Driving Engagement with Pathify
With deep experience across business management and student development, Scott McGowan focuses on driving adoption and engagement as Pathify’s Manager of Account Management. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Science from Point Loma Nazarene University and a Master of Advanced Studies in International Public Policy from UC San Diego. When Scott isn’t busy streamlining digital student experiences, he loves taking his family on sunny adventures all over San Diego, especially to America’s Most Scenic Ballpark.
Scott actively drives students toward impactful real-life connections, developing them into transformative leaders. We sat down to hear his insights on championing engagement at Point Loma Nazarene University and his efforts to maximize impact for Pathify’s partners.
Pathify: Can you start by telling me a bit about yourself and how you made your way to Pathify?
Scott McGowan (SM): I live in San Diego with my wife, Danielle, and my two beautiful littles. Both of us work in account management, and it’s a ton of fun for us to connect over our similar work. Before Pathify, I worked at my alma mater, Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU), developing next-generation student leaders. Before that I traveled across the country working in business management, finance and real estate. After returning to California to complete my graduate degree at the University of California San Diego in Policy and Strategy, I brought my experience from PLNU to Pathify.
Pathify: Your past professional and educational experiences directly align with your work at Pathify. What key lessons stand out, and how do they inform your work?
SM: My graduate capstone project revolved around the diffusion of innovation — studying how new ideas and technology gain traction. I worked with a startup in San Diego to strategize ways to push their product toward critical mass adoption — I often think about that experience while helping Pathify partners drive adoption at their institutions. Typically, an innovative cohort kicks things off, followed by a group of early adopters, but the next segment ultimately determines whether adoption reaches a tipping point.
Pathify: What was it like as an early adopter and champion for Pathify at PLNU? Tell me about some of the challenges and successes.
SM: When I arrived at PLNU, I pushed hard for a more dynamic and engaging tool to help students navigate their college experience. Pathify stood out as a true partner — not just a vendor selling us a product. We tried two different solutions prior to Pathify, but neither met our critical needs. When we reevaluated the market, Pathify became the clear choice. It delivered on its promises — and more.
Part of my role involved garnering adoption from all stakeholders. When we talk about adoption we primarily think about students, but gaining buy-in from the primary audience isn’t enough — staff and faculty must also align. The more they use the Engagement Hub and build useful content, the more students engage, adopt and use it. Our implementation felt highly collaborative and simple — simplicity became essential as I championed adoption and worked to effectively change people’s behavior.
I prioritized bringing student leaders into the vision, giving them responsibility to use the tools, encourage fellow students and manage their own Groups. The product is intuitive — I showed a mockup or demo to a student before we launched, and they understood it within seconds. Within minutes, they built an experience for their group or club — they immediately recognized the value of Communities and its impact on campus culture.
Pathify: Adoption is clearly crucial to maximizing the impact of Pathify’s Engagement Hub. What other higher ed challenges drive your passion?
SM: I’m passionate about recapturing student attention and reopening student imagination. Pathify helps institutions shift student attention back to real-life communities and experiences. Attention remains the most precious resource — everyone fights to capture it. As an administrator and a formational leader at Point Loma, Pathify became the best tool I found for tackling the problem — getting students to join clubs, go to events and eat in the cafeteria. Higher ed shapes students into visionary, thriving individuals, but success depends on tools that compete for attention and drive real engagement. Students who orient their lives around genuine connections become the next generation’s transformative leaders. The Pathify Engagement Hub enables institutions to design experiences in ways that truly and authentically engages students face to face.
Pathify: How should institutions think about driving engagement? What’s your advice for increasing adoption on campus?
SM: At PLNU, we focused on a few key steps. First, we assigned every club a group and admin, making the portal their sole communication platform. We brought student government along to share the vision with other students. My advice is to identify key functions to set up in the portal or mobile app to drive students there while simplifying access to information. Once inside, the ease of Tasks and Communities inspires users to build events and calendars in the portal. Additionally, engaging stakeholders from student development, communications and other departments also plays a crucial role. Mid-level managers working directly with students understand their challenges and rally support for positive change — enabling adoption to happen from the bottom up.
Pathify: What upcoming Pathify developments excite you the most?
SM: I’m most excited about Pathify’s GenAI chatbot for our partners. It pulls information together from connected providers including the Student Information System (SIS) and Learning Management System (LMS), as well as FAQs, resources and other portal content, bringing student support to the next level and enabling teams to do more with less. In addition to the chatbot, Communities serve as the magic sauce. Groups and Events engage students and create spaces students want to repeatedly return to.
I want to help all our customers unlock the full potential of the portal, reducing the tech burden for students, staff and faculty to more freely explore, think and grow. I’m excited to continue meeting with our existing customers, building relationships and helping my team open up the full value of our platform for them. My experience as a Pathify customer helps me bring valuable insights to our Account Management team — maximizing value in an incredibly complex higher ed environment.
Pathify: One last question. You mentioned the importance of real-life connection and engagement. How does partnering with Pathify create real-world impact on campus?
SM: I’ve seen all the solutions in the market and used four of them, including a homegrown portal. Pathify stands out as the most impactful and future-focused engagement platform. With a constant battle for student attention, Pathify helps institutions stay competitive. Partnering with Pathify means the difference between a student getting bogged down and disengaging, or confidently finding the resources and connections helping them thrive on campus and beyond.
