Quinnipiac University is introducing a new student planning tool called Stellic, allowing undergraduate and graduate students to track their progress towards their degree.
Stellic will not be taking the place of Self Service as a whole. Rather, it will be used in place of the “My Progress” portion of Self Service. Although students will use Stellic for academic planning, they will still register for classes on Self Service.
“Stellic allows students to visualize and chart their path towards graduation and will help advisors and administrators get a clearer picture of students and how to best support their goal,” Provost Debra Liebowitz wrote in an Aug. 31 email to students.
The university previously used Self Service’s student planning tool to track academic progress. Self Service allows students to plan their degree path and register for classes. But Liebowitz pointed out that she saw flaws with Self Service and believed there was a better tool out there.
“There were other systems out there that I knew could really facilitate better communication between students and advisors,” Liebowitz said.
Amy Terry, university registrar, noted that students can explore new features on Stellic.
“In Stellic, students can plan all four years of their program. In Self Service, students are only able to plan one term at a time,” Terry wrote in a statement to The Chronicle. “It also will help students plan the graduate work as undergraduate students if they are in a dual degree program.”
Students who are in a dual degree program will be able to plan their classes out into their graduate year, unlike in Self Service.
Liebowitz said Stellic is more interactive than Self Service. In a more streamlined process, students, advisors and the registrar will be able to remedy any issues with the student’s progress tracking on the website.
Instead of emailing their advisor and the registrar, students can flag any needed change in their degree progress on the website. From there, the change will go through a series of approvals.
“It allows for student-directed communication and for you to see where things are in that pathway,” Liebowitz said. “And I think that’s great.”
This, Liebowitz said, will not only help students in dual-degree programs but also students participating in study abroad programs and those planning out how to meet graduation requirements.
Although some faculty are promoting the benefits of Stellic, some students expressed frustration with the mounting number of websites and services Quinnipiac students must use.
“At least (Self Service) was all connected, even though it was a little difficult (to navigate),” said Arianna Panzera, a first-year behavioral neuroscience major. “It’s hard to keep track of when they keep throwing new websites at you.”
Andrew Melnick, a first-year behavioral neuroscience major, echoed Panzera’s point about the lack of integration,
“It was just convenient to have everything in one website … it just reduces clutter,” Melnick said. “I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like having 15 websites bookmarked.”
Stellic is now available to students through a link in the email sent by Liebowitz on Aug. 31.
