Exciting Progress about Enhancing Student Systems

Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to let you know that as part of our ongoing efforts to enhance the academic experience at MIT, we have made a key step towards unifying and streamlining a critical part of our student systems.

This summer, we will begin to implement Stellic, an online platform offering a degree audit tool and a comprehensive student advising and engagement feature for both undergraduate and graduate students.

The platform will…

• provide students with a more proactive and integrated online experience for understanding degree requirements, tracking real-time academic progress, and accessing advising and support resources; and
• give those who work with our students, including department advisors and administrators, Undergraduate Advising Center (UAC) advisors, and the Student Support Services (S^3) and GradSupport teams, a centrally-supported gateway to ease academic institutional processes, improve data integrity, and help demystify degree planning.

By fostering communication and enabling proactive early intervention for both undergraduate and graduate students, our broader goal is to create a more cohesive and efficient support network, empowering MIT students to thrive.

The initial implementation phase for Stellic, running from June 2025 through June 2026, will include the programming of undergraduate General Institute Requirements (GIRs) and a pilot group of undergraduate and graduate level degrees. The remaining degree programs will be added in subsequent phases.

Further, several key offices, including the UAC, Office of Graduate Education (OGE), and S^3 will serve as early adopters of advising functions, such as appointment scheduling, note-taking, and communications. Other student-facing DLCIs will start using Stellic over time.

For those interested, additional details about the history, rationale, and timeline of the project are online.

I want to thank the core project and implementation teams:

• Business co-sponsors
  • Brian Canavan, registrar; Jay Duda, senior associate director for application development at MIT Sloan; Diep “yip” Luu, senior associate dean and director, Undergraduate Advising Center; and Denzil Streete, senior associate dean and director, Office of Graduate Education
• Business co-leads
  • Lauren Pouchak, director of special projects, Office of the Vice Chancellor; and Beverly Turner, associate registrar, operations & technology, Registrar’s Office
• Business and digital transformation lead
  • Renaud Fournier, chief officer, Business & Digital Transformation
• Technical lead
  • Dudley Kirkpatrick, IS&T
• Project manager
  • Jen Donath, project manager, Business & Digital Transformation

In addition to student involvement in the student success component, numerous staff and faculty members from the Registrar's Office, OGE, the UAC, Office of Experiential Learning (OEL), Sloan School of Management, select academic departments, and the Division of Student Life (DSL) have provided critical input and insights on the project.

Expect additional communications in the coming months, as well as invitations to demonstrations and training.

Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Best,
Dave

David L. Darmofal
Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate and Graduate Education
Jerome C. Hunsaker Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics