Starfish Advising and Retention Gathers Information at Workshop

Advising and retention group Starfish is returned to campus for a three day workshop May 30 through June 1, learning to learn more about Webster University and its readiness, as an institution, to accept this new system and use it as a tool to help us achieve its student success goals as outlined in the strategic plan. The workshop consisted of focus groups, a leadership assessment and a workshop for colleagues to begin the work of building our system.

The three days consisted of focus groups, a leadership assessment and a workshop for colleagues to begin the work of building our system. The global community was represented throughout the visit to ensure that all stakeholders had an opportunity to provide initial feedback.

As noted in a previous article, the implementation team for this student success initiative is being led by Erica Ellard, director of the Academic Resource Center, and Kyle McCool, director of Graduate Advising, and includes team members representing the five schools/colleges and academic and administrative support units: 

• Jesse Alexander, head of Student Resource Center, Vienna
• Julie Altmann, Academic Advising office manager
• Justin Barton, director of First Year Experience and Undergraduate Persistence
• Eliot Boden, assessment librarian
• Victoria Brown-Kennerly, assistant professor, Department of Biological Sciences
• Nancy Hellerud, vice provost
• DJ Kaiser, associate professor and coordinator for Teaching English as a Second Language
• Bethany Keller, assistant director, Multicultural Center and International Student Affairs
• Bill Lynch, professor, Conservatory of Theatre Arts
• Victoria (Tori) Meyer, associate professor, Audio Aesthetics & Technology Department
• Erik Palmore, director of the Faculty Development Center
• Beth Russell, assistant provost for Graduate Studies
• Craig Skinner, senior academic advisor, Undergraduate Advising
• Dustin Smith, assistant professor, Management Department
• Sue Wilcox, director, project panagement, Information Technology

The implementation team will begin meeting weekly with the Starfish team to plan and implement our next steps in the process. Webster’s team will continue to reach out to the global Webster community with opportunities to continue engagement and participation as we look to our Fall launch.