Messages between students, parents and faculty
Students and their parents message the class teacher and the faculty of each subject the student takes, in a private chat about that student. Faculty answer on the web or in the Campus app, and the principal can read the chats.
PLANSFrom Growth
The problem it solves
- Faculty give their personal numbers to students, and the college has no record of what was said.
- A question to a subject teacher goes into a class WhatsApp group where 60 students see every reply.
- Parents of a first-year student do not know whom to ask about attendance or marks.
- When a complaint about a message reaches the principal, there is nothing to look at.
How it works
- The administrator leaves Parent-Teacher Chat on for the college and adds chat contacts, such as the HOD of Computer Science for that department's students.
- A student opens Messages > Chat in the Campus app and sees whom they can write to. That is the class teacher, the faculty of each subject they take and your contacts.
- The student or a parent writes, with photos or files if needed. The student and the parents share one chat with each faculty member, so everyone sees the same answers.
- The faculty member gets a push message and answers in the app's staff view or from Chat in the back office. Seen shows under a read message.
- A faculty member can also send one message to every family of a section. Each family gets it in its own chat, so replies stay private.
- The principal and education administrators open Master Configuration > Parent Chats to read any chat. Both sides see the line The school can read this chat.
Everything it does
Who chats with whom
- One chat per student and faculty member
- On the student side: the student, where Students Use the Portal is on (the default), and the parents and guardian with a login
- Parents with a view-only login still chat
- On the college side: the faculty in charge of the student's section (shown as Class Teacher). Also the faculty of each subject the student takes, electives included, and your chat contacts
- A person with two roles for the same student appears once, with both titles
- Faculty can write only about students of their own sections, subject groups and contacts
- A parent who gets a login later joins the student's chats by themselves. A person who is no longer a parent or guardian is taken out
Chat contacts
- A staff member with a title shown to students, such as HOD, Computer Science or Exam Cell
- Limited by semesters, class sections or departments, or open to every student of the college
- Only staff with a login can be contacts
Messages
- Text, photos and files; Seen under a read message; an unread count in the app
- Message a class: one message to many families, sent after a confirmation, and it cannot be taken back
- Students without a family member on the app are shown as not reachable
- No group chat for a class and no chat between students or between parents
Oversight
- Principal Can Read Chats: the principal and education administrators read every chat of the college
- Reading is read only: they cannot write in a chat they are not part of
- Both sides are told in the app that the college can read the chat
- A head of department reads only the chats they are part of, for example as a chat contact
Who uses it
StudentMessages the class teacher, subject faculty and college contacts about their studies.
ParentJoins the same chats with a login and writes to the faculty about their ward.
FacultyAnswers students and parents, starts a chat about a student and messages a whole section.
PrincipalReads every chat of the college when oversight is on.
AdministratorSwitches chat and oversight on or off and sets up the chat contacts.
Where you use it
- The Campus app for students and parents: Messages > Chat (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- The Campus app, staff view: Chat with students' families and Message a class
- Web: Chat in the back office's main menu for faculty, and the Family Chat button on the student
- Web: Master Configuration > Parent Chats for the principal, the settings and the chat contacts
- Not on the student portal: students and parents chat in the app only
- Not built: limits on the hours when students and parents may write
What you control
Settings
- Parent-Teacher Chat: on for each college to start with
- Principal Can Read Chats: on to start with
- Students Use the Portal: on to start with; it also puts the student in the chat
- Chat contacts: title, staff member, and limits by semester, section or department
Notifications
- New Chat Message: to the other members of the chat, by push; it goes out at once
Questions
Do faculty have to share their phone numbers?
No. Students and parents write in the Campus app, and faculty answer in the app or on the web. No phone number is shown.Can the principal see what faculty write to students?
Yes, when Principal Can Read Chats is on. The principal and education administrators read every chat without being added to it, and both sides see that the college can read the chat.Can students chat with each other in it?
No. Each chat is between one student's family, including the student, and one member of staff. A message to a section reaches each family in its own chat.Can a student write to the head of department?
Yes, if you add the HOD as a chat contact for that department. The student then sees the HOD with the title you gave.Do parents see the student's chats?
Parents with a login are members of the same chats, so they see the messages with faculty. Turn off the parents' portal access if they should not.Related features
APPS AND PORTALCampus app and web portal for students and parentsStudents sign in to the Campus app or the web portal and act for themselves: attendance, timetable, assignments, results, electives, leave, certificates, placements and fees. Parents get their own login and see the same pages, view only unless you decide otherwise.APPS AND PORTALFaculty view in the appThe faculty view of the Campus app puts the day on the phone: today's lectures and registers, assignments, marks, student leave and exam duties. The same app runs the library counter and the activity instructor's sessions, and each person sees only the pages their role allows.MORE IN THE PRODUCTStaff chatFaculty and office staff message each other inside SmartMy, one to one or in groups they make. Files go with the message, and the conversation stays with the college instead of on personal phones. Students and parents are never part of it.TIMETABLE, ASSIGNMENTS, NOTICESCirculars and noticesWrite a circular once, choose who it is for (students, parents, staff, chosen programmes, batches, sections or departments) and how they are told. It is approved before it goes out, and students read it with its attachments on the portal and in the Campus app.ATTENDANCE AND LEAVESubject-wise attendance registersFaculty mark each period's register on the web or on their phone, starting from all present. Students and parents see the overall percentage, each subject's figure and every absence. Exams can hold back students short of attendance, per subject or overall.ACROSS SMARTMY COLLEGENotificationsSmartMy College tells students, parents, faculty and recruiters when something needs them: an elective window, a fee due, a result, a drive or an offer. Every message also lands in one inbox in the Campus app and on the portal. Each person chooses their channels and their informational messages.
See your own semester run in it.
Tell us how many students you have, which programmes you run, how you hold examinations and how electives are chosen today. We will show you SmartMy College set up that way.