Pathify Customer Story
Using the Portal for New Student Orientation
150 Years of Concord
Founded in 1872, Concord University is a public institution that serves 1,800 students in West Virginia. It’s ranked as a top 100 Regional Universities South by U.S. News. The mission of Concord University is to improve the lives of its students and communities, through innovative teaching and learning, intellectual and creative activities, and community service and civic engagement.
Trying Something New
Engaging Prospective Students
With 1,800 students and a cluttered portal, Concord University needed a better way to keep incoming students on track. As summer orientation approached, the Concord team — including Dalton Boggs, Front-End Web Developer and William Allen, Vice President of Enrollment Management — searched for a solution to give students a head start — a place to access schedules, find key resources and get familiar with campus life.
While initially exploring outside, orientation-specific solutions, Concord Admissions and IT teams quickly realized they already had the right solution in their toolkit — their Pathify-powered student portal. With Pathify Groups, orientation became more than just an introduction to campus — it laid the foundation for student success from day one.
Over the Spring 2021 semester, Concord University’s student portal saw a little over 134,000 page views during roughly 54,500 sessions. During the Fall 2021 semester, that number rose to nearly 250,000 page views during more than 105,500 sessions.
Plugging In: A Seamless Start for Students
Bog
Boggs saw the chance to make Groups a powerful communication channel between students and the orientation (admissions and enrollment) teams. Coordinating orientation for hundreds of incoming Concord students required a seamless experience — especially with COVID restrictions capping each session to 30-35 students.
Instead of relying on spreadsheets and emails, Concord streamlined the process by automatically placing students into Roles and private Groups as they registered for orientation in MyConcordU, the university’s Pathify instance. The result? A smoother welcome for every new Concord Mountain Lion.
By centralizing communication, Concord provided students direct access to key university contacts — including enrollment staff and even the Dean of Students — all before setting foot on campus. Instead of waiting for formal, synchronous orientation sessions, students viewed schedules, asked questions and accessed resources, like digital campus bookstore coupons, directly from their orientation Groups.
“If students had questions, they dropped a comment in the Group and an admin responded,” Boggs explained. “If an event changed or a session moved last minute, admissions sent a message notifying a student of the changes.”
William Allen, Concord’s VP of Enrollment Management, highlighted the impact. “Before students arrived on campus, they already engaged with their schedules, financial aid and other important resources. Pathify made it easier for staff to connect with students during orientation because students already plugged in and engaged with resources.”
Putting the Portal in Pockets
Starting college feels overwhelming — new classes, new faces and a new campus to navigate. Concord simplified the transition by meeting students where they spend most of their time — on their phones.
Boggs recognized an opportunity to make the student portal feel less like another clunky system and more like a natural extension of daily student life. With MyConcordU, students found it easy to dive in thanks to its familiar user interface and experience. “The portal feels familiar, like social media,” Boggs commented. “I’d tell people to think of it like LinkedIn or Facebook — but for campus.”
The native mobile app also drove student adoption and comfort. “The portal in their pockets saved us — it’s so convenient for everyone on campus,” added Boggs. “Students explored the portal during orientation, so by the time classes started, they already knew their way around.”
The ease of use and familiarity resulted in increased student user adoption going into the Fall semester. “Students who used the portal during orientation and stayed enrolled at Concord converted at nearly a 1:1 rate as new users,” Boggs noted enthusiastically.
Allen also noticed the difference. “Students felt more confident starting the Fall semester because they knew how to navigate critical systems like Blackboard,” he explained. “Many students still feel anxious about new technology — Pathify made adjusting easier.”
Concord University estimates that portal usage has increased by about 35% since implementing Pathify.
Looking to the Future with Pathify
With orientation groups live in MyConcordU for Concord’s spring semester, both Boggs and Allen view Pathify as a foundation to enhance future orientations.
“We want to make the digital experience as dynamic as the in-person experience to keep students engaged and invested,” Boggs shared. Reflecting on the momentum so far, he added, “The growth potential is huge. Our first semester with Pathify represented a real success and I’m excited to see what we continue creating.”
