UCIOffice of the Vice Provost for Teaching & LearningOffice of Information TechnologyUCI Compass
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UCI Spark: About the Pilot

What is UCI Spark?

Spark is a new tool built by UCI to connect our students with useful campus resources and opportunities to support their academic journey and success. One of its key features is the Spark Library, which includes an array of campus services meeting needs ranging from academic support to finding a career. Each week, Spark combines information about these resources and institutional student data to curate a selection of targeted opportunities for each student. Students can trust that the resources presented to them in Spark are tailored to them, so they are more likely to take notice.

Spark is in its first year and is still growing and evolving. We are currently expanding our Spark Library, and your services may make great additions that make a difference for our students!

What Spark Can Do for You

Getting students' attention can be hard. Through data-driven tailoring, UCI Spark encourages the students who see its targeted resources to take notice!

Spark can:

  • Cut through the noise of general outreach and ensure that the right students see your opportunities
  • Promote your services at the right time for students to take immediate action
  • Send students directly into your intake pathways
  • Encourage deeper engagement and next steps for students who have visited you before

Anatomy of a Spark

We refer to each resource in the Spark Library as a "spark" because it's meant to spark a student into action.

Each spark has a few key elements:

A spark (resource tile) with the component pieces (category, call to action, description, office, and secondary actions) pointed out.
A spark (resource tile) with the component pieces (category, call to action, description, office, and secondary actions) pointed out.

Matching Sparks to Students

If sending a ZotMail to students is net fishing, we liken Spark to spear fishing. Resources in Spark are carefully targeted so that they reach the students who most need to see them. All sparks in the library include targeting criteria that tell the tool which students they should be presented to. Each week, Spark calculates a matching score for each student against all the sparks in the library and presents up to four top matches. The more specific a spark's criteria, the more likely it is to be shown to the students it matches.

A flowchart describing how data is used to match students to sparks.
A flowchart describing how data is used to match students to sparks.

What Makes a Good Spark?

The following are key attributes of what we consider to be well-crafted sparks:

  1. Actionable: can be easily utilized without personal or environmental barriers to entry
  2. Felicitous: is proactive and timely to the student's circumstances
  3. Tailored: resonates with the student because it aligns with their unique goals and observable environment
  4. Accessible: is useful to the student regardless of their needs, abilities, and learning preferences
  5. Progress Disclosure: encourages curiosity and exploration without feeling overwhelmed
  6. Supportive Language: is affirming, clear, inclusive, and trauma-informed
  7. Evidence-based: improves the chance of return for the student

What Makes a Poor Spark?

Because of the targeted nature of the Spark Library, broad announcements are not a good fit. By ensuring that recommended sparks resonate personally with students, we build trust and earn their attention. While there are many broadly applicable events and causes on campus that are worthy of attention, those that can't be effectively narrowed down to a target group of students who could reasonably be expected to take action are not a good fit for the platform.

Examples of resources and opportunities that aren't a good fit for Spark include:

  • General campus announcements (e.g. "The newly renovated food court is now open, check it out!")
  • Opportunities that can't be targeted and for which there is likely to be narrow interest (e.g. "There's a scholarship opportunity for skydiving enthusiasts.")
  • Calls to an action that a student is likely to have already taken but for which we don't know their status (e.g. "Reminder to pick up your commencement tickets by Friday.")

While there is a large variety of data available for targeting in Spark, there are gaps. There may be some resources that we can't effectively target today but could be targeted in the future with the integration of additional data sources.

How to Request an Addition to the Spark Library

We consider our Spark contributors partners, so the first step is getting in touch. If you have resources that you think could be good inclusions in the Spark Library, please email us at spark-support@uci.edu. We will send you more information and set up a time to discuss how we might best incorporate your resources and services into Spark.

In general, the process looks like this:

  1. An initial meeting to discuss your services and how they might best fit into the Spark Library
  2. Fill out a template that includes crafting your spark's contents and targeting criteria
  3. Work together to refine wording, discuss criteria, and identify any gaps that might be filled through further development of the Spark platform
  4. Once everything looks good, addition of the new spark into the Spark Library
  5. Occasional check-ins to ensure that your contents in the Spark Library are still up-to-date and correct

Questions & Suggestions

We are happy to answer any questions and we are very open to suggestions. Spark is a new and fast evolving tool, and we are eager to engage with the campus to harness the best and brightest ideas. Please don't hesitate to contact us at spark@uci.edu