NYU Student Experience

Current state of the work

How might we foster a more personalized, supported, and cohesive student experience that engages a new generation of NYU students?

The issue at hand

Our Goal

NYU is one of the most influential research universities in the world, but despite its reputation, scale, and programming, it ranks low among its AAU peers in first-year retention and graduation rates. NYU’s 1st to 2nd-year retention rates have remained low averaging 93%. This is several percentage points below peer institutions and NYU’s internal goals of 96% retention rate by Fall 2023.

NYU is a large and complex university enterprise. Its size, decentralized structure, loosely-coupled systems, and the sheer volume of students can make it a fractured student experience and a challenging place to navigate.

Current college students are the most racially and ethnically diverse population to attend college, and they want their learning environment to reflect and appreciate who they are as individuals. Many universities, including NYU, are falling behind when it comes to providing optimal service to meeting the evolving demands and preferences of the incoming undergraduate student population who make up Gen Z.

NYU’s leadership team believes it is the ideal time for the institution to understand the behaviors, motivations, and college-going expectations of a new generation of students, whose experiences are also greatly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. It is clear that we must approach this generation in an entirely new way that incorporates demographic characteristics, cultures, intersecting identities, and interpersonal experiences into its support systems and communications.

Our goal was to create a student experience that feels personalized, seamless, and intimate despite an environment and organizational structure that is massive, complex and decentralized.

Sophomore, CAS

“NYU coddles students at the beginning of the semester, then drops them. It feels like after that point, it’s all up to you.”

First year, Gallatin

“Knowledge is the biggest barrier to opportunities. NYU is huge, sometimes niche things might not be apparent if you don’t know what you’re looking for, or know how to look for it.”

Research

Our objectives were to familiarize ourselves with the experiences of NYU first-year students, aiming to understand the formation of organic student communities and identify expectations and desires for a sense of belonging at the institution. Utilizing research methods such as pop-ups, diary missions, shadowing, co-design sessions, classroom visits, and looking in/out interviews, we captured students' stories of their first-year experiences at NYU. These insights inform the team and administration about specific challenges students might be facing.

We interacted with 285 students, with 85 participating in co-creation sessions, interviews, or classroom visits. As a facilitator, I conducted one-on-one discussions during visits, tailoring conversations to students' needs or popular topics like orientation experiences, forming friendships, and managing daily emails.

In addition, we engaged in conversations with 13 internal NYU stakeholders to comprehend the organizational and technological contexts of our design challenge. This helped align our research strategy and map the highs and lows of the student journey from staff and faculty perspectives. These in-person sessions were crucial for administrators to gain insights into aspects of the first-year experience, often unnoticed and exacerbated by the challenges of COVID. The sessions also revitalized stakeholders, sparking renewed curiosity about students' experiences.

Insights

The research findings highlight challenges faced by NYU first-year students. NYU and NYC are settings that expects a high degree of self reliance and independence. Students feel discouraged to seek help, leading to difficulties in finding relatable peers and perpetuating normalized loneliness. The decentralized nature hinders personalized interactions, impacting students' desire for genuine relationships. A single supportive individual can significantly impact a student's journey, but students struggle to seek support beyond formal advising systems. There's a need for more humanizing interactions, clearer communication of resources, and managing overwhelming expectations. School identities create unity but also isolate students, especially when transferring between schools. Finding information amidst various tech tools is challenging, requiring adaptation to generational needs and better coordination for a smoother technological experience.

Final and deliverables

We created a first-year student journey map (below), highlighting milestones and moments when students may feel lost or require assistance. This serves as a guide for administrators to pinpoint areas where students might need additional support and prompts them to consider how their individual roles can aid students.
Accompanying this is a Socialization and Activation playbook to help administrators integrate our research and insights into their collaborative efforts to address student issues.
Additionally, we developed design principles (below) that stemmed from our discussions with NYU. Their enthusiasm led to the establishment of a design team, including students, to explore student needs further. These principles will guide the new NYU design team in their research. Sticker design artifacts were also created to encourage administrators to be stewards for their students.