Balthazar University of Applied Sciences: How to improve communication with students?

The Baltazar Zaprešić Polytechnic is a professional higher education institution that performs undergraduate and graduate educational programs. Their portfolio consists of innovative, accredited online and classical educational programs in economics, management, finance, information technology, tourism, communication and project management. Since 2001, more than 9,000 students have graduated from the University of Applied Sciences Baltazar Zaprešić.

Challenge: How to improve communication with students?

At a time of accelerated digitization and development of new forms of communication, the University of Applied Sciences Baltazar wants to examine the possibilities of improving communication and informing students. Currently, students and students interested in studying address the Polytechnic primarily by e-mail and telephone. Their questions are mostly repeated, and they concern enrolment, exams, documentation, etc. They are answered by administrative staff and teachers who lead the study. The University of Applied Sciences Baltazar wants to examine the possibility of automating this type of support to students and those interested in studying, using a virtual assistant with artificial intelligence features (English. AI chatbot). However, before investing in such a solution, the Polytechnic wants to better understand its technical features, the way of fitting into the business process and the approximate price of impementation and maintenance.

Solution: Testing before investing in an AI assistant

The University of Applied Sciences Baltazar used the opportunity to use the EDIH Adria project and their free services Pre-investment testing (Test Before Invest) Examine a prototype AI assistant that would automatically and in real time answer the most common student questions. After several workshops with representatives of the University of Applied Sciences Baltazar, the expert team of EDIH Adria has created a prototype of a simple AI assistant, intended for testing. Previously, the University of Applied Sciences Balthazar provided a database consisting of the most common student questions, which was used in the development and configuration of the prototype.

Main characteristics of the prototype:

• Virtual assistant based on artificial intelligence, i.e. large language model technology (English. Large language models, LLM).
• Students can be accessible via widget (windows) on the website of the Polytechnic, in which questions are entered.
• It can be integrated within Live Chat Channels on the website of the University of Applied Sciences.
• Gives Fast and precise answers to frequently asked questions in the field of study, enrolment, courses, exam deadlines, etc.
• Allows more efficient and accessible communication between the University of Applied Sciences Balthazar and their students and students interested in studying.
• Gives answers in real-time and does not depend on the working hours of the Polytechnic; available 0-24, every day of the week.
• Allows Upgrade, customize and add new content at any time.

TBI Project Outcomes

In addition to the prototype AI assistant, the expert team of EDIH Adria has prepared a final report for the University of Applied Sciences Baltazar as part of the free pre-investment testing service, which contains:

• Description of the solution and set of functional requirements for the platform solution
• Description of the benefits of implementing a hybrid chatbot
• Recommendations for further development
• Estimate of the implementation cost and expected monthly costs of using the AI Assistant

“Through the Pre-Investment Testing service, we examined the possibility of using AI assistants in answering the most common student questions. We see the introduction of a simple AI chatbot, through which students can ask us about admission conditions, deadlines and the like, as an opportunity for better, more open and accessible communication. It has been shown that the solution can be easily integrated into existing processes, and that it would partly relieve our referral department. We believe that this would consequently also affect our operational efficiency and the quality of our services.”                                                                                                                     Dr. Sc. Socio. Kristijan Čović, PhD, Vice Dean for Teaching and Students of Professional Graduate Studies and Quality

Recommendations

Recommended digital solution for the University of Applied Sciences Baltazar is AI chatbot which, in addition to the characteristics of artificial intelligence, would also have rule-based technology. It involves editing static and predefined content. Such a hybrid solution is ideal for solving the most common queries using AI technology, for queries of a more sensitive nature, but also for queries to which the answer must always be the same. Such a solution ensures high accuracy of answers and avoids “hallucinations”, which are still a risky feature of large language models.

Cover photo: Baltazar University of Applied Sciences