Starting Off Right — Orientation at DIS

After searching for solutions capable of providing both a portal and community experience, DIS eventually selected Pathify. The Communities module included the ability for students to message each other plus join relevant groups based on their interest.

Dimmick never expected Pathify to exactly resemble Facebook. But after initial pushback from residents over moving housing groups off a platform they had strong familiarity with, it turns out the Groups didn’t seem as foreign as perceived.

“For residents we work with, that was a comment they kept coming back to,” Dimmick said. “In the back of our mind when we looked, it felt similar in some regards. When I talk to residents I’ve seen at our events, I’ve received more positive feedback about [the Engagement Hub] and that they use it more,” 

DIS also appreciates the user experience Pathify offers with web and mobile parity. Students now receive a similar experience regardless of the device they use and experience a similar UI matching many of the apps they use on a day-to-day basis. 

The institution uses Pathify to drive orientation post-onboarding and creates a single access point for all activities within the student’s program. Each student receives a personalized experience including housing assignments, schedules, facilities tours and more.

During orientation, staff divides the semester population into as many as 40 cohorts and students must attend the housing session aligned with their cohort. DIS undergoes a similar process for facilities tours to help students understand the best way around the city and campus.

It might sound like a lot of organization for something as seemingly mundane as orientation, but it goes a long way towards helping students adjust to a new environment.

“Everything is new to them,” said Esben Lydiksen, Learning Technology Manager at DIS. “We want to simplify the process so they know where to go so the app has definitely been helpful.”

Despite so many distinct processes, the Engagement Hub reliably gets students where they need to go at the right time. Studying abroad includes several stressors built-in. The last thing students need is an unreliable platform.

With an institution dependent on the Student Portal for part of its orientation, uptime makes a significant difference to helping students adjust to life abroad. The institution finds students who go through a successful orientation tend to have a smoother semester, making uptime an important factor to Pathify’s success.

“I think that’s such a basic phrase to say it works, but it has a big impact in that we’re not worried about people not getting notifications or worried about people missing things,” Dimmick said. “It takes a huge weight off of our shoulders to be sure people are using this platform because they know it works. They trust it.”