SLATE for Student Success Implementation

Project Overview

Project Summary

This project is a continuation of an initiative derived from Villanova’s Rooted. Restless. strategic plan.

Embedded in Aspiration 3, Building an Inclusive Community, the text of Initiative 3. D. reads:

“Create a personalized holistic advising system built from an enhanced academic, financial and co-curricular information system and expand resources to provide differentiated academic and financial support to students so that they can fully benefit from the Villanova experience”

In October 2023, the University undertook the search for a replacement to the current Ellucian Advise system to support student success. A summit with more than 40 regular users of Advise was convened from which came a seven-person steering group. The group commissioned surveys of all faculty and staff who teach or advise students and interviewed eight vendors. In the final round, SLATE emerged as the clear winner for its usability, customizability, and affordability.

The group then interviewed nine implementation consultants to support the build and installation of the Student Success instance for Villanova. The group settled on HCRC in part because of their award-winning portal design for the University of North Florida. In January, 2025, HCRC came to campus to conduct two days of discovery and kick off the project.

Project Opportunities

·       Create a more customized Villanova advising experience for students and advisors alike

·       Allow flexible options that honor the processes and practices of specific colleges and academic entities

·       Benefit from current knowledge and economies of scale as a current SLATE admissions institution

·       Manage a product that can grow and evolve as usage grows and processes change

Project Timeline

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Initial Data Architecture Build

January 2025 – March 2025

Early Alert Workflow Build

March 2025

Appointments Process Set-up

April 2025

SIS Database Integrations and Test Run

May 2025

Student/Faculty Staff Portal Build

June 2025

Faculty and Staff Training and Wrap-Up

July 2025 - August 2025

Roll-out, Trainings, and Advising Period Preparation

August 2025 - October 2025

Project Team

This project is jointly sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Enrollment Management and is being supported financially from a strategic plan initiatives budget allocation.

Executive Sponsor(s)

·       Catherine Connor, Vice Dean of Enrollment Management

·       Dr. Randy Weinstein, Ph. D. Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning and Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

Steering Committee Members

·       Dr. Randy Weinstein, Ph. D. Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning and Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

·       Brian Galloway, Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management

·       Chris Murray, Director of Technology for Student Success

·       Linda Boettcher, Director of Academic Advising in the Office of Undergraduate Students in CLAS

·       Antony Lower, Director of Information Systems in UNIT

·       Jenn Brophy, our Director of Academic Support for Athletics

Project Managers and Functional Leads

·       Ben Alfonsi, Sr. Enterprise Project Manager in UNIT

·       Antony Lower, Director of Information Systems in UNIT

·       Brian Galloway, Assistant Dean of Enrollment Management

·       Chris Murray, Director of Technology for Student Success

·       Dr. Randy Weinstein, Ph. D. Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning and Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

·       Additional functional users from across the University will be brought in to consult on the design and build phases of the project once the data architecture and initial data imports have been established. 

Project Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What does this mean for the use of current advising systems like Advise and Nolijlink?

A: Once the new SLATE tool is up and running, Villanova will begin to archive and decommission the two legacy software products it is using for student success. We expect this decommissioning to begin in the fall of 2025.

Q: Who will use this new SLATE system?

A: Users from across the University will interact with the user-facing portal including academic and extra-academic advisors, department chairs, faculty, staff and administrators. Eventually students will interact with the system via a student-facing portal.

Q: Will I get to provide input on the design of the new SLATE system?

A: In the spring of 2024, all faculty and staff who advise students were sent a comprehensive survey. The survey results and comments totaled more than 50 pages of feedback which were categorized and incorporated into the build. We will also be bringing in smaller groups of regular users during the build process to consult on Villanova-specific processes.

Q: What will this look like when it is done?

A: What Villanova begins to use in the fall of 2025 is the first iteration of the SLATE Student Success instance. We expect to iterate on the tool as we realize what works well, what needs improvement, and what processes can be added. The goal is to create a culture of continuous improvement for the users.