At Quinsigamond Community College (QCC), the combination of an Online Liaison Service and Starfish is helping online students be more successful. QCC leverages Starfish to improve communication processes between the online liaison, online students needing assistance, and faculty members, with positive results on student performance and engagement across 200 online classes each semester. During this webinar, QCC will discuss how the online process with Starfish evolved and the success stories related to this service.

1. Using Starfish to Support Student
Success in Online Learning
Amy Beaudry
Professor of English and
Academic Technology Facilitator
abeaudry@qcc.mass.edu
Pat Schmohl
Dean of Distance Learning
and Professional Development
pschmohl@qcc.mass.edu
Melissa Walls
Biology Instructor
and Online Liaison
mwalls@qcc.mass.edu

2. • what Quinsigamond Community College’s (QCC) online liaison
service is;
• how QCC expanded its online liaison service from a pilot
project to a service that supports all online classes;
• how QCC uses Starfish for this service;
• what the results of this service have been in terms of student
and faculty satisfaction and online course pass rates, and;
• how to replicate this service on your own campus.
Objectives
By the end of this webinar, attendees will know the following:

3. Quinsigamond Community College:
Who Are We? • serve a diverse population in Central Massachusetts
• main campus in the city of Worcester and 6 satellite
campuses
• offer credit and noncredit courses to meet various
student needs: workforce development, adult basic
education, certificates and Associate degrees,
transfer
• face-to-face, blended and online classes
• approximately 8,000 students (AY 2015-2016)
• 62% of our students are part time
• 40% work 30 or more hours a week
• 5 Associates degrees and 4 certificates can be
completed online
• 15% of credits are online

4. General Overview of the Online Liaison Service:
History and Goals of the Initial Project
• Create a service to 1) help online faculty members contact
online students who do not respond to their outreach and 2)
help struggling online students be more successful
• Hire an online liaison, someone familiar with Blackboard and
Quinsigamond Community College’s advising system
• Pilot this service with faculty who teach two or more sections
of the same online course

5. General Overview of the Online Liaison Service:
What Does the Online Liaison Do?
• Reaches out to struggling online students by email or phone when
faculty members raise an online liaison concern flag
• Adds comments in Starfish to let faculty members know about her
interactions with these students or if she was unable to reach them
• Responds to online students who contact her directly
• Offers some Blackboard technical assistance, including helping students
navigate their online courses
• Provides general time management and study skills
• Refers students to appropriate campus resources

6. General Overview of the Online Liaison Service:
How Does the Service Work for Online Faculty?
Step 1 The online faculty member uses
the appropriate Starfish flag to
communicate with the student.

7. The faculty member moves on to step two if the student does not respond.
Step 2 The online faculty member uses
the “Online Liaison Concern” flag
in Starfish to communicate with
the online liaison.

8. The online liaison calls or emails the student to convey the instructor’s
concerns and to offer assistance.Then she adds a comment to the
“online liaison concern” flag in Starfish to keep the instructor updated.
Note: to protect student privacy, we have deleted or changed students’ names in some of these messages.

9. Step 3
If the student contacts the online
faculty member, this instructor
should resolve the flag in Starfish
or add a comment to keep the
online liaison in the loop.

10. o Fall 2012
• 25 online faculty members
• 26 online course sections
• 499 online students
• The online liaison contacted
69 students
o Spring 2016
• All online faculty members: 100
• All online course sections: 209
• All online students: 2,060
• The online liaison contacted or
was contacted by 99 students
Online
Faculty
Member
Starfish flag
to contact the
Online Liaison Online
Student
Online
Faculty
Member
Online
Form
to contact
Online
Liaison
Online
Student
Email, phone, text
messages
to contact the
Online Liaison

11. Changes from Fall 2012-Now
Supported by a Strategic Plan
grant for five semesters
Faculty used an online form to contact
the online liaison
Online students only heard from the
online liaison if faculty identified them
as struggling
The online liaison had office hours
and/or a space on campus
No online liaison service training for
faculty and no ongoing Blackboard
training for students
Part of the regular College budget
Faculty use Starfish to contact the
online liaison
All online students receive an email
explanation of the online liaison service
and contact information, so they can
reach the liaison directly
The online liaison has a cell phone and
meets with students on campus when
needed
Regular professional development
training for faculty related to this
service and Starfish; Blackboard
Tutoring Center for students

12. Online Pass Rates
Note: For this study, we define pass rates as C or higher.
Pre Online Liaison Service, 2005-2011
57%
Post Online Liaison Service, 2012-2015
63.5%

13. Faculty Feedback

14. Student Feedback
Survey
Email
“I was literally on qcc.edu when I saw the missed call planning my Monday to make sure I stayed
ahead of the course not knowing I was behind because I work over nights and wake up at 10:30pm
to go to work. Not passing this course is not an option and I owe it to my wife and two year old
daughter to pass this class to get my degree. Again Thank You so much for calling me today and this
will not be an issue going forward, please know that I fully understand what is expected.”
“I thank you for all that you have done to help me in the process, honestly if you never contacted
me offering help I would have never been here trying to fix the issues in the course. I probably
wouldn't have even completed the course to be honest, I had no motivation at all or patience left.
Once again thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to help me!”

15. Where Would We Like to Go from Here?
• Include blended classes in the online liaison service again
• Offer a similar service for face-to-face classes
• Continue to expand our Blackboard and Starfish training for
students and professional development opportunities for faculty

16. How to Replicate the Online Liaison Service on Your Campus
• Ask online faculty for input about this kind of service
• Advertise for and hire an online liaison
• Have the online liaison collaborate with advising, tutoring, IT, and other
offices to make decisions about assisting students
• Create an online liaison role in Starfish and link to online courses
• Publicize this service to online faculty and students
• Provide ongoing support for students, and ongoing support and
professional development for faculty

17. Amy Beaudry
Professor of English and
Academic Technology Facilitator
abeaudry@qcc.mass.edu
Pat Schmohl
Dean of Distance Learning
and Professional Development
pschmohl@qcc.mass.edu
Melissa Walls
Biology Instructor
and Online Liaison
mwalls@qcc.mass.edu