How the University of Strathclyde Simplified Student Onboarding While Helping Students Build Friendships Before Arrival

Hear from the University of Strathclyde

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Alejandra Moir, the university's Incoming Exchange Officer, shares why pre-arrival friendships matter, how Goin' has simplified onboarding, and why creating one dedicated student community has made a meaningful difference for both students and staff.

Replacing Outdated Communication with a Modern Student Community

Like many universities, the University of Strathclyde had experimented with different ways of connecting incoming exchange students before arrival.

WhatsApp groups became difficult to manage. Facebook no longer reflected how students wanted to communicate.

As Alejandra explains:

"I tried WhatsApp. I tried Facebook. The students didn't want to participate... but Goin' saved my life. Helped me save time, especially contacting students. It can make a huge difference."

Rather than manually collecting contact details or managing multiple communication channels, students now join one dedicated community where they can meet one another, ask questions, and begin building friendships before arriving on campus.

Why Friendships Matter Before Students Arrive

For Alejandra, this isn't simply a professional belief. It's personal.

Having been an international student herself, she understands exactly how intimidating it can feel to move abroad without knowing anyone. Today, she sees those same emotions reflected in her own daughter as she prepares to study overseas.

As she explains:

"Pre-arrival friendship matters a lot. I have a daughter and she's 18. She's so nervous because she wants to go abroad, but she's so worried about friendships."

That experience reinforces why helping students connect before arrival matters so much. For many students, the biggest concern isn't moving abroad, it's wondering whether they'll know anyone when they get there.

That feeling is echoed by students themselves.

"I was really happy to discover the Strathclyde community because I was under stress with the idea of being alone in September, so I think this is really cool! It will help me!"
Emma from France

"I feel like I’m getting a head start to feeling less like an “outsider” while I’m abroad and making that first step towards being comfortable."
Madaline from the USA

"I didn't expect something like this. I thought that I would have been thrown into Scotland without knowing anybody. But this makes it easier than trying to make friends after arrival."
Stanislav from the Czech Republic

Today, students build friendships, exchange advice, and support one another before travelling to Scotland, making the transition feel significantly less daunting.

80% of students say their community reduces concerns about making new friends while helping them navigate a new culture, language, and way of life.

Reducing Workload Without Compromising Support

Supporting hundreds of incoming exchange students inevitably creates questions about accommodation, visas, travel, meeting new people, and countless other aspects of preparing for university abroad.

For university teams, responding to every enquiry individually can quickly become overwhelming. One of Strathclyde's primary motivations for implementing Goin' was to make that process more manageable.

As Alejandra explains:

"One of the motivations was to reduce my amount of workload."

Rather than every question flowing through university staff, students increasingly help one another inside the community.

Today, 75% of student questions are answered by peers, questions that might otherwise be directed to university staff or external agents.

That allows staff to focus on the conversations where their expertise is most valuable, while students benefit from fast, authentic answers from others who are experiencing the same journey.

A Better Experience for Students and Staff

Creating an engaging onboarding experience often sounds like it requires more work. For the University of Strathclyde, the opposite has been true. Instead of manually creating groups and managing multiple communication platforms, students can simply be invited into one central community.

As Alejandra puts it:

"I just send an email and then they all connected. So I'm happy because it's less work for me, and the students are happier."

That simple change has transformed the onboarding process for both students and staff.

Today, 93% of incoming exchange students join the community, where they build an average of seven friendships before arriving in Glasgow.

Helping Students Arrive with Confidence

At the heart of Strathclyde's approach is a simple belief. Students shouldn't have to wait until orientation week to begin building their university experience. They should be able to start making friends, asking questions, and feeling part of the community long before they arrive.

Alejandra reflected on the advice she would give to any student preparing to study abroad.

"When I came here as an international student, I also wanted to make friends. It would have been better to make those friendships before arriving because it makes the transition easier and smoother."

For today's students, that opportunity already exists.

By helping students meet future classmates, ask questions, and build friendships before they arrive, the University of Strathclyde is making the transition to university smoother, more confident, and far less daunting.

Students aren't arriving as strangers. They're arriving already feeling part of a community.