UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — To improve the experience of students, academic advisers and student success professionals, the University is in the early stages of a project to transition from Starfish to Navigate360 as its enterprise student success tool. The transition is planned to take place in phases with implementation slated for the 2027–28 academic year.
Navigate360 is a CRM (customer relationship management) and support platform designed specifically for higher education to help institutions boost retention and student success by streamlining communications between students, faculty and advisers; tracking student progress and enabling easy appointment scheduling with critical support services, such as academic advising, academic coaches and tutors, and wellness staff.
Navigate360 will strengthen how Penn State delivers coordinated support, including academic advising and other services, to advance the learning and well-being of students across the University. It expands on the capabilities of Starfish with more powerful reporting tools, built-in AI assistants and modern student outreach features including two-way text messaging through a mobile app. The platform is designed to give advisers, faculty and student support professionals more direct access to data and more efficient ways to act on it.
The transition will be managed deliberately in consultation with a range of University stakeholders, and without disruption to existing services. Because Starfish and Navigate360 are both EAB technologies, Penn State will retain access to Starfish throughout the implementation period,
The transition positions Penn State to build upon Starfish’s foundation of supporting undergraduate, graduate and medical education — including programs and initiatives from academic advising, education abroad, educational equity, enrollment management, international student support, learning centers, libraries, orientation and student affairs. Navigate360 will support numerous student success-related functions such as advising notes, course progress reporting, student appointment self-scheduling and role-based information sharing on a more powerful platform.
This initiative aligns with Penn State’s recently approved Strategic Plan by providing the University with a robust support system that empowers staff and faculty to deliver holistic support to all students.
“Navigate360 will directly support our commitment to students of ensuring access to high-quality advising and learning support services,” said Kathy Bieschke, senior vice provost and interim dean of Undergraduate Education. “By giving staff and faculty more powerful tools to connect with students and act on real-time data and feedback, we will be better positioned to deliver the holistic support network we’ve been building over the last decade.”
Penn State has used Starfish since 2016, building a differentiated network of care that connects students to offices and staff across the University. Navigate360 preserves that infrastructure while expanding its capabilities. Advisers and other users will be able to run detailed reports, manage caseloads and launch targeted outreach campaigns directly within the platform. It is intended to function as an enterprise-level system that supports student success efforts across the entire institution, from undergraduate education to graduate and medical education. Role-based permissions will allow faculty and staff to collaboratively support students.
“We are looking forward to having a more powerful tool for communicating with students and promoting Penn State resources and learning supports that could be beneficial to them,” said David R. Smith, associate dean for advising and executive director of the Division of Undergraduate Studies, which has led the development and administration of Starfish and will continue in that function through the transition to Navigate 360. “This new technology will enable our dedicated staff and faculty to better support the success of their students. This is an exciting moment for Penn State.”
The move also reflects Penn State's years-long relationship with EAB, whose research and strategic consulting have informed University advising and student success practices. That consulting relationship, along with access to EAB’s broader higher education expertise, continues as part of the Navigate360 contract.
In the coming weeks, the University will launch a dedicated information website and hold a Penn State-specific webinar to walk faculty, staff and advisers through the timeline and what to expect before and after the transition begins in 2027–28. As the transition approaches, employees will have opportunities for consultation and training, with outreach to students to follow.
EAB will work with the Penn State Starfish Team throughout the implementation process, along with user groups, Penn State IT and representatives for other Penn State systems, including LionPATH, Canvas, Software Engineering and the Data Empowered Learning Team. Executive sponsors for the project are Kathy Bieschke, senior vice provost and interim dean of Undergraduate Education; Andrea Dowhower, vice president for Student Affairs; and Chris Lucas, deputy CIO and associate vice president for academic technologies and customer experience, Penn State Information Technology.
More information, including updates on implementation milestones and training opportunities, will be available at starfish.psu.edu/navigate360.