Lehigh’s platform The Perch struggles to gain traction from students

Lehigh launched The Perch — an internal communications platform to replace Inside Lehigh — in January of 2024. Designed with the intention of serving as a community hub, The Perch aims to provide students, faculty and staff with a centralized location for news, information, events and resources. 

The Perch and its mobile app were promoted as “the new home of Lehigh news, resources and communication,” intending to streamline the student experience, according to a Lehigh news article. 

However, about a year after its release, the platform has still not gained full traction, as some students have expressed it is not a resource they frequently use.

Jeff Warden, manager of communications infrastructure at Lehigh, said The Perch was developed as a hub for university updates and student resources. 

“We designed The Perch with the goal of creating a single, user-friendly location for students to access important information,” Warden said. “Our aim was to unify different systems to provide a more streamlined digital experience.”

Warden also said unlike previous platforms like Lehigh Connect — a portal which provides links to academic tools such as course registration and class schedules — The Perch integrates multiple functions. These include university-wide news, event announcements and quick links to frequently used services like Banner, CourseSite and HawkWatch.

While The Perch has gained traction among faculty and staff, Warden said student engagement remains a work in progress. Because of this, the current priority is collecting student feedback to improve the platform while analyzing analytics and student responses to enhance its usability, he said. 

Despite the university’s efforts to promote The Perch, some students have expressed they were unaware of its capabilities, as they continue to rely on other platforms for services.

Emma Thorogood, ‘25, said she has yet to use it despite receiving multiple emails from the university about the platform. 

“After looking at the emails we’ve received about it, it seems like a convenient platform to access school information and news, but I haven’t had a reason to use it yet,” Thorogood said. 

Caden Dellapenta, ‘27, said he would feel the need to use The Perch if it were more effective than other Lehigh websites. However, he has yet to integrate it into his routine of go-to resources. 

“I don’t know much about it or how it’s affected the user-friendliness of Lehigh’s interfaces,” Dellapenta said.  

He also said he relies more frequently on resources such as Lehigh Transit, which tracks the bus routes, and HawkWatch, which provides safety notifications from Lehigh University Police Department.

For students who already rely on apps like Lehigh Transit, Warden said the challenge is convincing them that The Perch offers a better, more comprehensive alternative.

The Perch offers Bird’s Eye View, a feature which aggregates news articles from across campus. Previously, students had to visit different department websites for updates, but now, all university-related news is available in one place.

Warden said another feature of the platform is the Shortcuts section, which provides quick access to frequently used services. He said this addition was developed in response to student feedback. 

“We analyzed what students clicked on the most and reorganized the interface accordingly,” Warden said. “The goal is to improve efficiency and ensure students can find what they need with minimal effort.” 

For now, The Perch aims to centralize resources rather than replace existing platforms, Warden said. However, he said if students express interest in deeper integrations, the university is open to expanding its functionality. 

“We’re actively seeking student input,” Warden said. “If there’s a feature students want or an improvement they’d like to see, we encourage them to reach out. The goal is to make The Perch the most efficient and student-friendly resource possible.”