors seem to appreciate that Starfish is user-friendly and easy to navigate.”
While it is too early to tell exactly how big of a splash Starfish will make, the future of the program is bright.