Los Angeles Pacific University Reboots Online Campus Experiences
At a fully online institution like Los Angeles Pacific University (LAPU), every interaction and touchpoint — from advising appointments to community gatherings — happens digitally. There’s no student union or campus quad, and the digital experience isn’t just a supplement to student life — it is student life.
Daniel Terrones, Director of Information Technology at LAPU, spent years investigating ways to strengthen the university’s digital experience. “We wanted to ensure our student experience remained simple and reflected students’ consumer experiences,” he explained. Administrators felt the friction too — from growing student support demands to inconsistent web and mobile access, it became clear existing tools failed to keep up.
Culture Meets Capabilities
The university set out to find a solution for their primary challenges — to provide web/mobile parity, streamline access to information in a fully online environment and facilitate community with built-in groups and messaging. “We ran into limits trying to simplify the user experience while managing systems independently,” said Terrones. “We needed to consolidate the experience and bring everything into a single platform.”
LAPU’s search for a new solution included evaluating its incumbent mobile app provider, Pathify and one other vendor, but Pathify quickly emerged as the standout. “Pathify came to every conversation prepared in a way other vendors weren’t,” Terrones noted. “Their level of preparation showed us the kind of culture we’d join — thoughtful, responsive and student-centered.”
Beyond people and culture, Pathify checked the usability and overhead boxes. “Pathify’s UI feels clean, intuitive and modern,” Terrones explained. “The Engagement Hub required far less overhead and administrative effort to manage.”
Positive Feedback, Immediate Impact
The team moved quickly to implement the new “myLAPU,” the university’s Pathify-powered portal, involving various university business units to roll out the experience. “Launching Pathify involved the entire university. Nearly every business unit contributed in some way,” Terrones said.
Terrones also stood firm in believing students shouldn’t need training to navigate a portal — the experience must feel intuitive from the start. To ensure the new platform exceeded expectations, LAPU launched a beta program over the summer with two testing groups — a student cohort and a student/staff cohort — to gather immediate feedback. The response proved overwhelmingly positive, with users describing the new “myLAPU” as “clean and visually appealing,” “simple,” “welcoming,” and “modern and accessible.” “We’re not used to getting positive feedback during a beta test,” Terrones laughed. “It’s very rewarding. We used feedback to identify what’s most important to users and to bring those elements front and center,” he added.
Powering Progress
Terrones and his team continue testing the limits of how a fully online institution delivers exceptional student experiences. “Our focus remains on increasing engagement and, ultimately, increasing persistence,” he shared. “By focusing communication through one platform, we see the new ‘myLAPU’ as a way to power that initiative.”
Through streamlined access and a design approach rooted in feedback, LAPU strengthened its digital campus to feel both personal and purposeful. With “myLAPU,” the university moves confidently into the future, backed by technology reflecting thoughtful planning and execution and a deep commitment to student success.
The university launched “myLAPU,” their Pathify instance, in summer 2025.
About Los Angeles Pacific University
- Student Headcount: 2,036
- Institution Type: Private university
- Location: Online
- Tech Stack:
- SIS: Jenzabar One
- LMS: D2L, Moodle
- Productivity: Google
- CRM: Salesforce
- Technology Consolidated into Pathify: Third-party Chatbot, mobile app, SIS-packaged student portal
Los Angeles Pacific University (LAPU) is an accredited online Christian university offering associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees designed for today’s busy adults. As part of a 120+ year legacy rooted in Azusa Pacific University, LAPU blends academic excellence with a strong faith-based mission. The university focuses on accessibility, affordability and real-world relevance, equipping students to make a meaningful impact. Learn more at lapu.edu.
