Ithaca College Embraces Pathify’s Campus Experience Platform
When Casey Kendall, Deputy Chief Information Officer at Ithaca College, meets regularly with the college’s Student Governance Council (SGC), she approaches each topic with a high level of care and detail — if it affects students, it deserves her full focus. “Our meetings give student leaders a chance to discuss campuswide initiatives, service areas or particularly frustrating experiences,” Kendall explained.
When the SGC raised concerns about the college’s digital experience in 2023, Kendall listened carefully. Students described a fragmented, exhausting experience — the college’s link farm offered no mobile component, communications lived across disconnected systems, essential tasks required bouncing between systems with no clear path, and nothing felt intuitive. Students made it clear: They wanted college leadership to consider a new, campuswide platform.
Rather than chasing another front-end solution or temporary fix, Kendall framed the challenge as rebuilding the college’s digital core — ensuring student experience improvements were sustainable, not superficial. The search led the college to Pathify’s Campus Experience Platform (CXP), built around the very idea students sought — a single front door to the entire campus.
The Reality of Fragmentation
For years, Ithaca’s tech stack functioned as a set of disconnected parts. Students toggled between Banner self-service, Canvas, Intercom email announcements, Anthology Engage, and a static page of links with minimal personalization or direction. All of the pieces worked on their own, but not together — and that became the root of the problem. “The result wasn’t just inconvenience — it was lost time, missed information and unequal access to essential resources depending on a student’s familiarity with campus systems,” Kendall said.
With a list of must-haves from the SGC — including a mobile app, centralized communications and a modern look and feel — Ithaca College explored several options, including Ellucian Experience and several standalone mobile apps, but none delivered the adaptability the college needed. “We wanted the freedom of both a web and mobile platform,” Kendall noted. “Other vendors’ UI felt dated, with interfaces and experiences falling short of what our students expected.”
Creating a Single Hub
Through its evaluation, Ithaca prioritized flexibility, longevity and integration — criteria that ultimately aligned best with Pathify’s Campus Experience Platform, Kendall recalled. “The deciding factor came down to the ability to unify everything without ripping out existing systems,” Kendall said. “We didn’t want to completely rebuild our tech stack. We needed a platform bringing it all together — information, communications, resources, services, community.” Pathify also offered the long-term adaptability the college needed — a solution designed to stay evergreen even as core systems evolved.
Making Digital Experience a Shared Responsibility
As implementation unfolded, it became clear the project extended beyond a typical IT initiative. Ithaca’s IT and Marketing Communications teams, already experienced collaborators on the college’s website, brought a similar partnership approach to the rollout: MarCom managed content while IT handled development. “Partnering with Marketing Communications made it easier to engage students,” shared Kendall. “They translated technology changes into real impact for our campus users.”
This structure ensured Pathify wouldn’t become another IT-owned platform, but a shared institutional experience with clear content ownership and technical stewardship. Involving both teams from the start ensured Pathify aligned with Ithaca’s brand, communication strategy and student-centered mission, creating a seamless campus experience across all touchpoints.
Behind the scenes, the initiative benefited from deep technical and cross-functional leadership. Rob Snyder, Director of Analytics and Special IT Projects, played a key role in shaping the technical integration approach, ensuring Pathify could unify systems without disrupting Ithaca’s existing architecture. Lisa Efing-Guida, Digital Experience & Adoption Specialist, and Charlie Wang, UI/UX Designer, partnered closely with student leaders, facilitating and supporting student-led focus groups to ground the platform in real user needs. On the communications side, Jennifer King MacKenzie, Director of Marketing and Internal Communications, led the marketing and communications effort, with Melissa Pittinaro, Executive Director of Marketing Strategy, contributing to the broader strategy that helped translate platform changes into clear, student-centered messaging.
Built to Connect and Evolve
myIC — Ithaca’s Pathify-powered hub — launched during the fall 2025 semester. “Today, students can check grades, schedules, assignments, emails — in one place,” said Kendall. “They can access core academic and campus services, and the tools available in the platform continue to grow.”
Integrations with systems like Banner, Canvas and DegreeWorks eliminated the constant tab-switching that once defined the student experience. “It feels much more cohesive,” Kendall explained. “Students don’t need to think about the system they’re in — they focus on what they need.”
Charting the Next Phase
Looking ahead, Ithaca is expanding engagement beyond current students. During the coming semester, the college will partner with Orientation Leaders to embed myIC into first-year onboarding, recognizing that early digital fluency is critical to helping new students navigate campus systems with confidence from day one. “Student feedback didn’t just inform the platform — it actively shaped how myIC was designed, prioritized and introduced to campus,” said Kendall.
Next on the roadmap: configuring announcements and tasks, followed by deeper integrations and expanded personalization. Rather than treating launch as a finish line, Ithaca views myIC as a living platform — shaped by student feedback, evolving institutional needs and ongoing integration work. The college also plans to explore Pathify’s Parent Hub — a strategic move to reduce administrative burden while giving families easier access to information and content.
Ithaca’s experience reflects a bigger shift across higher education — a move away from scattered tools and disconnected experiences and toward a more connected, intentional ecosystem. With Pathify’s CXP, the college positions itself to meet student expectations today while laying a strong foundation for the years ahead.
About Ithaca College
- Student Headcount: 4,700
- Institution Type: Private college
- Location: Ithaca, New York
- Tech Stack: Ellucian Banner, Canvas, Anthology Engage
- Technology Consolidated into Pathify: Legacy link farm portal
Ithaca College, located in the picturesque town of Ithaca, New York, is renowned for its blend of liberal arts education and professional training. The college boasts an impressive array of programs across its five schools: Communications; Business; Music, Theater, and Dance; Health Sciences and Human Performance; and Humanities and Sciences. Beyond academics, Ithaca College is committed to fostering a vibrant campus community. The college’s location provides a stunning backdrop for a variety of outdoor activities and student life is enriched by a plethora of clubs, organizations and athletic teams. The college’s commitment to inclusivity and sustainability are also central to its mission, preparing graduates to be thoughtful, ethical leaders in a global society. Learn more at ithaca.edu.