Slate for Student Success
Slate has a host of features that an individual institution may or may not use. There are many possibilities to explore together! As questions arise, we are doing our best to find answers, share our process and integrate feedback. Below are some of the most frequently asked questions we’ve been receiving. Have others? Submit them here or email budmen@hws.edu.
Have other questions? Submit them here.
For more information Discover Slate here.
Contact Peter Budmen, Director of Student Success and Retention at budmen@hws.edu.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most institutions use some form of student success platform; Starfish and Slate are industry leaders. Colgate University, St. Lawrence University, Ithaca College, Keuka College, and Villanova are just a few of the more than 1,800 colleges and universities using Slate. For HWS, Slate was ultimately chosen for its familiarity, price, and ability to be tailored to meet our campus’s needs.
At launch, nothing new is being collected. The Dock will bring together information from multiple systems to showcase one’s academic progression. This information will be viewable only to those who need it.
Student success is a shared responsibility across the campus community. Many recent initiatives have been introduced to enhance the student experience and strengthen support structures. Slate will help HWS assess and improve these efforts by providing data-informed insights that support reflection, coordination, and continuous improvement.
Access to information in Slate is role-based. Individuals will only be able to view the information necessary to fulfill their responsibilities. This approach aligns with existing permission models already used across campus platforms such as PeopleSoft and Canvas.
Slate is designed to reduce administrative redundancies, such as printing, manually routing forms, and duplicating outreach, by streamlining and automating routine processes. By minimizing time spent on administrative tasks, Slate allows faculty and staff to focus more on meaningful interactions, relationship-building, and the work that directly supports students.
The faculty advisor role will not change. The automation of electronic form submission and streamlined communication between students, faculty, and the Registrar’s office may be the most significant difference. Major declarations, grade change requests, and the like will be documented and completed in Slate. Slate promises to enhance other aspects of your responsibilities as an advisor, such as two-way communication and appointment scheduling within the portal (if that’s of interest).
Slate offers the option to include advising notes if you’d like a decision or topic discussed on the record. For example, tentative plans for major/minor concentration. Ultimately, it is up to the user to determine how they would like to utilize that functionality.
PeopleSoft is expected to serve as the primary source of information for creating and maintaining student records in Slate for Student Success.
Yes. Dashboards, timelines, and views can be customized by role and permission level. These configurations may evolve as the Slate buildout progresses. Ongoing user feedback will be an important part of shaping how Slate functions for different constituencies.
Yes. Slate supports automated event-related communications, including reminders and follow-up messages. Messaging can also be triggered based on specific criteria such as residence status or event attendance.
Permissions in Slate can be configured at a granular level, including down to individual fields and specific users or roles. Data governance and permissioning discussions are already underway and will continue as part of institutional efforts to uphold high standards of privacy and data security. For more information, see the full list of Slate system permissions.
Yes. This is a potential use case for Slate, and there is interest in replicating and streamlining similar business processes across campus to improve the student experience.
Yes. For example, an International Student Checklist or portal could be created and managed by the International Student Success Office to track required materials. Slate supports this functionality; how it is structured will depend on the intended use and workflow.
The team is currently exploring integration options with existing campus systems, including whether APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) are available. Where real-time integration is not possible, data would be updated at regular intervals throughout the day.
Yes. This feature is available for all users.
No. Slate does not use contracted institutional data to train its AI. Slate includes an embedded AI agent to assist with tasks such as content creation, data analysis, and project management.
Key points:
- AI access is controlled, auditable, and role-based.
- Institutions control which users can interact with AI features.
Relevant resources:
These governance decisions, along with broader permission structures, will be part of upcoming institutional conversations as the platform is built out.
Slate has a built-in reminder to clean up the portal annually. This feature, called Database Stewardship and Slate Optimization, walks Slate facilitators through everything from reviewing roles/permissions to archiving old documents and ensuring the platform is ready for the next academic year (see their suggested documentation and checklist here).
Slate offers a variety of accessibility features and regularly releases new updates with additional enhancements. Slate has completed a Voluntary Product Accessibility Template, which grades a platform on its accessibility features. Slate has an AA rating (AAA being the highest).