Polaris User Guide
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Polaris User Guide
Table of Contents Introduction ……………………………………………..……………………………………………..……… Landing Page - Cadets ………………………….……………………………………………..……… Landing Page - Adults .………………………….……………………………………………..……… Polaris Dashboard …………………………………….……………………………………………..…… PAC Information …………………………………….……………………………………………..………. PAC Lesson Page …….…………………………….……………………………………………..………. PAC Tests & Quizzes …………………………………….……………………………………..………. Legacy Course Information ………………………….……………………………………..……… Magellan & Adult Volunteer Information ……..…………………………………..………
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Polaris User Guide
Introduction National Headquarters is pleased to release our first two Polaris Advancement Courses (PAC), E-1 Seaman Recruit Indoctrination and E-2 Seaman Apprentice. Polaris Advancement Courses for additional rates will be released in the coming months. The PAC for each rate will replace the legacy correspondence courses and (where applicable) advancement exams. When a PAC is released, cadets who have already started a legacy course for that rate will have 60 days to complete the course (and exam, if applicable). PACs include intermediate quizzes and a final summative exam. There are no separate advancement exams associated with PACs. All PAC quizzes require a score of 80% or higher to progress through the course, and a score of 80% on the final exam to pass the entire course. Cadets will automatically be assigned a course based on their rate. Courses are taken online and automatically graded. Scores will be automatically recorded in Magellan within 24 hours of completion on Polaris. We have provided additional information for our adult volunteers regarding the integration of Magellan and Polaris at the end of the document.
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Polaris User Guide
Landing Page - Cadets 1. Navigate to www.seacadets.org and click the LOGIN button at the top right.
2. Login to the Quarterdeck. First time users must select the First Time User? Click here to Register button.
Click here if you are a first time user.
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Polaris User Guide
3. This is a cadet’s Quarterdeck landing page. Here, they can view their service record and ribbon rack. Cadets will click the orange POLARIS button to access all of their advancement exams and courses.
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Polaris User Guide
Landing Page - Adults 1. Navigate to www.seacadets.org and click the LOGIN button at the top right.
2. Login to the Quarterdeck. First time users must select the First Time User? Click here to Register button.  
Click here if you are a first time user.
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Polaris User Guide
3. This is an Adult Volunteer’s Quarterdeck page. You will have access to Homeport, Polaris, and for authorized users, Magellan. Volunteers may also access Darkness to Light, their Web Recordbook, and Ribbon Rack. To access Polaris, please click the Polaris button.  
Click here to access Polaris.
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Polaris User Guide
Polaris Dashboard 1. After you select Polaris on the Quarterdeck Landing Page, you will be directed to the Polaris Dashboard.
Click here to access the course.
2. The Cadet Coursework section shows you what courses you have available or those in which you are enrolled. You will be automatically assigned the courses to which you are eligible based on your current rate. Above the blue Cadet Coursework bar, you can view information on your course progress.
*Note, adult volunteers have access to all PAC and legacy courses available to cadets.
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Polaris User Guide
PAC Information 1. Click the blue Resume course or Start course button to continue with your course.
Click here to start or resume your course.
2. The grey CONTENT section contains all of the required content that is part of the course. When a lesson is completed, you will see a green check mark.
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Polaris User Guide
PAC Lesson Page 1. The top of the page features a basic navigation bar that allows you to scroll back and forth between lessons and access other resources. 2. Below, you will see a Lesson Heading, which will tell you which course and eventually which section and lesson you are currently completing. 3. Below the Lesson Heading you can begin reviewing the content of each lesson. This includes additional reading, resources, and other media. Scroll down to continue reading the course material.
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Polaris User Guide
PAC Tests & Quizzes 1. Every lesson will conclude with one review question that you must answer correctly before you may continue.
2. Be sure to click Completed. Let’s continue. to continue.
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Polaris User Guide
3. PAC intermediate quizzes and final exams may be taken at home. Cadets will be given a generous amount of time to complete all assessments. Units are encouraged to assist cadets who require accommodations. Each section of the course will be followed by a longer assessment of 25 questions. A score of 80% or higher is required to continue.
4. All questions will be answered in a similar fashion. Each course, with the exception of the E-1 Indoctrination will conclude with a longer 75 question advancement exam. A random set of questions will be pulled from a much larger bank.
The minimum passing score for all tests and quizzes is 80%. 12 of 16
Polaris User Guide
Legacy Course Information Not all cadets will be completing the new PACs during the initial release. Many will continue their study through the previous legacy coursework progression. As mentioned previously, legacy correspondence courses are currently in Polaris and will appear as follows. 1. You can access the available Legacy Courses in your Polaris Dashboard.
2. You can access the available Legacy Courses in your Polaris Dashboard.
This is a PDF Copy of the BMR manual. Click to access. Each assignment is a multiple choice assessment.
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Polaris User Guide
3. Assignments serve as the end-of-chapter assessments, which must all be completed.
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Polaris User Guide
Magellan & Adult Volunteer Information The information presented below is for our volunteer's use in administering courses and exams on Polaris, and includes information on how Polaris communicates with Magellan. Cadet Legacy Exams: Any Magellan authorized user can assign a legacy exam if the cadet has finished the respective correspondence courses. (See screenshots below of 2 different scenarios). Polaris will impose an automatic 5 day delay between any retakes.
This means the cadet has not yet registered for Polaris through the Quarterdeck.
Once a cadet has completed their requirements to take the next legacy exam, you may assign it here.
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Polaris User Guide
Volunteer Child Safety and Promotion Requirements: Darkness to Light training is available to all adults from their Quarterdeck landing page.
As stated in the NSCC/NLCC Administration Manual: All adult volunteers must complete the Darkness to light course once per each year of enrollment. This includes AUX, INST, MIDN, and Officers. Midshipmen, instructors, and officers must complete the OMSG within their first year of enrollment. OMSG can be found in Polaris.
Note that to receive Annual Inspection credit for adult volunteers, all new INST, MIDN, and Officers who were enrolled in the USNSCC prior to September 1 of the inspection year are required to have completed the OMSG by December 31. OMSG is auto assigned to adult volunteers, and will appear in the adult courses section if you have not completed it in the past three years. While you are strongly advised to take this course every three years, it is not a requirement. 16 of 16
The Quarterdeck & Polaris FAQs Summary of Questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
What is the Quarterdeck and who can access it? I’m an adult volunteer and I haven’t accessed the Quarterdeck. What should I do? I have cadets in my unit that haven’t accessed the Quarterdeck. What should they do? Once we have access to the Quarterdeck, what will we see? How do units know who has registered for the Quarterdeck and who has not? What if I forgot my username/password? I am an Adult Volunteer and I don’t have a unique email address, what can I do? I am adult volunteer and I have an existing sea cadet email address, but forgot my password, what should I do? 9. I am concerned about my child having an email address. What should I do? 10. How are adult requirements (OMSG, Darkness to Light) assigned? 11. How are correspondence courses assigned for cadets? What about promotion exams? 12. What is a PAC, and what is the status of the BMR? 13. Adult volunteers are classified as “learners” in Polaris, how can they help cadets? 14. Exams are greyed out and are not clickable, what should we do? 15. What if I’ve read through all this but still have questions?
Q.1. What is the Quarterdeck and who can access it? The Quarterdeck is our new single sign-on gateway for Sea Cadet information and resources. By signing through our official website (seacadets.org), you will reach the Quarterdeck and will have access to the USNSCC database (Magellan), learning management system (Polaris) and resource library (Homeport). Most importantly, this is how you will access cadet and adult coursework. If you have not yet accessed the Quarterdeck, please do so as soon as possible. (Please see below for login steps) *Only cadets and active adult volunteers can access the Quarterdeck at this time. Q.2. I’m an adult volunteer and I don’t have access to the Quarterdeck. What should I do? You can access it in two different ways, depending on whether you currently have access to our database, Magellan. If you’re not sure if you have access, check with your chain of command. (For unit leaders, please see Q.5. below, which explains how to check a volunteer’s access to Magellan.) **See below for directions. 1 of 11
A. Adult Volunteers that are already authorized users in Magellan can simply log-in using their existing Magellan username and password. (See highlighted section below). 1) Go to www.seacadets.org and click the “Login� button (see below)
2) Enter your existing Magellan username and password (see highlighted space below)
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B. Adult Volunteers who are not authorized users in Magellan will need to self-register, by clicking on the “First time user? Click here to register” link on the landing page. Note: to self-register and create an account, you must be in active status, have access to your USNSCC ID, and have a unique email address. 1) Go to Seacadets.org and click the “Login” button (see below)
2) Click on the “First time User? Click here to register” link. See below.
*See below for continued directions.
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3) You will then be asked to submit the following information:
4) Once all the information you enter is validated, a login account will be created using the username you provided, and an email will be sent to the email address on file that will enable you to complete the registration process. 5) If your information cannot be validated and you feel the information you entered is correct, contact your Unit CO for assistance.
Q.3. I have cadets in my unit that haven’t accessed Quarterdeck. What should they do? Active cadets need to self-register, following the same steps outlined above (Q.2.B, steps 1-5). Note cadets must have a unique email address in order to register. For parents who are concerned about their cadet’s having an email address, please see Q.8 below.
Q.4. Once we have access to Quarterdeck, what will we see? Example of an Adult Volunteer Dashboard below:
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Example of a Cadet Dashboard:
Q.5 How do units know who has registered for the Quarterdeck and who has not? There are two options for units. a) Units have access to a unit-level report in Magellan entitled “Quarterdeck and Polaris Registration Status�. This report displays the Quarterdeck and Polaris Registration status for all active cadets and adults. (See below.)
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b) In Magellan you can go to the landing page of any adult or cadet to see their Quarterdeck registration status. For example, go to the unit landing page, then click on “adults” or “cadets.” You will see a list of adults, and if you scroll to the “Quarterdeck Registration Status” column on the right, you will see their Quarterdeck registration status. (See images below.)
Registered: Self-registration is complete, got password, logged in to Quarterdeck. Unregistered: They have not filled in the first-time user self-registration form Pending: Filled in the self-registration form, an email was sent to their email address in Magellan, but the adult/cadet has not clicked on it and the password has not been set/reset. From that page, if you “select” an individual adult or cadet, you will see “Quarterdeck Status” summary on the right. This includes if they are registered, when they logged in last, the number of times they logged in, and their credentials.
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For Adults, you can also see if they are a Magellan user:
If you click on the “view” link next to “Credentials,” it will show you their username, so you can help them with that if they forgot it. However if they forgot their password, they need to click the “forgot password” on the Quarterdeck landing page.
Q.6. What if I forgot my username/password? As mentioned in Q.5, the unit chain of command can provide you with your username. Or you can simply go to Seacadets.org and click Login. From there you can choose either of the following links: Forgot Your Password? It will ask for your username, then if it matches an active account, a link will be sent to the email address associated with that account. Forgot Your Username? It will ask your USNSCC ID and Date of Birth and sends an email to the email address on file. Password/username reset will send a link to the email address on file. This password re-set link will expire in 24 hrs.
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Q.7. I am an Adult Volunteer and I don’t have a unique email address, what can I do? Adult volunteers only (this is not available for cadets) may complete this form to receive a unique Sea Cadet email address. SEA CADET EMAIL SIGN UP Q.8. I am adult volunteer and I have an existing sea cadet email address, but forgot my password, what should I do? You can reset your @seacadets.org password using the form below: SEA CADET EMAIL RESET Q.9. I am concerned about my child having an email address. What should I do? Unique Email Address Required of all Members and Parents In order to log in to our new system, each of our cadets, parents, and volunteers must have a unique email address – families cannot share an email address. Parents and cadets must provide their own unique email address. Effective immediately, you will not be able to save a cadet or volunteer profile on Magellan unless that member has a unique email address; cadet email addresses must be different from his or her parents’ email addresses. We appreciate that many parents/guardians may be uncomfortable establishing an email account for their cadets. Gmail and iCloud offer family plan options for emails–this allows parents/guardians to create unique email addresses for children under 13. The following three companies offer products specifically aimed at providing safe email addresses with parental controls for children. • • •
https://tocomail.com/ https://www.zoobuh.com/ https://www.kidsemail.org/index.php
It’s best to keep your cadet’s email account simple and professional with some variation on their name, such as “firstinitial_lastname@url.com”. If those addresses are already taken, avoid adding numbers that include personally identifiable information such as your child’s birthday, birth year, street address, or area code. Instead, try reordering the names and initials until you land on an available username. For cybersecurity reasons, choose a password that is different from other accounts your child may have. Should one online account be compromised, the others will still be secure. Strong passwords include a mix of numbers, letters, and symbols. Make sure to add your email address and your cell phone number as a backup should your child forget their password or get locked out. We also suggest looking into Bark, an email account monitoring system that can alert parents to any worrisome content or dangerous activities. Bark monitors AOL email, Gmail, iCloud email, Outlook, Xfinity email, and Yahoo! Mail for signs of cyberbullying, online predators, adult content, depression, acts of violence, suicidal ideation, and more. Bark will also alert you if your child attempts to create another email address or social media account without your permission.
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Q.10. How are adult requirements (OMSG, Darkness to Light) assigned? The Officer Midshipman Study Guide (OMSG) is auto-assigned to adult volunteers, and will appear in your Polaris dashboard under “Adult Courses� (see image below). New volunteers (Midshipman, Instructors and Officers) are required to take OMSG within their first year. For volunteers that have been with the program for a while, if you haven't completed the OMSG in the past 3 years, we recommend that you do so again because many of our regulations have been updated. As a reminder, adult volunteers in an Auxiliarist role are not required to take the OMSG.
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Darkness to Light training (required annually) is available to adults from their Quarterdeck landing page (it is not inside Polaris, and does not need to be assigned).
Q.11. How are legacy correspondence courses assigned for cadets? What about legacy advancement exams? Coursework: Magellan auto-assigns the next coursework in Polaris by looking at the last course completed by the cadet (record book) Promotion exams: Any adult volunteer that is a Magellan-authorized user can assign an exam, if the cadet has finished the respective correspondence courses. Note: this will allow cadets to complete future coursework irrespective of their rank, so unit leaders should provide cadets with clear instructions and expectations as to when coursework should be completed. Q12. What is a PAC, and what is the status of the BMR? PAC stands for Polaris Advancement Course. Currently these include the E1 and E2 level courses. These courses replace the BMR. The BMR will be decommissioned on December 31. See the Polaris Curriculum Rollout document for more details. Q. 13. Adult volunteers are classified as “learners” in Polaris, how can they help cadets? First, be sure to review the Polaris User’s Guide that includes details on cadet coursework. .
Additionally, the following reports will be useful in providing information on what courses have been completed.
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a) Completed Courses: returns list of Users with their rank, user type, USNCC ID, unit, course, score, status and completion date for all courses for selected Unit and date range. b) Course Completion Counts: returns list of courses along with completed count for selected Unit and date range. Keep in mind, with this newly-automated system, adult volunteers will not be able to see cadet coursework that is “in progress” --only those that are complete. It is important to communicate coursework completion expectations (timing, etc.) with the cadets to help them stay on track. Q. 14. Exams are greyed out and are not clickable, what should we do? Click on the “Resume course” blue button to resume the course. (See image below, left side.)
Q.15. What if I’ve read through all this but still have questions? Please contact your chain of command. Volunteers may also fill out the support form located on the Quarterdeck.
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