UVA McIntire School of Commerce Streamlines and Personalizes User Experiences
The University of Virginia (UVA) McIntire School of Commerce built its reputation by preparing students to become the next generation of business leaders, shaping the global marketplace. Through an integrated curriculum combining technology, corporate collaboration and immersive global learning, McIntire delivers undergraduate and graduate business programs recognized for academic excellence and real-world impact.
Outgrowing the Old Model
To support a growing community and expanding content needs, McIntire relied on a homegrown portal solution, housing thousands of pages of long-form information. As the volume and complexity of content increased, students and staff found it increasingly challenging to locate key resources and answers to important questions quickly. Like many institutions, the school relied heavily on email as its primary communication channel, resulting in crowded inboxes and missed messages.
“Our old portal suffered from too much content — streamlining information became our main priority. We focused on delivering the right content to the right users,” explained Ellie Kates-da Silva, Senior Manager of Marketing Technology at UVA McIntire.
The original portal also offered limited integration with other campus tools and systems, forcing students to switch between multiple platforms and logins to complete everyday tasks. As McIntire continued to evolve its digital strategy, this infrastructure no longer reflected the seamless, modern experience the School strives to provide. With this in mind, the School began exploring solutions to better disseminate information, personalize experiences and strengthen engagement.
From Email Overload to Centralized Hub
UVA McIntire chose Pathify’s Campus Experience Platform (CXP) to power MyMcIntire, a unified digital front door for students, faculty and staff. More than a traditional portal or standalone app, MyMcIntire provides a modern front end — centralizing information, tools and community. End-user experience now sits at the center of the McIntire School’s engagement strategy.
“Pathify gave us a centralized hub for communication and a single pane of glass where we house every tool and resource — all in one place. Now, users access Canvas, email, Handshake, and more from their dashboard,” Kates-da Silva said. This strategic consolidation of tools streamlined the user experience but also increased access to key technologies, amplifying usage across the School’s tech stack.
Personalized Experience for Every User
Pathify Communities sits at the core of the MyMcIntire experience, powering groups with discussion feeds, event capabilities and targeted push notifications. The CXP architecture pulls data from the student information system (SIS), giving students automatic access to cohort and program-specific groups. Additionally, students discover and opt into interest groups to fit their experience. “An undergrad concentrating in Accounting sees different content than a faculty member. Scoping content to different groups makes the experience really powerful — everything stays relevant and easy to find,” Kates-da Silva explained.
Pathify’s deep role-based functionality allows the team to tailor and deploy communications to specific audiences across web and mobile devices, while limiting sitewide announcements to select hub admins. “The balance helps us avoid information overload. Pathify enabled us to rethink our entire communication strategy and leverage roles to reduce and target notifications,” Kates-da Silva noted.
Shared Vision for Change
During implementation, Kates-da Silva and team focused on building trust, ensuring colleagues felt supported through every stage of the rollout. They hosted practice groups, office hours and monthly check-ins with group admins and content authors to secure buy-in and empower confidence in leveraging the platform’s full potential.
The team eventually reached a shared conclusion: effectively reaching students required simplified communication rather than redundant messages sent across the platform and email. “Email became deeply ingrained in our way of working and difficult to remove from legacy processes. However, when we shared feedback with staff and faculty about how students felt overwhelmed with emails, they understood the vision for change,” Kates-da Silva shared.
The new, shared strategy led to meaningful improvements. Students’ ability to find key information and stay informed about important messages increased — outcomes widely celebrated across the community. Staff also gained a more streamlined platform, helping modernize existing manual processes. “Admins no longer need to create their own webpages,” Kates-da Silva said. “Pathify’s native content management tools help save time and engage students with more effective resources.”
Simplified Task Management
MyMcIntire also transformed task management — giving students a clear roadmap to success. “Before, we used a static web page to list student tasks, but it offered no way to track engagement or compliance,” said Kates-da Silva.
“We use tasks heavily during orientation and graduation. Students check things off their list, and we see those updates on the back end,” Kates-da Silva added. Additionally, McIntire tracks completion in real time and downloads detailed reports to identify at-risk students. “It provides granular visibility into student behavior. Instead of guesswork, we strategically re-target students who need help,” Kates-da Silva said.
Results and Impact
McIntire School’s shift to Pathify kicked off a strategic transformation of its student user experience and resulted in notable efficiency gains for staff. “MyMcIntire represented a welcome change for everyone,” remarked Kates-da Silva. “Staff responsible for disseminating information no longer waste time writing long webpages and emails that students ignore. And the user interface proved easy and fun for all our users — students, faculty, staff, and admins.”
The Future of MyMcIntire
The McIntire School plans to deepen personalization with Pathify’s Dashboard Creator, delivering more customized, role-specific experiences. This evolution coincides with a comprehensive School rebrand, during which the team will integrate user feedback to expand features like FAQs and advanced task management. “Leveraging Pathify’s CXP enables us to evolve MyMcIntire over time, matching the innovative, transformative spirit of the school,” Kates-da Silva emphasized.
Ready to streamline your campus experience? Check out Kates-da Silva’s key tips:
- Listen before building — focus groups reveal real problems and friction points.
- Manage change mindfully — building trust and providing training and ongoing support help admins shift away from email-first habits.
- Design with mobile in mind — adopt a mobile-first approach to meet students where they are.
- Send fewer, more targeted messages — strategic segmentation and relevant notifications replace email overload.
- Empower content owners while keeping guardrails — admin roles allow teams to move fast while delegating certain permissions.
About UVA McIntire
- Student Headcount: 1,200+
- Institution Type: Public business school
- Location: Charlottesville, Virginia
- Tech Stack: Oracle PeopleSoft, Canvas
- Technology Consolidated into Pathify: Homegrown student portal
For more than 100 years, UVA McIntire has been committed to delivering a transformational business education that prepares students to become global citizens who can transform business and society. Grounded in research and informed by alumni insights and corporate collaborations, McIntire’s integrated undergraduate and innovative graduate programs provide experience-based learning, adopt and leverage cutting-edge technology, and offer immersive global learning opportunities. Home to seven research centers, with campuses in Charlottesville and Northern Virginia, the Commerce School is consistently recognized for its scholarly excellence, academic experience, and unparalleled alumni network. Learn more at commerce.virginia.edu.