In the world of higher ed, collaboration means everything. Pathify joined three HESS Consortium institutions in a webinar to discover how they deliver hyper-personalized, one-stop shop digital experiences, keeping students (and employees, parents and alumni!) engaged and on track. Keith Fowlkes, Executive Director and Founder of The HESS Consortium and Annie Ellis, Pathify’s Customer Content Specialist, sat down with Katrina Yeung, Chief Information Officer at Allegheny College, Joe Vande Kieft, Chief Information Officer at Central College and Deborah Lee, Senior Director of Institutional Research & Effectiveness at Concordia University Irvine, diving into the power of digital innovation and how Pathify transforms the ways institutions connect, inform and support their campuses. 

Missed the live event? Watch the recording here — or check out a recap below.

Great Minds Think Otherwise

The session kicked off with Ellis providing an overview of Pathify’s core mission — connecting the entire digital campus experience and the importance of the right technology. Sitting in the middle of the user experience void, Pathify surfaces key information from different tools and platforms so users find whatever they need in one place. Changing the game in higher ed starts with challenging the status quo — and HESS’s partnership with Pathify proves the importance of thinking otherwise. Each panelist shared their own story about the switch to Pathify — Allegheny upgraded to Pathify roughly nine months ago, Concordia University Irvine four years ago and Central College one year ago.

Community and Collaboration

All three institutions work with the HESS consortium, a technology community with experience and expertise for specifically private institutions. Lee emphasized the power of community collaboration, “Even though we’re all in higher education and we might be competitors in some spaces, the focus isn’t about competition when it’s in our world. It’s on helping the success of our campus. How do we support our employees to support our students and student success?” The ability to talk to other institutions about challenges, experiences and honest feedback helped these institutions decide to move to Pathify.

Discovering Pathify

Communication issues, dinosaur portals and link farms led each school to look for other portal solutions.

Key Quotes

  • “We wanted to increase communication with our students. They didn’t read emails… I asked them, ‘How do you want us to communicate with you?’ Their response — I want it to look like social media. One institution in the HESS network brought up Pathify. Pathify really hit the immediate bullseye and we saw a path to continue innovating.” -Katrina Yeung, Allegheny College
  • “We ran an overpriced and badly utilized homegrown portal and a student app from another vendor. One of our developers worked with Heather Meyers, an Account Manager at Pathify. He met her at a conference and started us down the Pathify route.” -Joe Vande Kieft, Central College
  • “Previously, we used SharePoint pages and a link farm, our search for a new portal started out of urgency and transition. We considered signing with a different vendor, but Pathify came up as a recommendation from a similar school. It stood out because of their flexibility and how much the Engagement Hub matched what we needed at the time.” -Deborah Lee, Concordia University Irvine

A True Partnership

When it came to choosing and implementing Pathify, all three institutions agreed Pathify felt more like a partner than a vendor.

Key Quotes

  • “The good relationship with Max, our Account Executive, led us to choose Pathify. He came across straightforward and didn’t try to sell us something we didn’t need at the time.” -Deborah Lee, Concordia University Irvine
  • “It’s more of a partnership than anything. We did not look at other vendors just because of the great sales experience.” -Joe Vande Kieft, Central College
  • “It’s hard to find a great salesperson. I’ve had salespeople ghost me. But, Pathify stayed engaged in the conversation and remained available — just enough to avoid feeling overbearing. Just the right amount of touch.” -Katrina Yeung, Allegheny College

Smooth Implementation Process

After officially signing as a Pathify partner, the implementation and rollout went smoothly and seamlessly (the utmost importance for the Pathify team):

Key Quotes

  • “Very smooth implementation… We signed in July and launched in January. Our trainer did a great job, and working with her led us to understand the campus experience Pathify truly gives. Our engagement numbers in analytics show it’s a really well-used platform on campus.” -Joe Vande Kieft, Central College
  • “Pathify understood we had an aggressive timeline. We devoted our time, and they did too — a true partnership. They understood the pressure, dynamics and politics we struggled with on campus. It became more than a student portal, and it’s been a great experience.” -Deborah Lee, Concordia University Irvine
  • “Allegheny’s implementation felt so easy. The steps came clearly outlined — who handled what, when, where and why. One of the leaders from our student government pretty much built it himself. No IT experience. He just followed the steps Pathify gave us.” -Katrina Yeung, Allegheny College

Data-Informed Decision Making

After smooth implementation and go-live, Yeung, Vande Kieft and Lee leveraged Pathify’s native data and analytics to see how users engaged with their new, sleek portals:

Key Quotes

  • “When I first went into the analytics on Pathify, it felt angelic. I thought, ‘Where’s this been all my life?’ It’s wonderful the way we’re able to drill down into data.” -Joe Vande Kieft, Central College
  • “I’m a big junkie when it comes to analytics, and I’ve given feedback about analytics. Pathify keeps bringing more. I’m very happy.” -Deborah Lee, Concordia University Irvine

Mobile App + Widgets

With Pathify’s fully paired web and mobile instances, students access their portals when walking to class, in between classes, using student ID cards, at the dining hall — anywhere on or off campus. For these HESS institutions, the mobile app became a go-to for everything and a great complement to the web portal.

Key Quotes

  • “Pathify’s digital ID drives students to open up the portal on their phone. Student athletes make up a third of our student body and they’re not carrying wallets with them… The MyCUI app creates community for us, something as simple as an athletic widget telling students and faculty when there are games.” -Deborah Lee, Concordia University Irvine
  • “The best part about the mobile app for us comes from the single pane of glass. The ability to update one place across desktop and mobile instantly became a boon, since our previous, outdated mobile app topped the list of complaints for students. Students appreciate the dining menu on their phone.” -Joe Vande Kieft, Central College
  • “Students always have the portal in their hands. If they need to look anything up or want to know what’s going on across campus, it’s an easy one place to look at all of the calendars and events.” -Katrina Yeung, Allegheny College

From dining hall menus to digital IDs to student feedback, these three HESS Consortium institutions made it clear building better digital communities leads to increased student engagement and a happier campus — all with Pathify leading the charge. Making life easier for students (and staff) doesn’t need to be complicated. Sometimes it just takes the right platform and community to change the game.