UMBC scales family engagement with AI, cutting content creation time by 80%
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) is a public institution that emphasizes research, innovation, and community engagement. As a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) supporting a 30% first-generation student population, the university is dedicated to fostering student success. Understanding that parents are the #1 student supporters, UMBC launched CampusESP in 2021.
When CampusESP released AI-powered content in July, Fritzie Charné-Merriwether, Associate Vice President for Administration and Chief of Staff in UMBC’s Division of Student Affairs, embraced the new technology. She quickly became CampusESP’s top AI user, using CampusESP’s generative AI editor over 500 times!
Even better, Charné-Merriwether slashed content creation time from one hour a day to just one hour per week … while also boosting clicks on her content by 33%!
In recognition of their exceptional use of AI, we're delighted to announce the University of Maryland, Baltimore County is the "ESP MVP" for Q4 2024!
How UMBC uses AI to expand and improve family communication
Parent communication expectations are growing, with 70% of families wanting to hear from your college at least weekly. But what parent engagement team has the time to write, edit, and publish high-quality content each week?
That’s where CampusESP’s AI-powered content comes in. UMBC has relied on AI to produce a wide range of content, from urgent campus news, to high priority FAFSA information, to student support guidance.
As Charné-Merriwether shared: “The AI editor simplifies everything. It strengthens our partnership with parents, maintains frequent communication, and ultimately helps our families help their students succeed.”
CampusESP’s AI-powered content enables you to:
Develop new content. With a simple prompt, the AI editor generates a polished article in seconds.
Edit content with options to modify the tone, fix grammatical mistakes, simplify information, and more.
Transform student-oriented content into parent-oriented content to offer personalized information.
Translate content into over a dozen languages to eliminate the need for translation services.
With less hours devoted to content creation, institutions like UMBC are refocusing their energy on strategy and planning. Family engagement teams are finally finding the time to develop communications for first-generation families, Spanish-speaking families, and other target populations.
More content clicks with less setup time
Nearly all of UMBC’s family portal posts and emails are written with the support of AI. The impact? Charné-Merriwether is spending 80% less time developing content.
“AI-powered content has transformed the way I work,” said Charné-Merriwether. “As the sole content creator on my campus, I used to block off hours just to produce portal posts. Now, content creation takes minutes!” She continued: “I used to struggle to publish all the content I wanted, simply because there wasn’t enough time. Now, I can go from ideation to publishing and scheduling, all within the same day.”
While content creation time has dropped, the level of engagement with UMBC’s family content has grown. Of all family portal posts published in 2024, the AI-powered posts had a 33% higher average click rate, compared to posts created without AI. With AI editing options to make content shorter, more simple or more friendly, it develops content that families want to read.
An increased focus on centering families
For UMBC, the greatest advantage of AI-powered content is how easily they can personalize messages to families, which integrates families more fully into the university experience. “The ability to quickly adjust a message to speak directly to families is a complete game changer,” Charné-Merriwether adds.
In the past UMBC, like many other time-strapped schools, might send families the same information that was delivered to students. “We weren’t always taking the time to personalize information and communicate directly to families,” said Charné-Merriwether. “Now, we’re able to intentionally speak to parents and families in every message.”
With time no longer a significant constraint, AI is enabling colleges to shift their focus towards more strategic initiatives in family engagement and student success.
Congratulations to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for winning Q4 2024 ESP MVP, and a BIG thank you to Fritzie Charne-Merriwether for outstanding partnership!
Want to discover more game-changing CampusESP features?