WSU 360 Instructor/Advisor Guide

WSU360 gives you a convenient way to keep track of your students – raising flags when you observe a pattern of behavior that concerns you, or a kudo when you want to give positive feedback. Ensuring that the people on campus who can intervene are aware. It also allows your students to easily book an appointment with you or someone else who can help.

The Department of Academic Achievement implemented this retention software in the Fall of 2014, and for the first academic year we piloted the progress survey and early alert portion of the system. We spent the year collecting faculty feedback and are now ready to expand our usage for faculty, in their roles as both instructors and advisors.

The software is designed to create a circle of care between our faculty, students, and staff advisors across campus. It allows for open communication between instructors, across departments, and other administrators. We began by surveying students enrolled in the Banacos Learning Disabilities Program, the LEAD Scholars Program (formerly known as the Urban Education Program), TRIO Student Support Services Program, First Year Athletes, and students on Academic Probation. We added all of the First-Year Only courses in the Fall of 2015 to track the transition of students in the first year. Based upon data gathered from the academic actions after the fall term we will add all new transfers and undeclared students to the groups surveyed in the Spring of 2016. Now, we have all undergraduate and graduate students loaded in the system so faculty can see all of their rosters no matter who they may be teaching.  

Getting started is easy. Accessible through myWestfield, WSU360 will automatically display all students that you have been assigned or are enrolled in your courses.

For Faculty

Once you’ve logged in to myWestfield click on the "Faculty" tab and the box below will appear on the bottom right.

For Staff

Once you've logged in to myWestfied click on the "Employee" tab and in the "Application" box shown below you will see a link. If that link is not there please contact Nicole West at nwest@westfield.ma.edu 

Some of your profile, such as your contact information, is imported from Banner.

1. Click on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) on the top left-hand corner of the page. 

   

   This opens up a navigation pane on the left-hand side.  You should see your name, click your name, and below your name appears "Edit Profile"  

   

2. Help students put a face to your name by using the Upload Photo link beneath your name or placeholder to upload a photo.  

   

   Browse to a photo file (.jpg, .png, or .gif), and then click the Upload Now button to update your photo. 

3. You can access shareable links that you can then share with students to help them access your profile or your schedule if you have office hours (see the section on office hours).  
4. You can also update or change your contact information here making sure you provide students with the best way to reach you.  Double-check that the Time zone selected matches your time zone. This time zone will be used when including appointment times in emails from WSU360.
5. Add information to the About section to let students know a bit more about you.

    

   • This information will appear to students who can make appointments with you in WSU360.

6. Click the Submit button to save your changes.
7. Next, navigate over to the Appointment Preferences Tab. This is where you will set up your appointment defaults (appointment length, notification time, etc.), your appointment locations, and any calendar managers, if any. you can also share and sync your outlook calendar here as well.  You will need to give starfish@westfield.ma.edu calendar permission of "Reviewer" in your outlook calendar first before checking this box.  

    

8. Finally, in the Email Notifications Tab is where you will set up how and when you receive email notifications. For appointments and other helpful tools.  

The first time you log in to WSU360, WSU360 will provide a ‘wizard’ to walk you through setting up your office hours, which enables students to schedule time with you. If you do not wish to complete the wizard just yet, check the box labeled “Show me this Office Hours Setup Page again next time I login if I don’t have any Office Hours”, and then click the Close button.

If your office hours are different week to week, follow the “If your office hours don’t repeat weekly, click here” link.

If your office hours recur:

1. Complete the fields presented to specify:
   • What day(s) do you have office hours? - check the boxes for each day.
   • What time are your office hours? - enter a start and end time.
   • Where are they? - select the Type of setting and enter the Details in the field provided (e.g. the building and room number of your office).
   • If relevant, provide Instructions for students who make appointments with you.
2. Click the Set Up Office Hours button to save your office hours.

If you no longer see the Office Hours Setup Wizard:

1.  Click on the hamburger menu on the top left-hand corner to open up the navigation pane.  Then click where you see the word "Appointments" at the top you will see a button labeled "Office Hours" and a box will open allowing you to input how you want your office hours to run.  Giving that group of hours a title (ie. these are office hours, or these are advising hours)

2.  Where:  you will want to make sure that you set your locations up in your profile (see the section above) first before creating office hours.  Once you do that, that will generate the list of locations in the office hours block.  

3..  Who:  You can create different blocks that can only be seen by certain students you are connected to. This is done int he Appointment Types section when setting up your office hours. For Example if you create an office hours block that is for "course related" appointments then those blocks will only be seen by students in your courses.  if you make an additional block for advising only to be seen for Major Advising appontments by your advisor you will want to check off "Major Advising"

4.  Instructions and End Date:  Provide students with any instructions for their appointment like if they need to bring anything or sign in anywhere.  Then before submitting the office hours make sure you give them an end date.  This ensures that they will not go on for infinity but rather end on a date that works for you.  We do have the end of term dates built in to the system so you can choose the end of term and the term you are in and Voila! they will end when the semester ends.  

Cancel one occurrence

Select the day from the calendar, and hover (don’t click) over the icon associated with the Office Hours on the desired day().

Click the Cancel button and select, “Just this one” from the pop up Office Hours card presented.

Cancel a series

From the Agenda view, hover (don’t click) over the Office Hours icon () next to an

office hour title.

Select Cancel from the pop up Office Hours card presented. (If the day you have selected on the calendar includes an occurrence, you will have the option to cancel “Just this one” or “The entire series”)

WSU360 allows you to view all the students you have a connection with; instructor, faculty advisor, and department chair. You can view all your students or students based on a single connection you have to them.

On the top left side of the screen click on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) that looks like this: 

This will open up the navigation pane on the left-hand side and reveal a list.  Click on "Students"

Next, you will see the Students page and be able to navigate by a connection for a specific term to get a list of specific students.  

When you open the "Connection" drop down list you will see a list that looks similar to this: 

Westfield Specific Terms you should see are:

All My Students: All of your students that you have a connection to.
Instructor Role: All of the students that are enrolled in your courses for that term.
Faculty Advisor Role: All of the students currently in your advising caseload.
Course Specific Role: All of the students enrolled in a specific course you have selected.

For Term:  Make sure you have selected either the current term you are in or "Active". Best to use the current term as at some points during the term we will have two terms active and it can become quite confusing.  

Notes:

You can also organize you list alphabetically how you would like it by clicking on the “Name” column. Also, use the “Additional Filters” button to the right of the list to narrow down your students by type.

You have the ability to add notes to a student folder pertaining to meetings you may have had with the students or emails you may have exchanged. It’s a way for you to keep details on interactions you have had with a student, such as discussions during an advising appointment or instructions given for an extra credit assignment.

Below are 3 ways you can create a note on a student:

1. Hover your mouse over a student’s name (without clicking) and when the thumbnail image appears click on the Note button at the bottom of the window.
2. Click the small box to the left of the student’s photo and then click the Note button at the top of the list.

3. Click on a student’s name to go to their student folder. When in the folder, you will also see the Note button at the top of their student folder that will allow you to add a note to their student folder.

You have the ability to refer students to support services on campus.  This allows you to send the student accurate information about how to access that service as well as get feedback on whether the student followed through or not.  It’s a great way to make our students aware of the support services available on our campus.  As soon as you raise the referral an email gets sent to the student from the service (i.e. the tutoring center) explaining that they were referred to a service for a specific course and then it details for them how to access the service.  

Below are 2 ways you can create a referral for a student:

1. Click the small check box to the left of the student’s photo and then click the Referral button at the top of the list.

Notes:

You can click multiple student names at once to refer multiple students to a service at a given time.  Using this technique is a quick way to let many students know that a support service is available to them. 

2. Click on a student’s name to go to their student folder. When in the folder, you will also see the Referral button at the top of their student folder that will allow you to add a note to their student folder. 

You will receive an email reminder when there is a new progress survey for you to complete. Each individual survey presents a student roster for one course section on whom you can raise flags.

To complete the survey:

1. Select the progress survey link on your WSU360 Home page and go to the Progress Surveys tab. (only visible when you have active surveys
   • The selected survey opens, listing your students on the left, and items you may raise across the top.
2. Check the box for each desired item/ student combination.
   • Click the comments icon () toopenatextbox for your notes. Your comments are visible to the student on their WSU360 Page and both Staff and Faculty Advisor in WSU360.
   • Click the information icon () associated with an item to verify whether or not the student can view the flag and related comments.
3. Click the Submit button only when you are finished providing feedback. The items you selected will be raised on your students when you submit the survey.

Notes:

You may be asked to submit more than one course survey if more than one of your courses has been included in the survey plan for your institution. They will be listed in the drop-down menu on the Progress Surveys tab.

How to Raise a Flag PDF

When you have a concern with a particular student, raise a flag, to-do, or referral to communicate your observations. The appropriate individuals will be automatically notified when you save the item.

1. Click on the Students navigation item to see your list of students.
2. Find the desired student by typing the name into the Search box.
3. Click on the student’s name to bring up the Student Folder.
4. Click the Flag button.
   • A list of flags that you have permission to raise on this student is displayed.
5. Select the desired Flag from the list.
6. If relevant, select a course from the Course Context, drop down list, and enter notes in the Comment box.
7. Click the Save button.

Notes:

The Student View: indicates whether the student can view the flag and the notes you include in the Comment box.

The Permissions area lists roles that have permission to view the selected flag and the notes you include in the Comment box.

Many instructors will raise a flag on a student and the student will follow up directly with the instructor. If this happens and the instructor feels comfortable doing so they have the option of “Clearing a Flag” they raised on a student.

To Clear a Flag:

1. Go to the Student tab on WSU360. Click on the Tracking tab below.
   • The Tracking Tab allows you to view all the tracking items, flags and kudos, you have raised during the term.
2. Hover over the tracking item that you would like to clear, specifically the little blue flag. A thumbnail view of the flag details will appear and on the bottom you will see the Clear option. Click that icon.
3. A Mark Flag as Cleared box will open and allow you to add comments to explain why you are clearing the flag.

Note:

Staff Advisors have the ability to clear flags by choosing to “Close the Loop”. It clears the flag but also sends a message to the instructor to let them know that a meeting took place to discuss the flag. The advisor can include specific notes to the faculty about strategies given to the student to improve their academic performance.

Faculty Advisors have the ability to view more than just course specific information on the students that they are connected to via the Faculty Advisor Role.

1.  

   Overview Tab: a list of student attributes including program enrollment, college, GPA, Catalog Year, Class Year, etc.

    

2. Info Tab: tells you about the students academic program. Including their major, any minors they may have, when they started their program, and other admissions information.

    

3. Courses Tab: Shows you what courses a student is currently taking but also allows you to look at past semesters as well.

    

4. Tracking Tab: Allows you to see all the tracking items (flags and kudos) a student as both active and resolved/cleared.

    

5. Meeting Tab: Allows you to see appointments that have been booked with the student.

    

6. Notes Tab: A folder that archives all notes created on that student with context to tracking items, meetings, messages, or just general notes.

    

7. Network Tab: Where you can see and message anyone who is connected to the student. Includes other advisors, instructors, department chairs, etc.

WSU360 has the functionality to allow faculty to email their students, other instructors, or other faculty advisors. What is also helpful is that message will be saved in the students Notes tab in their student folder. The message is sent to the students Westfield
email and is archived in the WSU360 system.

To message a student:

1. Click on the Student tab and navigate to the student you want to message. Hover your mouse over their name and when the thumbnail image appears select the Message icon on the bottom.
2. A Send Message box will open and you can send a message to the student and also send a copy of the message to your own email as verification. The great thing about this feature is the email is saved to the students Note file and will even include a read receipt of when they opened the message.

To message another instructor or staff advisor:

1. Go to the Network tab in a student’s Student Folder. You can see a list of their current instructors and any Staff Advisor connected to that student.
2. Select an individual by clicking the box to the left of their photo or use the blue Select All at the top of the list.
3. Select the blue Email Selected button at the top and a message box will appear allowing you to send a message, which you can also send a copy to yourself.

If you have any questions or are looking for any additional information for your department please do not hesitate to reach out.

Nicole West, Advisor and Retention Coordinator Academic Advising Center nwest@westfield.ma.edu
413-572-8191