About

Pathways is a coordinated effort led by faculty, staff and academic leadership to utilize the Education Advisory Board’s (EAB) Student Success Collaborative platform coupled with a predictive analytics platform from Othot. Pathways has a major impact on the work Pitt can do to support undergraduate students from initial enrollment to graduation. By combining technology, best practice research and predictive analytics, Pathways helps Pitt leverage data and manage advising and academic support resources to increase retention and graduation rates for students.

Pitt launched the pilot for Pathways in fall 2018 with incoming freshmen classes in the School of Nursing and the Swanson School of Engineering. Additional features were released in subsequent semesters, and expanded to all undergraduate advisor populations on the Pittsburgh and Regional campuses.    

Pathways enables Pitt to improve student outcomes in the short term (e.g., retention and persistence to graduation for undergraduate students) so that our graduates will lead lives of impact after graduating from Pitt. Other benefits of Pathways include:

• Visibility into student risk. With real-time, in-semester data on student behavior, Pathways enables Pitt to identify levels of student risk based on patterns of course-taking and achievement. Pitt is able to focus, coordinate, and integrate student support and help students make good decisions—before they may even realize they need help.
• Quick access. Critical information and an intuitive interface saves faculty and advisors time, allowing them to quickly address the problem at hand.
• More effective advising. The system’s data alerts and problem identification prompt meaningful conversations with students and encourage follow-through.
• Improved utilization of support services. The system provides guidance for students to the appropriate support services— such as tutoring, financial aid, or career counseling—which can sometimes be difficult to navigate.
• Scheduling.  A simple-to-use interface allows students to streamline scheduling appointments with advisors.  
• Referrals.  A robust referral system makes it easy for advisors and instructors to provide wraparound service and support.