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Personalized Communications When Students Need Them

E X E C U T I V E S U M M A R Y

› AI communications are becoming a “go to” across college campuses – both physical and virtual. This trend is driven both by students' changing communication preferences and the need to extend human support to after hours with virtual advising tools.

› Ocelot data reveals that a meaningful percentage of all student interactions occur during the "The 3rd Shift” (time outside of traditional office hours). Students are tackling many critical tasks outside of the traditional 9 am - 5 pm work environment. AI communications are providing answers to a variety of questions during this time.

› While the core drivers of AI communications are the same across segments (Community Colleges, 4-Year Public and 4-Year Private institutions), Ocelot data indicates that there are differences in how students use this technology both in terms of the problems they are trying to solve and when it is leveraged.

AI Communications Benchmark Study2021

2

TABLE OFCONTENTS

RESEARCH PROFILE AND METHODOLOGY SECTION 1

AI COMMUNICATIONS GROWTHSECTION 2

DAILY USAGE SUMMARYSECTION 3

WHAT STUDENTS ARE TALKING ABOUTSECTION 4

THE WRAPSECTION 5

3

This report analyzes 9.7 million AI student interactions. The

intent is so the higher education community can gain insight

into student behavior and develop the appropriate strategies

to support.

While this report is largely quantitative in nature, we also

present takeaways and recommendations so that institutions

can both better support students and reduce the burden on

overextended staff resources.

Research Profile and Methodology

9.7 MNumber of AI Interactions:

3.8 MNumber of AI Conversations:

THE BREAKDOWN: JAN 1, 2020 - AUG 31, 2021

4

AI interactions have grown significantly over the last couple of years. There are several converging factors that are driving this growth:

COVID: The pandemic created an immediate need for real-time, virtual communications and support. With rapidly changing information/policies/procedures both on and off campus, AI communications became a necessary ingredient to keep students informed and engaged 24/7.

Proliferation of student profiles: The increase in non-traditional student profiles creates stress on the traditional service model. With students carrying other responsibilities besides college classes (family commitments, job constraints, military status, etc.), normal office hours for advising and support do not meet the needs of these students.

Meeting students where and when they are: Students are solving enrollment, financial aid and other issues outside traditional office hours, which is compounded by changes in the channels in which students communicate (in-person and email vs. 24/7 self-service support). This creates an imbalance between students and administrators with respect to service and support.

Supporting enrollment and retention efforts within limited “do more with less” budgets: Institutional financial health requires simultaneously driving enrollment while also finding budget efficiencies. These dual challenges place a significant burden on administrators to meet both engagement and service demands. Affordable AI technology is one way institutions are tackling these challenges.

AI communications are an effective way to support students at scale while simultaneously maximizing the impact of, and reducing the burden on, departmental staff.

TAKEAWAY

12/30/191/30/20

2/29/203/31/20

4/30/205/31/20

6/30/207/31/20

8/31/209/30/20

10/31/2011/30/20

12/31/201/31/21

2/28/213/31/21

4/30/215/31/21

6/30/217/31/21

8/31/21

175,000

150,000

125,000

100,000

75,000

50,000

25,000

0

COVIDshut down

August Crunch2020

August Crunch2021

Winter Break

R2 = .76AI Student Interactions Week Over Week

1 AI COMMUNICATIONS GROWTH

5

Mondays and Tuesdays show the most AI conversations with a steady tapering off as the week progresses. All days, including the weekends, show meaningful off hours activity.

The large percentage of off-hours service demands corroborates the notion that the traditional engagement and service model meets neither the expectations nor the needs of today’s student population.

DAILY USAGE BY SUB-SEGMENT

Community Colleges and 4-Year Private institutions have a more uniform distribution of AI interactions while 4-Year Public institutions have heavier demand toward the beginning of the week.

Colleges must find innovative ways to 1) expand service capacity and 2) find more efficient ways for limited human capital resources to create impact on student outcomes.

TAKEAWAY

2 DAILY USAGE SUMMARY

0

275,000

250,000

225,000

200,000

175,000

150,000

125,000

100,000

75,000

50,000

25,000

AI Chatbot Conversations by Day

SundayMonday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

38%of AI conversations

occur o�-hours

O�-Hours Regular Hours**Defined as 9:am - 5:00pm local time

O�-Hours Regular Hours

0%

100%

75%

50%

25%

CC4 Pub

4 Priv

On vs. O� Hours by Segment

SundayMonday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Daily Usage Summary (4 Pub)Daily Usage Summary (CC)

SundayMonday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

SaturdaySunday

MondayTuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Daily Usage Summary (4 Priv)

O -Hours Regular Hours

The 3rd Shift5PM - 9AM

6

AdmissionApplication

Appointment

Schedule

Disbursement

Online Classes

Award letterCoronavirus Major

FAFSA

Bill

Credit

Tuition

CARESAct

Gra

nt

Transcript

RefundScholarship

1098

-T

Inte

rnat

iona

lSt

uden

ts

AI conversations are spread across campus departments with some of the primary topics being: Admissions, Registrar, Financial Aid + Billing, Academics/Advising and COVID (Coronavirus).

AI communications unify the student experience as a “go to” resource for virtual support across the entire campus, even when needs differ by department and sub-segment across higher education.

TAKEAWAY

3 WHAT STUDENTS ARE TALKING ABOUT

Top Topics DiscussedThrough AI Communications

Topics Grouped by Departments

*Topic is not a “Top 20” topic for that segment

Top Topics by Segment

Topics Overall Rank CC Rank 4-Pub Rank 4-Priv Rank

Admission 1 1 2 3

Transcript 2 2 5 N/A*

Application 3 3 4 6

Tuition 4 6 3 1

Scholarship 5 N/A* 1 2

0

100,000

200,000

WEI

GH

T

TOPICS

300,000

400,000

Admission

Transc

ript

Applicatio

nTu

ition

Scholarsh

ipFA

FSA

Appointment

Credit

RefundSch

edule BillM

ajor

Inter. Students

Grant

Coronavir

usCARES Act

Disburse

ment

Online C

lasses

Award le

tter

Grades

AdmissionsRegistrarCOVID

Academics/AdvisingFinancial Aid + Billing

7

Get a DemoSee why 450+ educational institutions are leveraging Ocelot’s AI Student Engagement Platform to drive enrollment, retention & student success.

INFO@OCELOTBOT.COM+1 888 704 9090 OCELOTBOT.COM

Colleges and universities face increasing budgetary and enrollment challenges. Successful institutions are treating these challenges as an opportunity to transform digitally, and in the process, get more efficient and effective in how they provide student service and support.

When it comes to communications, AI-powered solutions (like Ocelot’s student engagement platform - which includes Chatbot, Live Chat and two-way SMS Text Campaigns) offer a number of benefits: simplicity, consistency and scalability. When an institution is forced to “do more with less”, the biggest wins are the ones that not only save money, but also help both staff and other technologies being used by the institution have a greater impact. As the data in this study shows, AI-powered communications are extending student engagement to a personalized 24/7 model, covering “The 3rd Shift” when the physical office is closed and addressing key topics in a consistent manner so that students, prospects and parents get their questions answered quickly.

This technology is aiding staff by reducing a portion of the heavy load that rests on their shoulders. Given all that has happened amid the pandemic, and the changes and stress it has caused for staff, these AI tools are a welcome addition to an institution’s toolkit. They enable staff to focus their time and energy to serve students who need the most help and are at the highest risk of not enrolling or persisting with their educational journey.

THE WRAP

When it comes to communications, AI-

powered solutions, which includes Chatbots, Live

Chat and two-way SMS Text Campaigns, offer a number

of benefits: simplicity, consistency and

scalability.