Unicon Announces Expanded Services and Support for the Student Success Plan 2.0 Featuring My Academic Plan Tool
Gilbert, AZ (PRWEB) September 16, 2013 -- Unicon, Inc., a leading IT consulting services and support provider specializing in open source for the education technology market, today announced that it will expand its services and support for new features and tools in the Student Success Plan’s (SSP) newest release, SSP 2.0, featuring My Academic Plan (MAP). A project of the Apereo Foundation, SSP includes case management software that supports a holistic coaching and counseling model for improving retention, academic performance, persistence, time to degree, and graduation rates.
SSP 2.0 brings many exciting new features to the SSP toolset, primarily MAP, a new tool for academic advising. The release also incorporates more student-specific information available from the SIS to assist in the coaching process, ability to upload student documents, and additional reports.
“With the release of SSP 2.0, the project continues to innovate, adding critical features to improve student success and completion. The introduction of the academic advising tool, MAP, combined with the existing SSP features, gives institutions powerful IPAS (Integrated, Planning, and Advising Systems) capabilities in a single platform,” said Russ Little, SSP Project Director. “Unicon has been an instrumental partner in the successful deployment of SSP, and they have the resources and experience to implement and support the new MAP features at the same level we have grown to trust.”
MAP is a student advising process that combines the characteristics of prescriptive academic advising with the strengths of technology-supported record keeping. MAP provides students with accessible, specific, long-range, and accurate plans for the completion of their academic goals. These plans guide the student's course selection term-by-term. The documentation of the plan by the advisor lets the student make sure they are deciding on course selections that are in their best interest at the time of registration. These decisions help maintain the student’s pursuit of academic goals.
MAP provides flexibility for the student and counselor to tailor the student’s academic plan for alignment of academic and personal goals. MAP allows the institution to load departmental templates that provide the foundation when tailoring degree plans for the individual student. MAP is an important step in the counseling process for the student and advisor to have a shared understanding of the pathway to completion to achieve the student’s academic goals.
Turning the MAP from a template into a unique plan requires the advisor to listen to a student’s interests and scheduling needs and incorporate them into the student’s individualized learning plan in a way a student sees as achievable. Ultimately, the MAP Tool provides structure around the way the college documents and communicates an individual student’s path to success.
To learn more about SSP and MAP, please visit http://www.studentsuccessplan.org.
About Unicon
Unicon, Inc. is a leading provider of IT consulting services and support for education technology and works with institutions and organizations to find solutions to meet business challenges. Unicon specializes in using open source technologies to deliver flexible and cost-effective systems in the areas of identity and access management, student success and retention, mobile computing, learning management systems, portals, online video, calendaring, email, and collaboration. Unicon is a Commercial Affiliate of the Apereo Foundation; an InCommon Affiliate and Participant; an Industry Member of Internet2; a VMware Partner and authorized Solution Provider; a Solution Partner of Kaltura; and a Services Partner and reseller of Liferay and Zimbra. For more information, visit: http://www.unicon.net.
# # #
Unicon is a Registered Trademark of Unicon, Inc. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners.
Jim Layne, Unicon, http://www.unicon.net, 480-558-2400, [email protected]
Share this article