The power of Starfish Connect is its ability to connect faculty, students and staff. Students do not succeed alone and need the help of all oftheir current instructors and the College's Student Support Staff.

Flags, kudos and referrals (plus comments) are seen by all instructors of a student's current enrollment, with the exception of Counseling referrals. Counseling referrals are only viewable by the referring instructor, student, counselor and appropriate student staff.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) gives colleges a lot of flexibility in terms of designating campus officials that can be allowed to see portions of a student's education records. "A school may share education records or information from education records, with anyone it has deemed a 'school official' and has determined to have a 'legitimate educational interest' in that information.” At Community College of Philadelphia, current instructors, faculty advisors, counselors and other appropriate individuals who provide academic outreach have access to student information within Starfish Connect. In the case of counseling referrals, only the referring instructor, the student, Counseling Center and appropriate student support staff can view this information.