Communicating with Students in Navigate Staff
Another benefit of using Navigate for advising is the ease of communicating with your students via email or text. Keep reading for more information.
Messaging a group of students
You can send emails or texts to groups of students, such as all your advisees to welcome them to the start of a new semester. You can use the Advanced Search, your Student Lists, or results from a report to generate a group of students.
You can then select students from that list who you would like to receive the communication by selecting the check box to the left of their names. You can also select all the students in the display by selecting the check box at the upper left of the display. (If needed, you can then individually deselect students who should not receive the message.) Then select "Send a Message to Student" from the Actions menu.
Note that if your results or list include more than 100 students, selecting the check box in the upper left will at first only select the first 100 students. A message will pop up at the top of the results, stating, "100 items on this page are selected. Select all ### items." You must click the link of "Select all ### items" to select the entire group.
Messaging an Individual Student
To message an individual student, select "Send a Message" under "Options" on the student's profile page. You can also select an individual student from a search, list, or report and then select "Send a Message to Student" from the Actions menu.
Sending a Message
In the "Send a Message" workflow, the first option you may need to choose is whether you are sending an email or a text message. Note that some roles on campus do not have the permissions to send text messages. Please contact stars@uwplatt.edu if you feel you have a business reason to send text messages but do not have that permission.
Sending an Email
Sending an email allows you to share more content, use merge fields to personalize messages to multiple students, and include attachments.
Be sure to write an engaging subject line to encourage students to open the email.
In addition "Send Message," there are several other options available, including adding emails of staff members to receive a notification, previewing the message, or sending a sample email to yourself.
Note that Navigate emails can only be sent to UW-Platteville email addresses, so ensure your students know to check that email account regularly.
Sending a Text Message
Text messages are most useful for time sensitive or critical communications. Navigate limits text messages to 300 characters, and you should introduce yourself briefly first, as the message will appear to come from a random phone number.
Additionally, text messages are not considered fully FERPA-protected (as someone can see a text on a student's phone, or sometimes a parent's phone number is accidentally on file). Refrain from putting FERPA-protected information into a text (e.g., "You have been marked as failing this course") but instead, encourage them to check their email for a communication from you or make an appointment with you.
When composing your text message to multiple students, you will see a choice of sending from a phone number that does or does not allow replies. If the message is purely informational in nature, you may prefer to select "does not allow replies". If you would like your student to respond, select "does allow replies".
Note that some students have opted out of receiving text messages, so any messages sent as texts will still go to their UW-Platteville email address. Encourage students to not opt out of text messaging, as this opts them out of all texts from Navigate, including appointment reminder texts. However, it is then in your best interest to only text when necessary to reduce the numbers of students who opt out due to over-texting.
Viewing Communications
To review communications that were sent to a student, start by searching for them in the main search bar or clicking on their name in any list, report, or search results.
In the tabs across the top of the student's profile, select "Conversations". This will bring up the Email and Text Message Communications menu.
First, please note that the "Status" column will always say "Unread". This should not be used an indication of whether the student has read your email or text message.
Clicking on the "Topic" link for each message will open up the conversation.
This menu defaults to only showing messages sent by an individual person. To see any messages sent through an automatic generation, such as appointment reminders, click the hamburger menu (three horizontal lines) to the right of the "Search in Results" bar, and then select "Clear All Filters and Sorts". Alternatively, you can scroll all the way to the right to the "Type" column, and then clear just that filter to see both Personal and Automatic messages.
Overall Considerations
Remember that while it is important to communicate with our students, they receive many emails and even text messages every day. Ensure that your communications are clear, include action items for students, and do not add to students' overwhelm with communications.
Additionally, be aware of when Navigate is already sending automated communications as parts of larger processes, such as an appointment campaign. Utilize the communications built within those workflows, rather than sending additional emails or text messages.
Need help?
If you have questions, please contact Student Advising and Academic Resources at 608.342.1081 or stars@uwplatt.edu.