Retention

Hobsons Updates Starfish with Improved Analytics, Accessibility

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 07/24/17

Hobsons has unveiled Starfish 7, the latest version of its student retention platform, with upgrades such as improved predictive analytics.

Starfish uses benchmarking tools, predictive analytics, risk predictors, student activity and other indicators to identify at-risk students and help advisors determine the most helpful interventions. Features new to this version include:

• Embedded analytics incorporating the PAR Framework, acquired by Hobsons last year, to build reports on benchmarking, student risk, course pathway review and more;
• An integrated intervention inventory featuring the student success matrix, which offers a list of student support resources from across the institution and tools for measuring and tracking those interventions so schools can scale up those that are most effective;
• Improved support for pathways, including "more robust student interfaces for establishing core requirements, adjusting plans to reflect a student's changing needs and connection to course registration systems," according to information released by Hobsons;
• Improvements to the platform's core feature set, including updates to student onboarding, reporting and alert workflows; and
• Accessibility updates and compliance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 AA standards.

"The process of uncovering the interventions being used on all of our campuses was a game-changer for us," said MJ Bishop, director of the William E. Kirwan Center for Academic Innovation at the University System of Maryland, in a prepared statement. "It has allowed us to have conversations about the unique needs of students at each of our diverse campuses. The institutions can see where we are duplicating efforts and where students are still falling through the cracks. And then we know what we can actually do about it."

More information about Starfish is available at starfishsolutions.com.