Pace has implemented Starfish this semester, which is a system designed to allow faculty and students to have clear communication with each other regarding academic standing.

“Starfish is a technology that Pace has adopted, which has the ultimate goal of supporting students and to help those of us who work with students to have real-time information to connect with one another,” member of Pace’s Division for Student Success Jennifer Tobin said.

The system sends notifications via email and the Starfish website to students, advisors, and coaches when an issue is raised by a professor, or when they want to let the student know they are doing well.

“[This will not only make you aware] of concerns that we want to assist you with, but give you resources and help, and also to recognize your achievements as well,” Tobin said.

Future updates will include the ability for users to schedule appointments, see the availability of others, and the ability to be referred to and interact with offices like the Office of Student Assistance and the Counselling Center.

There is no set release date for these features, currently.

“This system allows us to evolve and grow as we use it more and more,” Director of Technical Support Jermain Smith said. “There will be different features that we will roll out and you will continue to hear communication about that.”

Starfish is part of a “classroom management” initiative which includes letting a student failing a course know their situation. According to of Film and Media professor Melanie La Rosa, it is only mandatory for professors to use Starfish to let students know when there are issues.

“Traditionally we’ve had to reach out, and for certain students if they are on financial aid and have scholarships, or are athletes, we’ve always had to notify Advising if there had been problems with attendance or academics or something like that, so that students are not just going to fail they have noticed,” La Rosa said.

La Rosa also says it has made student reporting faster for her.

“This has simplified the process a lot,” La Rosa said. “It used to take me a half an hour to do the reporting because the interface was complicated. Starfish takes me no more than 10 minutes for three or four classes.”

La Rosa, however, found that most students don’t know what Starfish is and would like to see it advertised more.

“I didn’t really know about [Starfish] until I got an email saying I had done a good job in class, and I know a few other professors use this as well, and I would like to know more about it,” senior Nick Ostrander said.