In addition to the learning crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic due to the extended period of remote learning, educational institutions must also deal with other “side effects” of this period. As far as higher education administration is concerned, the challenge also lies in overcoming issues related to dropout rates, student selection, and enrollment renewal.

And, in these cases as well, the use of technological tools and solutions has proven to be the best way to achieve quick and effective results.

Fael (Faculdade Educacional da Lapa), which has more than 80,000 students enrolled nationwide, was able to reduce its call center traffic by 50% using the Conecta Fael virtual assistant. The predictive analytics solution, based on Microsoft’s artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, also led to an increase in enrollment at the institution, which is ranked among the top 10 colleges for distance learning in the country.

The in-house team at Fael was wondering how to optimize customer service. The institution already had a call center operating through a toll-free number, but it became unsustainable to expand it at the same rate as the student body was growing. Thus, in partnership with AI Networks—a company specializing in artificial intelligence and a Microsoft partner—the college decided to implement a virtual assistant focused on pre-sales interactions.

 

"The AI Networks team and our team were deeply involved

IT staff to understand and identify all the possible questions our students were asking.

When we made the decision to look for a customer service solution, what we really wanted was,

an artificial intelligence framework so that we could provide 100% of the answers

"and work with more complex connections, " said Jefferson Silva, Fael's marketing director.

 

With over 2,000 pre-answered questions, Conecta Fael was based on Bella’s neurolinguistic programming—a framework developed by AI Networks that is 100% built on Microsoft Azure—and also utilizes tools such as the Microsoft Bot Framework, Q&A Maker, and Language Understanding (LUIS). Fael brought its virtual assistant to life through an adaptation of Bella, in line with the brand identity and design proposed for Conecta Fael.

Among the many benefits generated by using Conecta Fael with Microsoft tools, the most notable was the reduction in the volume of phone calls, which fell by about 50%. It also helped with lead generation, increasing the total number of leads, their quality, and the final conversion rate. The agile and intelligent integration of the platforms also allowed the bot to be updated with the latest information and/or offers from the college, in addition to training the machine learning system to identify irregular words in the chat, such as slang and abbreviations.

 

BEYOND CONTENT-CENTRICITY

Facamp (Faculdade de Campinas), for its part, has adopted a new and innovative admissions process that emphasizes the skills increasingly required by the New High School Curriculum and for entering the job market. According to Professor Rodrigo Sabbatini, the institution’s academic director, Facamp has begun to align the skills outlined in the guidelines of the National Common Core Curriculum
(BNCC) in a way that is more logical and better suited to students’ realities, starting with its admissions process.

 

"Looking ahead, anyone hiring an economist for a  major bank or an analyst for a multinational company will typically  present a challenging scenario and then ask for a solution.  Therefore, we need to educate individuals who think broadly, who also possess skills such as creativity, a critical and collaborative mindset, and, of course, who are prepared to overcome  the challenges posed by an extremely demanding and competitive job market.  “We will give priority to those who fit this profile, in order to develop them beyond a content-based test,” emphasized Sabbatini.

 

The director also revealed that these changes to the admissions process had been in the works for two years and, given the limitations imposed by the pandemic, they implemented a final innovation, replacing the last phase—which until then had consisted of submitting a motivational video, following the same model as major American and European institutions, or a letter of intent—with an interview. “Even though we live in the mobile generation today, 9 out of 10 applicants sent a letter of intent instead of a video because they felt self-conscious about making the video—which came as a surprise,” revealed Sabbatini.

Facamp’s admissions process is now divided into three stages: first, an evaluation of the applicant’s academic history, based on an analysis of their high school transcripts; second, an individual exam, in which the applicant will be assessed on their logical reasoning and knowledge of current events; and, finally, an interview with two professors to evaluate the applicant’s aspirations and motivations.

 

"Since we adopted this new selection process,

We have found students who are more committed and interested.

We have an educational model that values critical thinking and education

the student's complete profile.  Our new college entrance exam makes it easier to select

students who will be better equipped to engage in this multidisciplinary education.

"We want students who think and want to learn, not those who just memorize formulas," explained Rodrigo Sabbatini.

 

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