As a member of the Colleges That Change Lives organization, Allegheny College is committed to providing students a personalized and transformative collegiate experience. Staff wanted to find a way to increase student engagement on campus while maintaining this strong level of personalization at scale.
At the same time, the school needed to respond to the challenge of an increasing competitive admissions landscape.
Allegheny embraced an innovative approach by communicating via chatbot to reach admissions goals, improve communications and boost engagement.
Jason Andracki, Associate Director of Marketing & Communications at Allegheny College, manages their chatbot, “Chompers.” (Learn more about the role of a chatbot manager with this blog and webinar.)
Andracki noted one of the most effective uses of their college chatbot was asking students if they’d like to be contacted. The chatbot sent a message via text, and students were able to reply with what kind of contact they wanted. This way, staff could focus more on who ‘raised their hand’ for help, rather than making cold calls.
In regards to the geographic representation of 41 states in the incoming class, Andracki said “the immediate nature of the chatbot helps with out-of-state students since those in different time zones can get faster replies, just like those within our time zone.”
Students (and staff) love the chatbot so much, that Allegheny is starting to use it for retention and persistence towards graduation, so students don’t have to say goodbye when classes start!
