How often is the data in Pathways updated?
Data in Pathways is pulled from Pitt’s data warehouse nightly. Any changes made to a student’s record in PeopleSoft will be reflected in Pathways the following day.
Are student reports/notes subject to FERPA?
Yes, any information in Pathways is part of the student’s education record and subject to FERPA.
My advisee list is not correct, what should I do?
The advisee list on the homepage is only showing students who are currently enrolled for the current term. If looking at your full list of students and you are still missing students, check PeopleSoft to make sure those students are assigned to you. Lastly, if a change was made in PeopleSoft, then a daily update needs to take place for the changes to reflect in the platform. If you are still seeing a discrepancy, contact PathwaysHelp@pitt.edu to report the error.
What information will I see about students in Pathways?
That will depend on your role. We have developed roles within Pathways in accordance with the minimum information a university employee would need to know about students in order to accomplish their job. Find more information about these roles and who sees what in Pathways.
What does a student see in Pathways?
Students do not have access to the Pathways site. Instead, students have access to the Navigate Student app, which has a student-centered interface and information.
Can students make appointments with anyone in Pathways?
At this time, this varies depending on the set-up of each individual school/campus/unit/department. It would be best to assume students can only make an appointment with their assigned advisor.
Who is considered an active student in Pathways?
An active student in the platform is a student who was enrolled at Pitt in the past 1 year, is currently enrolled, or is enrolled for a future term.
What is the difference between a note on a student and a report on advising appointment?
A report on advising appointment is used to document interactions with a student, whereas notes should be used to document anything about a student that would be useful for you or another advisor to know. Both reports and notes stay with the student in the platform, therefore when they change majors, their new assigned advisor will be able to view the report on advising appointment.
Reports are more robust in terms of data gathering in terms of length of appointment and for what reason they came in. In contract to reports, you can make the note only viewable to you, however, remember this is still part of the student’s educational record and bound by FERPA.
Does Pathways sync with my calendars?
Yes, Pathways will sync with your Outlook calendar. Any appointments you have on your calendar will show up as a ‘Busy’ time in Pathways which blocks a student from making an appointment with you during that time in the Navigate Student app.
Does a student’s calendar sync?
Not exactly. Pathways does not sync with any student calendar. However, their class schedule as well as any other appointment made within Pathways does come through the system and does show as a conflict when a staff member is trying to make an appointment.
Can a student make an appointment when they have a class?
From the Navigate Student app, the student cannot make an appointment at a time when they have a class. However, an Advisor or Front Desk staff person can make an appointment for a student when they have a class but it does show as a conflict within the system and would need to be manually overridden to schedule that appointment.
If I send an email to a student through Pathways, does it go to their Pitt email?
Yes, any emails you send from Pathways go to the student’s Pitt email, they do not need to sign-in to the platform to retrieve the message.
If I send an email to a student through the Pathways platform and a student replies, where does that go?
Any replies to email messages from the platform will go to your Pitt email as well, no need to sign-in to the platform to retrieve replies to your messages.
If I send a text message to a student through Pathways, where does it go if their cell phone number is incorrect, if they incorrectly listed a landline instead of a cell number, etc.?
If a text message from Pathways fails to be sent to a student, the message will go the student’s Pitt email address instead.
If I send a text message to a student through the Pathways platform and a student replies, where does that go?
Any replies to text messages will go to your Pitt email as well, no need to sign-in to the platform to retrieve replies to your messages. However, if you reply to student text messages within the platform, they will go back to the student as a text message.
If appointments are being scheduled by front desk workers, will those individuals be listed as the ‘Organizer’ of the appointment?
No, the staff member who is leading the appointment will be listed as the ‘Organizer’. Think of ‘Organizer’ more as the appointment facilitator, rather than the individual who originally schedules the appointment.
Is there any way to schedule an appointment with a student during a time they have class, if that class is cancelled for that specific day?
A student cannot override the course conflict, meaning that a student could never schedule an appointment for themselves during a time in which they have classes scheduled. However, staff using the Pathways platform are able to override the course conflicts. Within the Appointment Center, any staff member can click into a time with the staff member on the scheduling grid to schedule the appointment, even if the student has a course conflict.
Is it possible for the Appointment Center to be set as the platform homepage for our front desk workers?
No, it’s not possible for the Appointment Center to be a user’s homepage in the platform.
When I look at the scheduling grid, I see little white space to the side of advisors’ busy blocks and when the scheduler pauses over them in Appointment Center, it shows that the advisor is available to make an appointment even though they are busy. Why is that?
That is because that user is “available” at that time. Gray is “no availability”, white is “has availability” – neither change with appointments or busy blocks overlaying. Front desk staff should avoid scheduling where there are overlaying blocks, however.
Why don’t I see a staff member in Appointment Center that has availability for today?
Staff members who only have Campaign Availability for a day will not show up in the Appointment Center. Only Staff who have either Appointment or Drop-In Availabilities for today will show in the Appointment Center.
Do you have guidance on how to document interactions with students?
Yes! Please see the section called “Documenting Student Interactions” on our Resources page for more information.