Student Success

two students in the distance walking through the park blocks with trees around them

Student Wayfinding Task Force

Project Status: Implementation

The Student Wayfinding Task Force is a continuation of the First Stop Workgroup. Current work focuses on three areas: 

  • Coordinated Hours (short-term)
  • A Virtual First Stop (long-term)
  • Inter-departmental relationship building

Accomplished

  • The task force held its first cross-divisional in-service day in December. Over 70 employees from six units convened over snacks, lunch, and learning. The Financial Aid Office presented on the major changes to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid affecting students and financial aid processes. The Office of Information Technology reported on the Digital Ecosystem Discovery and connections to the Slate for Current Students and Virtual First Stop (VFS) efforts. The day ended with an opportunity to socialize over sweets, popcorn, and games at the Viking Gameroom. 
  • The Virtual First Stop Feasibility Study was completed in Fall 2023 and results presented during the in service events. Parallel work on the Slate for Current Students completed a deep dive into exploring the advising and case management workflows. The teams of the VFS and Slate projects presented to the Student Wayfinding team on the two tools, mapped to PSU workflows to gather feedback and guide planning on the efforts.

In Progress

  • Both the VFS and Slate efforts are continuing conversations around implementation plans and timelines. Teams are working to maintain momentum while ensuring departmental teams are involved at a pace that is reasonable given workloads and external challenges as we finalize the selection of tools and develop detailed project charters.
  • The Coordinated Hours team has collected and analyzed drop-in traffic to the FMH service locations and will be layering call and email data. Unit leadership are working to evaluate this data and make recommendations for efficient service during slow periods such as summer term and intersessions with this new gathered data. 
  • The next in-service day will be held in Summer term and organizers are looking forward to another opportunity to build inter-team relationships and shared understanding. More details to come!

Project Team 

Sponsors: Erica Wagner, Chuck Knepfle, Ryan Bass
Project Leads: Cindy Baccar, Elijah Herr, Megan Looney, Lynell Spencer, Jerrod Thomas 
Project Manager: Eleanor Hart
Team: Eleanor Hart, Becki Ingersoll, Luke Norman, Martha Dyson, Michele Bromley, Donna Myers, Nicolle Dupont, Nick Matlick, Rita Snodgrass, Jasmine Hudson