This year at orientation, new University of Utah students are being connected with an app designed to support them in graduating on time. 

The Navigate Student app is a one-stop shop for finding information about student resources and scheduling appointments with support services such as student success coaches, career coaches, advisors and peer tutoring. The platform can also be accessed online at navigate.utah.edu or through the Navigate360 tile in CIS. 

The Office of Undergraduate Studies has been using the platform for two semesters to ensure an exceptional educational experience for every student at the U. Through it, student-facing staff, like academic advisors, can schedule appointments, communicate with students, issue alerts and referrals, and track outcomes. 

In a predictive analytics partnership with EAB, Navigate U joins a network of 850 other colleges and universities to engage in broader trends analysis and educational research. Peer universities working with EAB have seen retention increases as high as 12%, and graduate rate increases up to 15%. At over 27,000 appointments created with Navigate U to date, the U is well on the way to seeing returns.

Two semesters into the project, all colleges and schools have been onboarded, and Undergraduate Studies is seeing exponential growth of student-facing staff using Navigate U tools. As more campus units join in, the team learns important use cases for adapting the software to meet student needs. Using data as part of a holistic assessment of the student experience is critical, with Provost Mitzi Montoya noting that “every student at the U is unique, with different experiences, successes, and challenges. Navigate U is a pathway toward targeting their specific needs and helping them succeed.” 

So, how do students feel about Navigate U? Margaret Call, a sophomore double majoring in Geoscience and Geology reports that “it was fairly intuitive and easy to use. It was fast. I used it to meet with my adviser for my second-year appointment.”

Data collection from student use is only one part of Undergraduate Studies’ comprehensive approach to student success and shared services. Simultaneous to the Navigate U rollout, there has been continued growth of Student Success Coaching with InsideTrack as well as an ongoing Truth in Tuition initiative.

T. Chase Hagood, vice provost for student success, has remarked previously that “Undergraduate Studies has identified noticeable growth in student retention that can be attributed, in part, to coaching among students,” he adds that all of the current engagement initiatives are “important tools to empower our students, identify methods for closing gaps in time to completion and graduation rates, and ensure we are always moving forward with a focus on student success.”