Pathify Customer Story
From Email Fatigue to Empowered Engagement:
An Advising Journey
at St. Petersburg College
Pathify Customer Story
From Email Fatigue to Empowered Engagement:
An Advising Journey at St. Petersburg College
As students embark on their college journey — a phase categorized by growth and self-discovery — the prospect of deciding on a major and career path often feels daunting. Students must contend with the sheer breadth of majors offered, number of clubs, activities and more. Chronic overload begs the question — how should students make well-informed decisions about their time at school?
Enter academic advising.
Critical for student success, persistence and retention, academic advising shapes students’ educational journey and influences institutional success. Leah Deranian, a Career and Academic Advisor at St. Petersburg College (SPC), embraces this responsibility. Leveraging Pathify Communities, she facilitates an engaging, supportive and creative community for students navigating the intricacies of college.
About St. Petersburg College
Founded in 1927 as Florida’s first two-year college, St. Petersburg College (SPC) is nationally recognized for its regional accreditation. A pioneer in offering bachelor’s degrees, SPC provides over 200 programs, developed in collaboration with industry experts for career-focused education. The college’s mission is to empower success and economic mobility through academic excellence and engagement, making access, excellence and robust student support its guiding principles.
From Inbox to Interaction
Working in the SPC Academic Advising office since 2019, Deranian shoulders a caseload of around 1,600 students, many of whom are first-time-in-college (FTIC) students. Before Pathify, she relied on traditional communication methods — primarily phone calls and emails — to keep in touch. “Research shows students succeed when we give them small pieces of information that are timely and frequently delivered. Email couldn’t execute on that,” she explained, referencing the importance of timeliness when students register for courses or when new course sections open. “I wasn’t seeing an ROI on my emails, students weren’t reading them.”
Upon launching Pathify in 2022, SPC created Groups for each campus branch, facilitating location-specific communication and engagement. Frustrated with email’s limitations, Deranian advocated for a Pathify Group to promptly and creatively deliver advising information. “Students immediately interacted in campus-wide groups and I wanted them to have an extension of that experience with me,” she said. “I’m already writing email content. Why not try putting that same content in Groups?”
Engaging the Modern Student
Deranian’s copy-and-paste strategy quickly morphed into specific, creative messaging for her students, leveraging subject lines and eye-catching content as well as scheduled and real-time posts. “Students reacted really well to the Group,” Deranian said. “Of course, I still send them occasional, general emails but the Group is where my big outreach efforts happen.”
Using a PeopleSoft integration, students are automatically enrolled in her advising Group. Admin control features enable her to approve student posts before going live, ensuring content stays relevant and appropriate.
And now she’s iterating even more. “I’m focused on the teachable moments,” she explained, with double-posting one of the strategies. “Now, I’m fielding so many questions that I’ll post two responses. I’ll acknowledge their question, like ‘Okay, I see this, I’m getting you an answer by tomorrow morning.’ And then I’ll respond with the answer, too. Students love that, they feel heard. Their question isn’t sent into the ether, they’re notified that someone’s working on their question,” she added.
Positive role modeling also emerged as an ancillary benefit, causing a ‘snowball effect’ of student engagement, Deranian observed. “One student will ask a question, and other students will comment ‘I have this same question’ or ‘following!’ There’s value in knowing you’re not the only one wondering about something — people have a lot of insecurity about that,” she empathized.
She recalls a student posting in the Group asking for feedback on her My Learning Plan, an SPC tool used in guiding students through course planning and degree requirements. After answering the student’s question in the comments, Deranian received multiple emails and appointment requests from other students asking her to review their My Learning Plan. She points out this engagement is completely student-driven. “These are students I’ve emailed and called numerous times. Students didn’t reach out for help until they saw another student ask for it first. All I did was provide an online space where students can see what others are doing to be successful,” she commented. “You can’t get that experience through email.”
“All I did was provide an online space where students can see what others are doing to be successful. You can’t get that experience through email.”
LEAH DERANIAN
CAREER AND ACADEMIC ADVISOR
Impact in Action
When Deranian reflects on success, two tangible outcomes stand out. Notably, she’s seen an 18% reduction in emails during peak registration, alleviating a significant administrative burden. “In Groups, students get the information they need a lot quicker — I can also respond more quickly — because it doesn’t get buried in an email inbox,” she explained.
With time back, she focuses on at-risk students and metrics driving institutional success. Deranian acknowledges future-term enrollment as another important outcome — the number of enrolled students before the first day represents an early indicator of student commitment and facilitates timely intervention. “One month before the Spring 2022 semester started, 46% of my FTIC caseload had enrolled in classes,” she recalled. “I started my Pathify Group later that year, in August 2022, so for the following Spring 2023 semester, I saw the number jump to 63%. For this upcoming Spring 2024 semester, 76% of my caseload has enrolled in classes a month out — that’s huge when we consider forecasting and at-risk students!”
Deranian also recognizes other institution-wide changes — like a revamped orientation and improved admissions and enrollment processes — in impacting these outcomes, but remains confident in Pathify’s ability to reduce email fatigue and impact student engagement and readiness.
Creating Collaboration & Community
What began as a pilot replacing email communication quickly became widespread adoption and innovation. Out of the 60 total advisors at St. Petersburg College, half actively communicate and engage with their cohorts using Pathify Groups. Recognizing the need for internal collaboration, Deranian is already thinking a step ahead. “On my roadmap is creating an advisors-only Group,” she said, highlighting the ability to share ideas and content. “We all use our Groups a little differently and we don’t need to reinvent the wheel,” she laughed. “It’s also a great team-building opportunity.”
For Deranian, Groups aren’t just another communication channel but a means to build community and a sense of belonging. Students at SPC appreciate the social-media feel of Pathify, an intuitive and comfortable format. “My Pathify Group helps build relationships and that’s incredibly powerful,” she said. “It’s a big deal for my students.”
Tomorrow’s Toolkit
SPC’s Pathify journey remains far from over. Next on the roadmap includes beta-testing Pathify’s AI chatbot prototype (second half of 2024 release) and configuring a student appointment and queuing tool using Flow, with a goal of further enhancing the student experience and streamlining advising processes. Above all, Deranian is optimistic about Pathify’s current and future impact. “The pandemic taught us that we’re only as strong as the technologies we use. That’s why it’s important to think about how we talk with one other and how we build community,” she reflected.
With creativity, innovation and a constant drive for student success, St. Petersburg College creates an environment where students feel connected, comfortable and supported. Deranian’s trailblazing approach fits right in. With Pathify Groups, her students’ experiences become even more dynamic — providing them with the community and resources they need for success.
LEAH DERANIAN
The pandemic taught us that we’re only as strong as the technologies we use. That’s why it’s important to think about how we talk with one other and how we build community.
CAREER AND ACADEMIC ADVISOR
