How Spark works
From campus data to the handful of recommendations on your dashboard — here's what happens behind the scenes, in plain language.
Three steps, every week
Spark reads the signals
Securely and behind your UCInetID login, Spark looks at your Canvas activity and institutional data — like your enrollment, program, and demographic information — to understand where you are in your journey.
It scores your matches
Every resource in the Spark Library carries targeting criteria. Each week, Spark scores all of them against your profile — the more specific a spark's criteria and the better it fits you, the higher it ranks.
You get your resources, known as sparks
Up to four top matches land on your dashboard — each one a clear, actionable next step. React to them, favorite them, and your feedback helps tune what you see next.
What's inside each recommendation
We call each recommendation a "spark" because it's meant to spark you into action. Every spark has the same building blocks:
Want to help other students get connected to resources you found helpful? Peer Educator and mentor roles are open across campus right now.
How a match is made
Spark draws on two sources, scores the library against your profile, and surfaces your top matches.
Why only four, weekly?
A short, focused list beats an overwhelming one. By showing just your top handful each week, Spark keeps recommendations relevant and easy to act on — and there's always something fresh to come back to.
What makes a good match
The best sparks are actionable, timely, and tailored — useful regardless of your background, written in supportive language, and grounded in evidence. Broad, untargeted announcements aren't a fit, by design.
Your data stays protected
Everything runs behind your UCInetID login, and your data is stored securely. We use anonymized aggregate data for analytics and only your own profile to tailor your sparks.
See it with your own data
Log in with your UCInetID and watch your first sparks appear.