WSU 360 Instructor/Advisor Guide

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

1. Click on the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) in 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 it 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 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 into WSU360, it 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 log in if I don’t have any Office Hours”, and then click the Close button.

If your office hours vary from week to week, click the “If your office hours don’t repeat weekly, click here” link.

If your office hours repeat weekly:

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.

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 in the top left-hand corner to open up the navigation pane. Then click on "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. Give that group of hours a title (e.g., these are office hours, or these are advising hours).
2. Where: You will want to make sure that you set up your locations in your profile (see the section above) first before creating office hours. Once you do that, it 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 in the 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 create an additional block for advising only to be seen for Major Advising appointments by your advisor, you will want to check off "Major Advising".
4. Instructions and End Date: Provide students with any instructions for their appointment, such as if they need to bring anything or sign in anywhere. Then, before submitting the office hours, make sure you set an end date. This ensures that they will not continue indefinitely but will end on a date that works for you. The system has built-in end-of-term dates, so you can choose the end of the term and the term you are in, and 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).
• 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 connection for a specific term to get a list of specific students. 

When you open the "Connection" drop-down list, you will see options that look similar to this:

• 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". It is 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 your list alphabetically 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 three 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, which will allow you to add a note.

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 detailing how to access the service.

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

1. Click the small checkbox to the left of the student’s photo and then click the Referral button at the top of the list.
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, which will allow you to add a note to their student folder.

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. 

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.)
2. The selected survey opens, listing your students on the left and items you may raise across the top.
3. Check the box for each desired item/student combination.
4. Click the comments icon to open a text box for your notes. Your comments are visible to the student on their WSU360 page and to both staff and faculty advisors in WSU360.
5. Click the information icon associated with an item to verify whether or not the student can view the flag and related comments.
6. 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.

Important:

Once you have submitted the survey, you will not have an opportunity to add to or undo the items you raised. Use the save draft option if you aren’t ready to submit your survey.

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.
5. A list of flags that you have permission to raise on this student is displayed.
6. Select the desired flag from the list.
7. If relevant, select a course from the Course Context dropdown list, and enter notes in the Comment box.
8. 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.
2. The Tracking Tab allows you to view all the tracking items, flags, and kudos you have raised during the term.
3. 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 at the bottom, you will see the Clear option. Click that icon.
4. 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 student's 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 has, 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, including other advisors, instructors, department chairs, etc.

Important:

The information in the Student Folder is part of their official records at the University and is protected information under FERPA.

WSU360 has the functionality to allow faculty to email their students, other instructors, or other faculty advisors. What is also helpful is that the message will be saved in the student's Notes tab in their student folder. The message is sent to the student's 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 at 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 for verification. The great thing about this feature is the email is saved to the student's 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.