Design and Development of an Advising Chatbot as a Student Support Intervention in a University System.

The purpose of this study was to share the design and development case of Advising Virtual Assistant (AVA), a chatbot created to provide support in academic advising in higher education. By analyzing participants' usage data and chatbot performance, we attempted to understand how students engage with AVA to fulfill their advising needs. AVA effectively delegated repetitive and prescriptive advising services thus enabling efficient utilization of human resources. Students' usage data and chatbot performance data showed increased engagement with academic advising and faster, readily available access to academic advising resources. Additionally, this study presented insights gained from the challenges faced during the integration of the chatbot and suggested directions for future research. The findings of this study are expected to aid academic advisors and university leadership in developing more efficient communication channels via a chatbot that can support the university's goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]