Overview
In order to reflect it's new home and role within the Watermark Product Suite, Aviso is being renamed to Watermark Student Success & Engagement (or SS&E for short).
Q&A
Please see below for information on the rationale behind this new name and answers to other frequently-asked questions.
Why is now the right time to do this?
Why did you choose this new name for Aviso?
How did you arrive at this new name?
What is the rollout plan for the new name?
How will I be notified of name changes in the product itself?
Is anything changing about the functionality of my products?
Can we refer to the products as simply "Watermark"?
Do I need to update the documentation I’ve created for Aviso? By when?
Why are you renaming Aviso?
We are renaming Aviso:
- To reflect its home and role within the Watermark Suite and its relationship to our shared philosophy, strategy, and priorities
- To clearly communicate and differentiate its purpose
- To reinforce our commitment to helping you meet your institutional effectiveness and student success needs through an integrated, efficient, and complementary suite of solutions that produce greater value together than each would on its own
When are you renaming Aviso?
We formally announced the decision and new name for Aviso in June 2022, and have already begun to introduce it in public resources, such as our website and communications.
Over the course of Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 we will work to introduce the new name within the product itself. These changes will happen gradually, as we take care to consider the impact of the timing and specifics of each change on students, faculty and staff. We will keep you informed and as timelines are determined, specific changes will be documented here.
Why is now the right time to do this?
We’ve reached an important point organizationally, and in our work with our clients, where it’s become clear that we all stand to gain a lot through the clarity and commitment this product renaming initiative requires and imparts.
Following on efforts in July 2021 to rename our other solutions, we are moving forward this summer to bring Aviso into the fold and reflect its important position with the Suite. Summertime is ideal for a change like this because it gives us all a buffer to work through its implications before the next academic year.
What is Aviso’s new name?
Aviso Enterprise will become Watermark Student Success & Engagement (or SS&E for short).
Aviso Retention is being renamed to Watermark Student Success & Engagement.
Aviso Engage is being renamed to Student Success & Engagement (or SS&E for short).
Aviso Student will become Watermark Student.
Why did you choose this new name for Aviso?
We chose this name because it:
- Crystalizes and clearly articulates this product’s purpose / reason for being
- Reflects points of view we’ve heard from our clients on why the product is useful, and mirrors the language used to describe it
- Communicates our focus for ongoing development
The evolution from Aviso Retention to Watermark Student Success & Engagement (SS&E) is guided by the history and mission of Aviso historically, our vision for this solution within the Watermark family, and, most importantly, core factors of student success: the development of holistic values, career readiness, and skills competency.
Aviso’s new name, Student Success & Engagement, reflects our commitment to - and focus on - delivering a leading solution in more areas of both student success and student engagement.
- “Student Success” is a key priority in all strategic plans and critical to the health and life of a college. We are excited about the potential value our clients stand to gain from the integration of academic and non-academic characteristics data and needs from multiple areas of institutional effectiveness that Watermark serves, including course evaluations, surveys and assessment data, to fully equip faculty and staff so that they can proactively support students and empower them for success.
- “Engagement” is also an important facet of this name because it alludes to where we will take the product in the future. Student engagement is defined and captured in the product with scheduled meetings, direct messages, attendance tracking and other capabilities. Our clients seek more tools to assess and honor student experiences that may not be reflected in academic achievement, such as student affairs, student life, and leadership. We’ll be working alongside client partners to develop a roadmap that expands product functionality, exploring additional engagement modules, co-curricular engagement, badging and micro-credentialing, and student scheduling in the coming years.
How did you arrive at this new name?
We selected the new product name after an iterative and collaborative review of our product’s strategies, core purposes, and relationships to one another. This involved several months of reflection and research, including client focus groups and interviews.
What is the rollout plan for the new name?
When
Following the June 2022 announcement, we’ve worked to share this news more broadly and have started using this name in public resources, like our website and communications.
We are also beginning to incrementally introduce the new name in the product. Please know that we are taking into account the beginning of the academic year as well as other logistical factors as we consider which updates to make when.
We expect the first changes, noted below, to be in place before the start of the Fall 2022 term.
What
These are the first changes users will notice:
- The introduction of a new product logo in the app bar for the faculty and staff product, with language noting the former name of the product as well (i.e., Watermark Student Success & Engagement (formerly Aviso Retention)).
Example of the new product logo in the Watermark app bar, above the primary navigation bar.
2. In Watermark Student (formerly Aviso Student), users will see the Watermark logo replace the reference to Aviso Retention on the splash screen. Users will continue to see their institution's logo as it appears today.
3. The name of the mobile app will be updated to “Watermark Student (Aviso Student)”.
Mockup of the updated Watermark Student (Aviso Student) listing in the app store.
We will display the new and previous names together for roughly 6 months, to help users acclimate and provide a bridge from the old name to the new name.
Workflows and product URLs will not change at this time - they will be updated on an incremental schedule in the future, with plenty of notice to give you time to prepare and adjust.
Eventually we will update the product name everywhere it appears in the product. This will happen gradually, as we take care to consider the impact of this change in each area of the system.
How will I be notified of name changes in the product itself?
When changes are scheduled, they will be introduced as part of our regular product releases and we will communicate with you about each change as it comes, to ensure you’re fully informed and prepared to address questions from your constituents.
With the new names appearing alongside the old names, and no workflows changing, we hope this also reduces any pressure to update your materials / references and you can more easily plan these updates at your convenience.
Is anything changing about the functionality of my products?
No. This name change does not affect the current functionality of your products. However, over the coming months you will see us begin to introduce the new name within the product itself.
Do I have to start using this product name? How should I handle this name change with my faculty and students?
Yes, please begin to use the new names - we’re really excited about the clarity and commitment they impart. We recognize this adjustment will not happen overnight; all we ask is that you do what you can to help us move forward with these new names, and help others acclimate to them, so that eventually we’re all speaking the same language again. For example, please use them when discussing the product with colleagues, and, as time permits, update documentation or websites that you’ve created about these products to support your users.
Can we refer to the products as simply “Watermark?”
Yes, to simplify for faculty, staff and students, you can refer to the products going forward as simply “Watermark’’ and use the specific product name of Watermark Student Success & Engagement, or SS&E for short, when you need to differentiate the use of more than one Watermark product.
The use of “Watermark” also simplifies your documentation, with less dependency on individual product names.
Do I need to update the documentation I’ve created for Aviso? By when?
Yes, we do recommend updating your materials to reflect the new name, especially those your users reference most.
However, please note that the old name will continue to appear alongside the new name for roughly six months after its introduction, to help users acclimate and provide a bridge from the old to the new name. We hope that by introducing the name change incrementally, it will reduce the pressure to update all documentation immediately.
If you are concerned about the volume of updates that need to be made, we recommend prioritizing the highest-visibility screenshots, as well as text-based and verbal product references, in the near term, and holding off on major screenshot updates until we move completely to the new names.
We also recommend adding a short but prominent note to the top of your resources that simply informs readers of the new product name, such as:
As of August 8th, 2022, Aviso Retention is called Watermark Student Success & Engagement.