CofC Podcast: Clyde the Chatbot Transforms Student Support

CofC Podcast, Campus Life, All News

In this episode of the "Speaking of ... College of Charleston" podcast, we discuss how AI-powered messaging is helping students feel supported, connected and cared for before challenges arise.

Clyde the Chatbot

At the College of Charleston, Clyde the AI-powered chatbot is transforming how students engage with campus life. In this episode of the Speaking of … College of Charleston podcast, we explore how Clyde is reshaping student support one message at a time.

Alicia Caudill, executive vice president for student affairs, and Chris Korey, associate provost for student success, dive into the origins, development and evolving capabilities of Clyde. They also highlight how Clyde’s strategic outreach is improving student engagement and retention, drawing on both general and customized outreach.

The episode covers the detailed workings of Clyde, its integration into the student success platform and how it’s helping address specific student challenges in real time.

 ”One of the great things about Clyde is that we get the information about students in real time, which means we don’t find out in December that somebody’s been homesick since August,” says Caudill.

In partnership with the education technology company EdSights, the College of Charleston offers Clyde the Chatbot as a resource for questions and connects students to support services focused on four key areas:

  • Academics
  • Financial Matters
  • Campus Engagement
  • Mental and Physical Health

Alicia Caudill has served as the executive vice president for student affairs at the College of Charleston since July 2015. In this role, Caudill provides leadership to the Division of Student Affairs.

Christopher Korey, associate provost for student success and professor of biology, leads the Office for Student Success. Korey joined the College of Charleston Department of Biology in 2003 and served as the associate dean for the former School of Sciences and Mathematics, a faculty fellow for the former Center for Academic Performance and Persistence, director for the First Year Experience and co-director of the Neuroscience Program.

Resources From This Episode:

  • Vincent Tinto: A nationally recognized expert in student retention, referred to as the “grandfather of retention,” and a partner in the development of EdSights’ platform.
  • EdSights: The company that developed Clyde and its underlying platform, including the retention calendar and outreach tools.
  • For more information about Clyde the Chatbot, email [email protected].

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