Mainstay Offers AI Survey Tool to Support First-Year and Returning Student Wellbeing

  • By Kate Lucariello
  • 12/09/22

Student engagement platform Mainstay has introduced an AI real-time pulse survey tool to help colleges and universities gauge how their first-year and returning students are doing and address needs and challenges immediately to help them succeed. Behaviorally intelligent, empathetic chatbots listen and respond to student concerns, helping institutions to prioritize "leading by listening," Mainstay said.

The pulse survey engages with students on a monthly basis and covers a variety of topics that speak to their sense of belonging and ability to function well at college. Mainstay found that in September 2022, 20% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that they knew where to get help with difficult classes. The AI survey tool provides institutions with actionable insights, based on student responses. Mainstay's behaviorally intelligent chatbot was first used to reduce the "summer melt" phenomenon, wherein high school graduates never made it to colleges they had been accepted to because they were overwhelmed by having to fill out numerous forms and go through multiple steps to get there. The chatbot helps to provide practical information, reminders, and emotional support when needed, including connecting students to a sympathetic human for help.

"Too often, students who struggle to manage their workload or feel disconnected from their peers don't see an easy avenue to voice those challenges and reach out for support," said Drew Magliozzi, CEO of Mainstay. "This is about helping education leaders better understand student sentiment in real time — in a way that can inform their work to boost students' self-efficacy and remove roadblocks in their path to graduation."

Mainstay will hold a "Leading by Listening with Pulse Surveys" webinar on Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, at 11 a.m., EST. Go here to learn more and sign up.

To watch a demo of the Mainstay AI chatbot in action, visit this page.

About the Author

Kate Lucariello is a former newspaper editor, EAST Lab high school teacher and college English teacher.

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