Academy Implements Orah as New Out-of-Town System

By Juno Cowans, Ethan Ding, and Lucy Jung

Over the summer, the Academy’s administration announced a change to Exeter’s out-of-town (OOT) system, transferring the process from paper forms into an online app: Orah. 

“The use of Orah is only a portion of a larger scale change in the student information system,” Dean of Students Russell Weatherspoon informed The Exonian. “The system which we are bringing online is called Blackbaud. It’s used by a lot of schools and it is supposed to streamline many operations.” 

“In the next several years, this system will come online, so to speak, and become part of the new way we manage student information,” Weatherspoon continued. 

On Aug. 17, Administrative Manager Lee Rollick sent an email to all students and parents, explaining the replacement of OOT slips with a new digital process through app-based software. Many students returned to school with mixed opinions regarding the online system, especially the revised off-campus radius. Previously, students were allowed to venture anywhere within a ten-mile radius of J. Smith Hall without alerting the administration. However, with Orah, students must manually submit day passes online whenever crossing a two-mile off-campus radius. 

On Aug. 25, the Dean of Students office sent an email with more information and details about Orah and the accompanying changes to multiple OOT regulations. In the email, Weatherspoon clarified that the reason for the smaller radius was to ensure student safety in case of emergencies, making it easier to search for anyone missing. 

While comparing this online software to previous OOT policies, faculty and students voiced concerns regarding the new Orah software’s rumored location-tracking capabilities. Privacy was a cause for consideration at the announcement of Orah’s implementation; however, administrators have since clarified that the app has no such abilities. 

Internet protocol (IP) information is shared when students submit their passes, much like when students submit other Academy forms on formsite.com or use Academy internet. “[When you submit a pass], it will tell you if you are getting both the student and the parent’s approval from the same IP address,” Weatherspoon said. “When we know that a parent is domiciled in the next city, state, country, [and Orah] says to us, this [approval is] coming from the same IP address, [we know we] should check that out.” 

While a singular IP address does include approximate location and device information at the time of collection, the Academy does not use IPs to track geolocation, only to prevent potential app misuse. “We depend on the students to honestly report where they are going,” receptionist and Out-of-Town Specialist Amy Murphy said.and device information at 

“I can’t imagine an app being able to [track your location] without you agreeing. That could cause a lot of legal issues for the Academy,” Weatherspoon added. “If it could do that, we would not be interested.”

Logo courtesy of Orah

Hoyt Hall faculty member Lauren Josef stated that the administration walked through the app during faculty week and assured all faculty that Orah would not be used as a tracking app. “We can’t track where the students are. [The administration] said we want students to know that there’s no way we can track students on this. The school is just trying to streamline the process because out-of-towns in the paper form are laborious and complicated,” Josef said.

Price agreed. “I’ve talked to the deans and actually looked at the technology that they really don’t have any way of knowing where you are. It’s still all reliant on trust, just like the old system was. I’ve heard the rumors going around, but they’re just not true.”

Scott Domingos, dorm head of Webster Hall, clarified the intentions of the app. “The intent is for student safety,” Domingos explained. “It’s not surveillance; we’re not watching students moving about their day and keeping track of their [location]. We’re just concerned about student safety.”

“Orah was mostly motivated by efficiency and then improved student safety at the end of the day. And if you don’t know [a student’s] whereabouts, it’ll help us pinpoint that more accurately,” Domingos said.

Some students noted that Orah’s expedited process benefits students who frequently travel off-campus for extracurricular commitments. For lowers Martin Yau and Tristan Price, who travel weekly to Boston, the change in the OOT process is particularly significant. 

“I think that this new system is very efficient and convenient because of the fact that it is online,” Yau said. “You don’t need to take the time to find a slip, fill it out, and then walk over to the Dean’s Office to submit it. You could be submitting it while you’re walking or in your dorm.”

“Although it took some getting used to at first, I have to say that I think it definitely streamlines the process compared to how it was in the past,” Price said. “The fact that there aren’t as many steps and that you can complete everything at once in the app or on the website really speeds everything up. I don’t need to get my advisor or dorm faculty’s signature anymore, which could have been hard to obtain before.”

“I do think it’s nice that you don’t have to get signatures in person now. It could get really stressful sometimes when you need to go around asking for signatures,” senior Hope Gantt said. 

Upper Laura Saldarriaga shared similar sentiments and described how Orah made the out-of-town process more convenient compared to its paperwork-heavy predecessor. “There’s a lot less paperwork, a lot less walking to J. Smith from my dorm. It’s handy, I can check everything online, and I get notifications when my parents or the administrators approve certain things,” Saldarriaga said. 

“I like how they now have the template system so that you can apply for something recurring very easily. Say you’re a part of a group that goes out of town at the same time every week. You can just easily submit the same pass instead of going through the whole process again,” senior Ryan Manley said. 

Although the new system comes with many conveniences, there are elements of the old system that many students miss. 

“I do miss the carbon copies of the old slips since those people in the dorm can see where everyone else is going,” Price said. “With this new system, however, you lose out on that. If you want to know if a friend is going out of town, you’ll have to ask them.”

“One thing that I miss is how you used to have to talk to the people you wanted to sign your slip, whether it be your dorm faculty or advisor. I think now that you don’t need that signature anymore, you lose that social interaction,” Manley said. 

Upon being asked whether they preferred Orah over the traditional paper-based OOTs, senior Colin Jung shared his preference for the previous system. “I thought the previous system was just fine. I think it’s sort of a waste of Academy resources to set up this fancy system when the old one didn’t have any problems with it. Also, the permissions are really wacky, and there are a lot of malfunctions,” Jung said. 

With more use, Orah may be adapted and changed. “Since our use of the program began last month, we continue to look at how it operates and whether we need to make changes to the way [it works],” Weatherspoon said. 

Students also voiced concern regarding the reduced off-campus radius. Upper Eli Pratt added, “I’m not a fan of the new two-mile radius. It’s just really annoying because you have to fill out so many more forms now.”

“I get that a lot of people are upset over how the radius was shrunk, but I do think that it’s not all that bad. Submitting the pass just so the school knows the general direction of where you went, just in case anything happens, is comforting to an extent,” senior Gamze Toksoz said. 

When weighing the novel features Orah offers, and the app’s foreshadowing of further AI integration into Academy policies, students and faculty generally agreed with the app’s efficiency in improving the OOT system. 

“Overall, I understand the concerns that people might have about the inconvenience of switching to a new system. I know that some people are annoyed or are worried about the security, but I think that’s to be expected when switching to a new system,” Yau said. 

“The app is a tool to improve the OOT system, and the school is just trying to keep us safe and make things easier for us. People are totally justified to have questions and concerns, but I know that the people in charge are willing to listen to student feedback and improve the system. At the end of the day, they’re just trying to make things safer and easier for all of us,” Yau concluded.