CState web pages for admissions will include “Cliff” the chatbot

Cincinnati State’s Enrollment Services team is launching a new chat feature this week on the College website to help prospective students with their enrollment questions.

The artificial intelligence “chatbot” (a computer program that simulates human conversation by exchanging text messages) has been named Cliff (as in Clifton), and will appear on designated Admissions pages of the website.

The vendor for this chatbot program is Mainstay (former AdmitHub), a chat provider speciaizing in higher education services.

• Jackie Norton, Manager of Traditional Marketing for the Marketing Department, said Mainstay provided thousands of potential questions a prospective student might ask.
   
• The sample questions were reviewed by Cincinnati State staff members for Admissions, Financial Aid, and Marketing to customize the chatbot responses to Cincinnati State enrollment processes and services, and to provide more robust and helpful information than the website chatbots used in the past.

Jackie said, “We know that some prospective students want to explore our website content on their own. The more help we can provide during this time, the better.”

Jackie added, “Cliff immediately informs site visitors that he is a bot and is available to help.”

Jackie said Cliff asks for the visitor’s name, email, and phone information to personalize the interaction and allow CState to continue communicating with the prospective student.

“Ideally, by the time the prospective student schedules a visit or meets with a College recruiter, they are already comfortable as a result of their own research, and ready to learn specifics and finalize their enrollment decision,”  Jackie said.

According to Jackie, in the future Cliff’s role may be expanded to include visitors to website pages focused on current students and alumni.