Help > Navigate MyVWCC

Access the Message Center

To access the Message Center, you must be logged into MyVWCC and inside the Student Information System.

Click on your Student Information tile.
From your Student Center page, find the Message Center link near the top.

Access the Student Center

To access the student center, you must be logged in to MyVWCC and in your SIS application. Once you log in to MyVWCC, your screen will look like one of the screens below. You can change your view using the icons beneath “My Applications” on the upper left of the screen.

list view of myvwcc applications — **List view of MyVWCC Applications**

tile view of myvwcc applications — **Tile View of MyVWCC Applications**

To launch SIS from the list view, click on SIS and then click the Launch button to the right. To launch SIS from the tile view, click the SIS tile.

To Access the Student Center

Once you launch your SIS application, select the My Student Information tile on the left. This will open your Student Center.
The Student Center is selected by default and includes Academics, Finances, and Personally Information sections that can be collapsed or expanded with the arrow next to each title. You can choose other important navigations on the left-hand side of the window.

Add a Note to a Student’s Folder

Notes in SAILS do not prompt any sort of college response and are not emailed to the student. Shared Notes should be used for informational items related to a student’s academic success that do not currently require intervention, but may be useful to an advisor.

To add a note to a student’s folder in SAILS, you must be logged into MyVWCC and have clicked the SAILS icon to enter SAILS.

In the upper left-hand corner, click the Students tab.
Here you can search for a student by Name or Connection. Searching by Connection allows you to view a group of students based on your relationship with them in SAILS (ex: a list of students in your course or a list of assigned advisees).
Select the student(s) for which you would like to record a Note, and then click the Note button above the search box.
Use the drop-down menu to select a Note Type (General or Academic Advising) and add your Note in the text box. You can email a copy of the note to yourself and/or the student by selecting the appropriate boxes.
To save the note, click Submit. The note will be saved in the student’s folder. Note: Only shared notes can be viewed by faculty and staff that have a relationship with the student. Private notes cannot be viewed.

MyVWCC Advanced Password Reset Tool

If you do not know your MyVWCC username, you will need to use the Advanced Password Reset Tool to look it up.

Go to MyVWCC (https://vw.my.vccs.edu).
Below the Sign In button, click the Forgot Username link.
In the Password Reset box, click the checkbox next to “I’m not a robot”. Some users will be prompted with an image selector. You should select the images requested and then click Verify. When the process is completed successfully, click the Continue button.
Enter your name, date of birth, and either your Emplid (Student ID Number) or SSN (Social Security Number) and click Next.
If the information you enter conflicts with existing information in the Student Information System, you will receive a message instructing you to contact the Help Desk for assistance.
If the information you enter matches the information in the Student Information System, you will receive a message with your username and the option to either log in or reset your password. If you need to reset your password, click the radio button next to “I do not know my password. I would like to reset it now.” and click Next.
You will see the following screen if an alternate email (an email address that isn’t @email.vccs.edu) and/or a phone number are listed for you in SIS.
Choose the option by which you wish to receive your temporary password. If you are choosing the SMS (text message) option, please use the dropdown to select your phone provider. Click the Send option for the method you choose.
- Note: If the email address(es) or phone number(s) presented are not valid options, you should contact the Help Desk for assistance.
- Note: If no alternative email address or phone number exist in SIS, you will need to Verify Your Identity.
You will be sent a temporary password via your chosen method. This password is valid for 30 minutes, so you should log in right away in order to change it.

Reports for Student Advisement

By using the ADV report, students and advisors can assess academic progress towards graduation. Students and advisors can also run what-if reports to simulate a different academic plan and the student’s progress towards that plan.

To create either of these reports, you must be logged into MyVWCC and inside the Student Information System. Click the Advisor Center link.

Creating an ADV Report

On the my advisees screen, click the View Student Details link located to the right of the student’s ID number.
1. An ADV can be run for a student who is not your advisee by clicking the button. You will need the student’s ID number.
On the Student Details screen, click the other academic… dropdown and select Academic Requirements. Click the button.
The advisee’s requirements (ADV Report) will be displayed. To print the ADV report, click View Report as PDF.

Creating a What-If Report

On the my advisees screen, click the View Student Details link located to the right of the student’s ID number.
1. A What-If Report can be run for a student who is not your advisee by clicking the button. You will need the student’s ID number.
On the Student Details screen, click the other academic… dropdown and select What-if Report. Click the button.
On the What-If Report screen, click the Create New Report button.
Under Career Scenario, select the Institution, Career, and Catalog Year.
Under Program Scenario, select the Academic Program of Curricular. Use the Area of Study drop-down menu to select the plan for the What-if Report. Note: Only plan descriptions are displayed for selection on the Area of Study drop-down. This may be confusing if you have an associate degree plan that is named the same as a certificate or career studies plan (ex: Culinary Arts).
Click the Submit Request button at the bottom of the screen. The What-if Report will be displayed. To print the report, click View Report as PDF.

Setting Which Phone Number to use for Advising

Students that are assigned to a faculty advisor in SIS are able to see their advisor’s name, preferred phone number, and email via the Student Center. Because of this, it is important to be sure that your Preferred Phone Type in SIS is the Business Phone Type.

To change your preferred phone type, you must be logged into MyVWCC and inside the Student Information System.

In the Student Center, click the Main Phone link under Personal Information.
On the Phone Numbers page, make sure the Preferred checkbox for the Business phone type is checked, then click Save.

Contacting Your Advisees

Advisors can use the Advisor Center to contact their advisees via email. To view the Advisor Center, you must be logged into MyVWCC and inside the Student Information System. Click the Advisor Center link.

Click my advisees. This screen will display the advisees assigned to you.
To notify individual advisees, click the Notify checkbox to the left of the advisee’s name and then click the notify selected advisees button (). If you wish to notify all of your advisees, click the notify all advisees button ().
The Send Notification page will be displayed. Use this page to enter the information you wish to send.
When you are finished, click the Send Notification button ().

Advisor Assignments

How do Advisees Get Assigned?

New students are assigned an advisor when they apply to the college for a program of study. Currently enrolled students with undeclared majors are assigned a faculty advisor once they declare a program of study. Advisor assignments are made by a nightly program that assigns advisors to students based on their major and who are currently enrolled and who do not have an existing advisor.

I Have Too Many Advisees!

When looking at your list of advisees, it may appear that you have a large number of them, but keep in mind that not all of those are enrolled. Although the advisee is assigned to you that doesn’t mean that the advisee is enrolled. The advisee stays on the advisor’s list of advisees until they are no longer active or they change their plan of study or graduate.

I Don’t Have Any Advisees!

For the health tech plans (like 156), the advisor is assigned when the student changes from the 156-01 (pre-admission) to the actual plan 156 and enrolls in classes. Returning nursing students will already have an advisor and new nursing students are assigned the advisor when their plan changes. Depending on when you were hired in this cycle, you may not have any advisees until the new nursing students are admitted for the next fall semester or if one of the current health tech advisors leaves Virginia Western employment.

Not having any advisees does not prevent you from meeting with and advising students.

Student’s assigned advisors can be found on the Student’s Student Center page within the Student Information System (SIS).

About the Advisor Center

The Advisor Center presents advising faculty with a limited view of the advisee’s Student Center page. Additionally, advising faculty will have access to the student’s general information, transfer credit, and academics. Documentation on how to run an Advisement Report (ADV) and What If Report can be found on the Reports for Student Advisement page.

Note: Adjunct faculty do not have access to the Advisor Center.

Advisor Center Pages

To view the Advisor Center, you must be logged into MyVWCC and inside the Student Information System. Click the Advisor Center link.

My Advisees Page

The my advisees page displays the advisees assigned to the advisor in SIS. Advisors may also use the View Data for Other Students button () to access data for students not assigned to the advisor.

Field Descriptions

Notify: Check this box to send an email notification to the advisee.
Name: Advisee’s name from Bio-Demo data.
ID: Advisee’s Student ID.
View Student Details: Click this link to access the data available to advisors.
Notify selected advisees: Allows an email to be sent to the advisees with a check mark in the Notify column.
Notify all advisees: Allows an email to be sent to all advisees assigned to the advisor.
: Click this button to search for the ID of an advisee that is not currently assigned to the advisor in SIS.

View Student Details

This link takes the advisor to a limited view of the advisee’s Student Center. Notice that tabs are also available for General Info, Transfer Credit, and Academics. This link is also used to access the page for creating a student’s ADV report. Each will be detailed below.

Note: The same student information is available when using . If using this option, you will need the student’s ID number.