Starfish Progress Surveys

 

Starfish Surveys allow faculty members to raise concerns (flags) or send compliments (kudos) related to a student's participation and academic performance at specific points during the semester. Each raised flag or kudo sends a standardized email, including any notes entered, directly to the student on behalf of the faculty member. The message is visible to the student’s academic advisor, keeping advisors better informed about student performance and possible needs. 

For step-by-step instructions for filling out a Starfish Survey: Click here for the how-to guide!    

During each semester,  we will be deploying a week 1 Attendance Survey and a midterm Academic Progress Survey to allow faculty to provide feedback on course participation and performance to students.

For questions about the Attendance Survey and Progress Survey and student follow-up, see our FAQs or contact us at starfish@weber.edu.

 Surveys

 Full-term and 1st Block Courses 2nd Block Courses
Who will receive the surveys? All faculty teaching an undergraduate course (Excluding study abroad, concurrent, independent study, and labs) All faculty teaching an undergraduate course during the 2nd block (Excluding study abroad, concurrent, independent study, and labs)
Who will be on the surveys? All students enrolled in each section for the courses listed above All students enrolled in each section for the courses listed above 
When will the Week 1 Attendance Survey be open?

Summer 2025: May 5 - 15
Fall 2025: August X - September X
Spring 2026: January X-X

Summer 2025: June 23 - July 3rd
Fall 2025: October X - X
Spring 2026: March X - X
When will the midterm Academic Progress Survey be open?

Summer 2025: May 29 - June 12
Fall 2025: September XX - October X
Spring 2026: January XX - February XX

Summer 2025: July 10 - 24
Fall 2025: November X - November XX
Spring 2026: March XX - April XX

Other items to consider:

  • Best Practices -  
  • Urgent concern before survey launches?  You can . 
  • Never Attended?  - If you select the box for "Never Attended" there is no need to select additional options.
  • Multiple Concerns?  Select most relevant reason(s)/flag(s). (Students receive a separate email for each box you check in the progress survey.)
  • Optional: Use the  to identify students you want to reach out to. (Note: This function does not work for cross-listed "child" Canvas gradebooks.)
  • No feedback? - When filling out a Progress Survey, you don't have to select a flag or kudo for every student in your course. If you leave all the check boxes blank for a student, no feedback is assumed and no email notifications will be sent. To indicate no feedback for an entire course section, simply open the progress survey and click the submit button. 
  • Your Comments: Your comments in surveys are valuable. See below.

 SURVEY COMMENTS

 Consider the following guidelines when entering comments.
Student Audience
  • Instructor comments entered into the Academic Progress Survey and/or manually-raised Starfish flags are inserted into an email sent directly to students.
  • Notes/comments are visible to faculty or staff within the Starfish UI based upon their role and relationship(s) to the student and security provisioning.
Clear and Concise Language
  • Avoid a “wall of words.”
  • Avoid jargon or euphemisms.
Growth Mindset / Asset Vocabulary
  • Emphasize progress so far.
  • Offer constructive feedback.
  • Identify opportunities & resources.
  • Call/nudge to positive action.
Comment/Message Features
  • Hyperlinks typically do not function via Starfish messages/notes/comments but full weblinks convert to clickable links:  /student-access-success/

 

Example Comments: Attendance Concern

“I am glad you have been able to attend class this week and contribute your ideas. Your earlier 4 absences have caused you to miss activities and 2 peer review sessions, which has significantly lowered your grade for this course. I recommend you utilize the 91¶ÌÊÓƵ Writing Center (/writingcenter) and/or visit me during my office hours to get feedback on your draft of Essay 2. If you are experiencing a barrier to regular attendance, please discuss your challenges with me and an academic advisor to make a realistic plan for your semester and competing needs or priorities. Please reply to this email and let me know how I can support you.