1.     Why is this happening? (overall purpose)

The University of Georgia seeks to provide higher quality advising, which includes creating easier and more frequent advisor-student interactions through the use of online advising tools and technology.  This project will provide unified, campus-wide advising software that will allow advisors to push messages and reminders to students and help advisors carry out job responsibilities that aid students towards successful degree completion. 

2.     When will the new tool go live?

The new advising tool will officially launch for all students in August 2017.

3.     When will training be offered?

Training for pilot advisors will occur in late January 2017. Communication about available training dates and the ability to register for a training course will be available the first week of January. Pilot colleges will begin using the new tools starting in February 2017.

Training for most campus advisors will take place on various dates starting the week of July 10 through the week of August 7 with the tool officially launching for all students in August 2017. A training schedule will be posted to the SAGE website when it is finalized and advisors will be able to register for training through the Training and Development website.

4.     What will the new tool be called?

The name of the UGA's advising software is SAGE (Student Advising and Guidance Expert).

The name of the project to implement SAGE is Go4UGA.

The tool being implemented is called Starfish and is provided by a software vendor called Hobsons.

5.     What’s happening in the pilot rollout and who is involved?

On-boarding of a select group of advisors participating in our pilot will take place late January through early February 2017. They will be involved in testing the new system with their advisees and working out any issues to help us develop a more finished product for the campus-at-large. On-boarding of the remaining advisors will begin in July 2017 and will officially launch for all students in August 2017.

Pilot schools and colleges include:

•  Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources

•  College of Environment and Design

•  School of Public and International Affairs

•  College of Family and Consumer Sciences

•  Exploratory Center

6.     Who will be using the tool?

 Advisors and their students will be the primary users of the advising software.

7.     Will information from SARA be brought into the new tool?

Yes, notes from SARA (the current Student Advising & Registration Assistant) and advising plans will be uploaded into the new advising tools.

8.     Where will advisors complete advising forms? (New tool versus DegreeWorks Planner)

Advising forms will be completed in DegreeWorks Planner. These advising plans are saved in DegreeWorks Planner. Options for storing this information in the new tool will be covered during training.

9.     How can I integrate the tool with my UGAMail (Outlook) Calendar?

Integrating the tool with the UGAMail (Outlook) Calendar can be done using the calendar sharing feature within your UGAMail Calendar. Instructions to complete this task are included in the training materials section of the SAGE website.

10.   How do advisors request access to SAGE?

An access request should be submitted through the user access system CASIS: https://apps.reg.uga.edu:8743/CASIS. An employee may not request access for his/herself. Each access request must be approved by a DDDS (Dean, Director,  Department Head, or Supervisor) before it will be processed by the Office of the Registrar. You will receive a confirmation email once access has been provisioned.