Concord University Evolves Digital Experiences with Alumni and Chatbot
Concord University Evolves Digital Experiences with Alumni and Chatbot
Quick Summary:
Concord University transformed its “MyConcordU” portal into a comprehensive hub, engaging students from orientation to post-graduation, with key improvements driven by insights from former student and current Front-End Web Developer, Bayleigh Meadows.
The university expanded the portal’s functionality to support alumni, centralizing services like transcript requests and event alerts, and fostering continued connection through features like the All Lions Group and an alumni Instagram widget.
Concord plans to fully launch a GenAI Chatbot in late 2025, replacing their previous chatbot and integrating it into “MyConcordU” to provide customized answers for all users, from current students to alumni, further enhancing ease of navigation and information access.
Three years ago, Bayleigh Meadows studied at Concord University, using “MyConcordU” to access her courses, join clubs and stay informed alongside her peers. Today, she works as Concord’s Front-End Web Developer, maintaining the very system that shaped her college experience — and she remembers exactly what it felt like to be on the other side. After studying Advertising, Graphic Design, Computer Information Systems, Business and Studio Art, Meadows’ curiosity and creativity drove her to improve the portal for the entire campus.
Since inking its contract with Pathify in 2020, Concord University transformed “MyConcordU” from a simple portal into a comprehensive hub serving and engaging students from orientation to graduation and beyond. The portal’s success stems from insider insights like Meadows’ — understanding firsthand how users behave and what they need — and from a commitment to continuously evolving and improving.
Building a Strong Foundation
When Concord launched its portal nearly six years ago, the team received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the ease with which students located information and connected with resources. “I loved the portal as a student,” Meadows recalled. “It was easily navigable and modern. Before Pathify, we didn’t have a single gateway to all our tools, or a good place to connect.” Launching a portal with search functionality felt revolutionary, Meadows added. “We no longer had to hunt around for certain links or tools, we searched and found exactly what we needed.”
With her own experience as a starting point, Meadows brought valuable insight into how her peers used the portal — and where they got stuck. “Outdated information causes frustration for students at any institution,” she emphasized. “With everything in one place, students find information easier.”
What sets Concord apart? A long-term commitment to continuous improvement. Since launch, the team continues implementing new features like Tasks, Directory and quick links, consolidating more tools and streamlining the digital experience. To date, the university has consolidated four major tools under Pathify, including a student portal, campus-wide chatbot, employee intranet and housing assignment app. “With the addition of Tasks, we’ve seen a significant increase in students completing crucial actions in a timely manner. The reminders are relevant to each student’s specific journey and help them understand what’s important,” Meadows added.
Using an annual satisfaction survey, Meadows keeps her finger on the pulse of student needs to make strategic decisions about adding improvements and new features to their roadmap. Five years in, with “MyConcordU” firmly established as a campus staple, Meadows and the team continue pushing forward — constantly looking for opportunities to further elevate the digital experience.
Once a Lion, Always a Lion
Centralizing information and tools boosted support for students, faculty and staff. “But the journey doesn’t end when a student walks across the stage at commencement,” Meadows noted, recalling how clunky and confusing the process of finding information and connecting with campus used to be for former students. Alumni still require services, like transcript order forms, alerts for events like Homecoming and change of address requests. Before expanding “MyConcordU,” this information lived in multiple places, creating confusion and frustration for the university’s most valuable spokespeople. Hosting this content on Concord’s public website sent alumni hunting through pages while clogging traffic — inefficient and cumbersome.
Now, graduates use “MyConcordU” to ensure a smooth transition from student to alumni, keeping them plugged into post-grad life through features like the All Lions Group, where they connect with current staff and students, and the lumni Instagram widget, which delivers real-time campus happenings and news. Whether completing administrative tasks or looking for ways to get involved, “MyConcordU” remains their centralized hub.
Concord’s next phase of growth leverages the platform’s new Hub Experience to build a customized alumni dashboard featuring engagement opportunities and direct links to important tools and content — front and center. “It’s easy to feel disconnected after graduation. Alumni want to network, stay informed on events and find resources. Bringing alumni services into ‘MyConcordU’ represented a natural next step in keeping our entire campus body connected,” Meadows explained. “And I love that my peers and I get to continue using the same portal I did as a student,” she added.
Thousands of alumni log in to the portal during graduation and Homecoming — forming a captive audience eager for targeted, role-based communications highlighting engagement and giving opportunities. With the Alumni module, Concord stands poised to bring all its alumni-focused tools into one place while harnessing an audience who knows and trusts the system.
Consolidate & Evolve
In addition to customized dashboards and deeper alumni engagement, Concord plans to execute a full launch of the GenAI Chatbot in late 2025. After extensive piloting and vetting by their AI committee, Concord replaced their Ocelot chatbot with Pathify’s bot — consolidating yet another tool, extending Concord branding and achieving a 74% budget reduction. “Folding Pathify’s GenAI Chatbot into ‘MyConcordU’ builds on everything we’ve learned about how our users interact with and search for information. The bot extends the ease of navigation and allows us to serve our entire community — alumni, current students and beyond,” explained Meadows.
The Chatbot pulls from existing “MyConcordU” content like FAQs and Pages to provide customized answers for any user, at any stage of their journey. “Whether current students search for their advisor, or alumni request a transcript for a grad school application, our goal is to make finding accurate information as easy and intuitive as possible,” Meadows emphasized. “Layering Chatbot within the portal will only increase that ease and usability.”
While the sleek, centralized experience serves students, faculty, staff and alumni, “MyConcordU” also provides the perfect foundation for even more sophisticated tools and integrations. Meadows and her colleagues ensure the student voice remains the guiding force as the university moves into the future, continually looking for opportunities to strengthen the digital ecosystem and consolidate more systems into their centralized hub. “The opportunity to use ‘MyConcordU’ as a student, staff and hub administrator gives me a holistic view into the platform and all its uses. It’s amazing seeing the response on campus across all of our users, and I’m so excited to see what’s next,” said Meadows.
About Concord University:
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. Learn more at concord.edu.
