From Arrivals to Adventures Abroad
DIS Elevates Student Connections & Culture with Pathify
From Arrivals to Adventures Abroad
DIS Elevates Student Connections & Culture with Pathify
Each semester, over 1,800 students converge on the bustling cities of Copenhagen, Denmark and Stockholm, Sweden, diving into new cultures, routines and ways of life. As a premier study abroad program, DIS – Study Abroad in Scandinavia (DIS) orchestrates truly transformative moments, navigating the complexities of communication, logistics and support to guarantee every student receives a warm welcome and positive adventures.
Since implementing Pathify in 2022, DIS leveraged its mobile app, DIS Navigate, to streamline and organize engagement. Led by Digital Project Manager Korbin Dimmick, the DIS team continues building on its strong foundation, ensuring the platform continually adapts to best serve students. This dedication to improvement drove the enhancement of the pre-departure and on-site arrivals process — elevating student check-in and orientation into highly efficient and personalized experiences.
Pre-Departure Preparation
Pathify delivered strong initial results but Dimmick and his team recognized opportunities for even greater impact through strategic adjustments. Originally, students received instructions to download the Navigate app just 7-10 days before arriving in Scandinavia, creating a hectic transition from other platforms into Navigate — “a confusing and high-pressured onboarding experience for students,” Dimmick described.
As part of the expanded pre-departure orientation and community building, the team now encourages students to download the app up to two months before arriving in Scandinavia, boosting anticipation and building a strong student community while reducing the chaos of unregulated WhatsApp and Facebook groups. With the Navigate platform firmly established as the central hub for communication and community, student connection blossoms earlier and thrives more effectively. “Now, Navigate facilitates the student-to-student connection we’ve always envisioned,” shared Dimmick.
Setting the Tone Upon Touch Down
DIS redesigned its check-in process into an asynchronous, technology-powered experience, simplifying a previously tedious administrative task by incorporating valuable feedback from students and staff. Previously, incoming students faced a lengthy ordeal — arriving in Scandinavia, collecting their luggage, walking to a hotel, sitting in a crowded ballroom and waiting for manual check-in… all before beginning the trek to their housing site. This process kept students jet-lagged and waiting for hours, delaying the start of their study abroad journey, “definitely not the most welcoming or efficient way to kick off the program,” Dimmick admitted.
Now, Navigate enhances and streamlines the check-in experience — the moment students step off the plane, they receive targeted announcements directing them to housing transportation, followed by a simple check-in process upon arrival at their new home. With 46 different housing sites and 10 bus routes scattered across a city like Copenhagen, Navigate alleviates the anxiety of navigating a new city and starting a study abroad journey. “Everything’s now coordinated through the mobile app,” explained Dimmick. “We freed up our staff to focus on the real excitement in welcoming students instead of tedious admin tasks, making the student transition into their new environment much smoother.”
Once students check-in, their status instantly updates DIS’ Student Information System (SIS), eliminating additional steps or delays, while keeping administrators updated in real-time. “We realized we could use Pathify Events for this type of check-in and connect it to our SIS through a custom Flow build,” Dimmick continued. “It’s quick, portable and reassures students they’ve completed their requirements and enabling them to focus on more exciting things like settling into their housing and exploring.” Since implementing this arrival process, complaints about long waits and confusing transportation nearly disappeared, leaving students feeling connected and supported from the moment they land.
Effective Groups, Engaged Students
DIS also refined its Groups, dividing them into two main categories — required, admin-led Groups and optional, student-led Groups, each governed by granular role-based permissions to maintain a well-balanced communication ecosystem. “There’s a very clear hierarchy and organizational structure,” said Dimmick.
Three required, program-level Groups — for each cohort, Navigate updates and housing locations — inform and engage students well before their arrival, creating space for organic connections. “Groups provide a better way to connect in a less formal setting,” Dimmick shared, adding that early engagement “helps get the ball rolling” for pre-arrival learning and connections.
Students also join affinity Groups, such as Students of Color or LGBTQIA+, as well as voluntary, student-run Groups based on common interests like nightlife, skiing or weekend travel. Though informal, these optional Groups undergo careful moderation. “DIS moderators oversee student-generated Groups to ensure posts remain appropriate and within the right channels,” added Dimmick.
With students turning over every semester, DIS faces the unique challenges of building community within a compressed timeframe. “We must quickly and efficiently cultivate connections and a sense of belonging from the moment students join Navigate,” Dimmick noted. This strategic, thoughtful approach empowers DIS to blend standardized, program-related communication with lively, community-driven interactions, driving a stronger and more meaningful abroad experience.
Charting the Next Chapter
The introduction of Navigate over two years ago reflects DIS’ ongoing commitment to innovation and creativity. Initially deployed to reduce email clutter, Navigate continues serving DIS as the central hub for communication and engagement, empowering students to confidently immerse themselves into the study abroad experience.
“Unlike traditional 2- or 4-year institutions, we interact with students for just one semester, demanding a more impactful experience in less time,” said Dimmick. “Effective engagement and information-sharing play a critical role. We use Pathify to keep students engaged and informed during an exciting time in their lives.” As DIS continues refining its student experience, it plans to integrate additional advanced features like Forms and registration tools into Navigate, further extending the app’s functionality. “We’ve achieved significant progress since our initial launch,” Dimmick reflected. “Pathify represents an essential part of our digital student journey.”
About DIS
DIS is a non-profit study abroad foundation established in Denmark in 1959, with locations in Copenhagen and Stockholm. DIS provides semester, year-long and summer programs taught in English and offers high-impact learning experiences for upper-division undergraduate students from distinguished North American colleges and universities. The intellectually challenging curriculum is broad, cutting-edge and enriched by experiential learning components, including faculty-led study tours across Europe. DIS provides students with opportunities for meaningful cultural engagement and personal growth, which is further enriched through housing and extracurricular offerings. Learn more at disabroad.org.
“Effective engagement and information-sharing play a critical role. We use Pathify to keep students engaged and informed during an exciting time in their lives.”
Korbin Dimmick
Digital Project Manager, DIS Study abroad