Helpful Resources via Perch Shortcuts
Shortcuts at the top of The Perch allow students, faculty and staff to access a variety of resources and tools like Connect Lehigh, the Lehigh Directory, Lehigh’s Google Services and CourseSite as well as other popular apps, sites and services.
How do I get started?
Open The Perch in a web browser*
Visit The Perch login page and enter your Lehigh ID and password. If you have recently logged into another Lehigh service, it will automatically take you to the Perch without having to log in again.
*Users must be logged in using SSO (single sign on) with your Lehigh ID
Create your profile
Once on the homepage, click on the person icon in the top right corner, under "account" click "edit profile" and fill out the settings. This step is optional, but encouraged to make interacting more personal.
Explore The Perch
Discover Topics. Tap the Discover tab in the upper right navigation menu on mobile or desktop experience. Select "View All Topics" and add topics to follow that are most relevant or interesting to you to personalize the content in your feed.
Engage with content. View stories, photos and videos by clicking or tapping on the article, image or video in your feed. At times, you can like, comment or even tag others on a piece of content, connecting with campus community members like never before. Keep in mind that all user comments and online conduct must align with Lehigh's Principles of Our Equitable Community.
Bookmark stories for later. Bookmark stories or videos to read or watch later by clicking the bookmark icon. You'll see your bookmarked items ordered by date in the Bookmarks menu under your Profile.
How do I get the mobile app?
Access The Perch in the Firstup mobile app using your Lehigh Single Sign On (SSO) credentials:
Quick start guide:
- Use the QR code or the links to download the Firstup mobile app to your phone or tablet:
iOS version | Android version - Open the Firstup app, type "lehigh" as the organization code and tap [Enter].
- When you see "Lehigh University," tap [Sign In] and proceed to login as you normally do with other University SSO services. Important: Always login using your Lehigh userid and not your email address or department's email account to make sure you don't miss out on important news, information and resources intended for you specifically.
Tip: When presented with the option, "Would you like to enable device authentication for easy access?", select "Enable Easy Access." Once you've successfully logged into the Lehigh community, enabling this easy access feature will allow you to use your device's own biometric authentication (fingerprint, face, etc.) and eliminate the need to type in credentials each time.
Step-by-step guide:
Communicating from The Perch
University Communications and Public Affairs is working with partners across campus to develop their own communications to be shared via The Perch. Become a Perch Partner today.
The Power Behind The Perch
Built on the fully featured cloud-based Firstup platform and integrated with Lehigh data, The Perch makes it easy to share and distribute targeted, personalized stories and communications to multiple channels at once - whether it's broadcast email, a mobile app, an intranet web experience or on-campus digital signage - from a single console.
The platform is integrated with powerful AI-enabled analytics reporting, a drag-and-drop studio for designing and sharing campaigns, and an intelligent scheduling engine to orchestrate email delivery based on user preferences and behavior.
FAQs
The Perch is a digital communications platform that provides a customized experience to the campus community and connects students, faculty and staff to each other, and with all the latest Lehigh news, resources and happenings around campus and around the world. Communications are available via a mobile app or desktop to logged-in students and employees of Lehigh.
Faculty, staff and students who are logged into their Lehigh account via SSO (single sign on) can access The Perch via desktop or app at any time.
Firstup is the technology platform on which The Perch is built. SocialChorus is the name of the software company that launched Firstup. You may notice either of these names in the URL for The Perch, on the mobile app or through email communications that are sent to users.
While there is no single solution to the university's diverse communications needs, the unified system behind The Perch can bring together communications to faculty, staff and enrolled students from across various Lehigh departments, offices, and organizations in more effective and collaborative ways. Additionally, The Perch can be experienced wherever and whenever community members prefer either via email, website or mobile app.
The Perch intends to connect the campus community to each other and to news, information and resources that are relevant and useful. As Perch Partners join the platform and topics are created, more and more information will be made available to users in a customized and meaningful way, helping to create a more streamlined and enjoyable experience. You can also engage and react to news that is shared and connect with other campus community members around announcements and information. The more you engage with the platform, the more value you will get out of it.
Data may be collected with regard to your actions taken in The Perch such as topics followed, posts read, and engagement activities including liking posts. This information is used to analyze usage of The Perch in aggregate to improve user experience and understand content and resources that are relevant to the campus community.
Data about individual use may be reviewed when the “Report” feature is used with regard to concerning user comments or when troubleshooting user issues related to received communications.
Keep in mind that The Perch is an internally-facing platform for the Lehigh campus community. Comments should be on topic and be respectful to colleagues, fellow classmates, administration and the community in general.
Engaging in any harassing, threatening, intimidating, or discriminatory conduct or making maliciously false statements on The Perch is prohibited and may result in disciplinary action or a violation of the University’s Code of Conduct.
Lehigh reserves the right to moderate or remove comments when not in alignment with the above or with the Principles of our Equitable Community. Repeat offenders may be subject to removal from participation in The Perch experience.
The main benefit of logging in to The Perch is to view information that's intentionally being made available exclusively to members of the Lehigh community--faculty, staff and currently enrolled undergraduate and graduate students. At times, there may be posts that pertain specifically to just one of these member groups and the only way to ensure messages reach the intended role is to require a login as with other University SSO services. To make sure you don't miss out on the important news, information and resources you need, always login using your Lehigh userid and not your email address or department's email account.
No, Lehigh (or Firstup) will NOT have access to data or personal information on your phone outside of the app. Lehigh will not be able to monitor your location or activity through your use of The Perch platform.
Yes, using The Perch is completely voluntary to the performance of your job duties as an employee or responsibilities as a Lehigh student. The platform is intended to enhance your connection and become the primary spot for Lehigh staff, faculty and students to get the latest Lehigh news, resources and information, engage with one another, and build community.
Use The Perch on your desktop at work or at home. Enjoy the benefits of The Perch without using a mobile phone.