University of Wisconsin–Madison

Advising Gateway and Notes

What are Advising Gateway and Notes?

  • Advising Gateway: A UW-Madison web application that allows authorized users to search for and access student information that might be needed when working with students. 
  • Notes (in Advising Gateway): An institution-wide shared notes system housed within the Advising Gateway and used to document the outcomes of student interactions.
If you are a faculty or staff member who needs access to either of these systems, please continue on to the authorization process details below.

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Authorization Process

There are two levels of authorization: Advising Gateway and Notes or Advising Gateway Only. Most staff who can be authorized will require both Advising Gateway and Notes, but there are scenarios where a staff member may only need access to Advising Gateway. The Advising Gateway, and Notes within it, is an official student record system. The accessible data is classified as “Restricted” and is subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If you are not familiar with FERPA or are not aware of your responsibilities related to requesting and being granted access to such a system, we recommend completing the Office of the Registrar’s FERPA training before requesting access. If you require and request access to Advising Gateway and Notes through the Notes 101 Canvas training, you do not need to complete a separate authorization process for Advising Gateway Only. If you are unsure whether you require access or what level of authorization you need, please reach out to Gateway Support.

Advising Gateway and Notes

Who can be authorized to access the Advising Gateway and Notes?
  1. Faculty or staff members who have a work purpose under FERPA to access individual student advising notes for their work are eligible to become authorized to use Advising Gateway and Notes. Authorization is generally limited in scope to roles such as academic advising, career advising, student services, and student affairs.
  2. Notes is not intended for use by instructors for instructional or course-related purposes. Instructors who also have academic or student service responsibilities (ie. Director of Graduate Studies, academic advisor) may be eligible to become Notes users.
  3. Undergraduate student employees are not eligible to become authorized Notes users.
Authorization for Advising Gateway and Notes requires all new users to complete Notes 101, a comprehensive Canvas training course. Completing the course does not guarantee access if you do not meet the above criteria. Final authorization decisions are made by the Institutional Data Steward for Advising and Career Services. Enroll in Notes 101 ⇒

Advising Gateway Only

Who can be authorized to access the Advising Gateway?
  1. Any university employee who has a work purpose under FERPA to access individual student record data for their work is eligible for authorization.
  2. Some employees may require access to student information in the Advising Gateway, but not to individual student interaction notes. Examples include roles like unit office administrators, enrollment management staff who don’t work directly with students, staff managing course enrollment, and human resources staff handling student employment.
  3. The Advising Gateway is not intended for use by instructors for instructional or course-related purposes. Instructors who also have academic or student service responsibilities (ie. Director of Graduate Studies, academic advisor) may be eligible to become Gateway users.
  4. Undergraduate student employees are not eligible for access.
Final authorization decisions are made by the Institutional Data Steward for Advising and Career Services. If you require Notes (in Advising Gateway) for your work, please follow the Advising Gateway and Notes authorization instructions on this page. Request access to Advising Gateway Only ⇒

Notes 101 Training

Faculty or staff members who need access to Advising Gateway and Notes can take the Notes 101 Canvas training at any time. The Notes 101 process includes:
  1. Completing the comprehensive Canvas training course
  2. Passing the Final Quiz with a 90% or higher
  3. Filling out the Authorization Request Form
  4. Receiving a post-authorization email within 4 business days
Enroll in Notes 101
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Faculty or staff members who have a work purpose under FERPA to access individual student advising notes for their work are eligible to become authorized to use Notes. Authorization is generally limited in scope to roles such as academic advising, career advising, student services, and student affairs. Notes is not intended for use by instructors for instructional or course-related purposes. Instructors who have additional academic or student service responsibilities (ie. Director of Graduate Studies, academic advisor) may be eligible to become Notes users. Undergraduate student employees are not eligible to become authorized Notes users. If you are unsure whether you need access to Advising Gateway and Notes, please reach out to Gateway Support.

This training is meant to introduce you to Notes (in Advising Gateway), UW-Madison’s institutional shared notes system. The training will review:
  • Why this system was created and the benefits of a shared notes system
  • Our responsibilities when it comes to the information and data that Notes was built to capture and store
  • A walkthrough of the actual system that demonstrates how to review and write notes
  • An overview of note writing best practices

This is a self-guided training course. It will take around 60 minutes to review and interact with the training content. You can revisit the training at any time.

Prior to taking this training, you will need a foundational knowledge of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). We recommend completing the Office of the Registrar’s FERPA training before beginning Notes 101.

Please reach out to Advising Gateway Support at gateway.oacs@wisc.edu.

Additional Resources