First Phase of Journey UMass Underway

Chancellor Javier Reyes sent the email message below to campus leadership on May 23 to announce the launch of Journey UMass, the university’s new student-engagement portal. Look for more information regarding Journey UMass in the weeks ahead.
 

Dear Campus Leadership,

I am pleased to share that the first phase of Journey UMass—our transformational vision to align every facet of the student experience through a mobile-ready, student-centric, all-inclusive student engagement portal—has commenced. As you may recall, a project in this initiative began in March; a small team of student-experience managers, advisors, and technologists worked together to conduct ethnographic research with students to inform an initial student engagement portal prototype.

In June, Chief Relationship Officer Chris Pilsner will start meeting with your respective teams to share this prototype as a springboard to iterate and improve. She will also convene a cross-functional team comprised of representatives from each undergraduate school and college, academic affairs, student affairs, IT, and other student-facing services to kick off the next phase of this initiative: discovering, mapping, and coordinating administrative and academic processes across the student journey. 

Our goal is audacious: to improve student success, retention, and well-being on campus by bringing our administrative and academic processes into alignment. 

Journey UMass will enable students to access customized services, support, and opportunities based on their personal needs, interests, and academic goals through an easy-to-access student engagement portal. This portal will guide students in navigating the business of being a student—for example, sharing instructions on how to avoid a hold on their account that prevents registration, or reminding them about decision-making deadlines related to their housing. Students will also have access to a curated portfolio of academic and extracurricular events and opportunities. 

Journey UMass will also streamline information sharing among faculty, advisors, and student support staff, allowing for greater coordination across academic and administrative units. This initiative is not just about an integrated digital experience, it is also about the people and processes that support the student experience. In short, Journey UMass is centered on the holistic student experience and will leverage technology to meet students where they are and bring them to where they want to be.

This is important work, and to be successful will require strong cross-functional collaboration among our administrative units, schools, and colleges. The Journey UMass project team will need your teams’ participation to gain an understanding of university processes and student needs. These conversations will begin over the summer and continue through the academic year. The information gathered through conversations will be used to develop a student portal targeted to incoming students in FY27.

Watch for additional information about Journey UMass in the weeks ahead. In the meantime, please reach out to Chris Pilsner at cpilsner@umass.edu with any questions. 

Sincerely,
Chancellor Javier Reyes