Higher education is increasingly being challenged to scale personalization without losing the human connection that builds trust and persistence. The most effective approaches align people, data and technology in ways that reduce friction, improve timing and ensure learners feel known, supported and confident navigating their path from the very beginning. In this interview, Justin Pfeifer discusses how early student engagement is most effective when speed is paired with continuity, ensuring learners are connected to a consistent, trusted advisor from the very first touchpoint.
The EvoLLLution (Evo): What early touchpoints have proven most impactful in helping students feel more seen and supported even before they arrive on campus?
Justin Pfeifer (JP): One of the most impactful things we’ve done at WSU Tech is prioritizing human connection from the very first touchpoint. Whether a student reaches out online, through social media or applies directly, we try to connect them with a real person within the first 48 hours. Automation plays a role, but that early connection really matters.
What’s different for us is that many of the admissions and advising functions are combined into one role. From the very beginning, students are assigned an advisor who stays with them throughout their entire time here. That continuity builds connection, trust and understanding. We’ve also started using short, informal video messages that allow students to put a face to a name. Especially for students who apply without prior contact, getting them connected quickly helps ensure they don’t feel lost or overwhelmed before they even arrive.
Evo: Where can institutions make the biggest strides in personalizing that student journey from day one?
JP: Institutions can make the biggest strides by using technology, especially AI, to remove administrative friction and give staff more time for real human connection. We’ve invested strategically in our enrollment CRM and tech stack to automate routine tasks, but in a way that still feels personal. Messages may be automated on the back end, but they come from a real advisor. That takes a lot of intentional work—mapping touchpoints, testing messaging and building the right cadence—but it pays off.
Data integration is critical. Students should see progress that reflects their actions, not generic checklists. If systems aren’t aligned, it creates confusion and erodes trust. When they are aligned, personalization becomes powerful—whether it’s a chatbot that can securely answer questions about missing financial aid documents or outreach that normalizes common struggles instead of just listing deadlines.
We’re cautious about over-automating. AI should work in the background, nudging and supporting, but the goal is always to free up advisors and other student success staff to spend more time building meaningful relationships. That human connection is still the secret sauce.
Evo: How are data and insights shaping the way that your team will anticipate what a student needs and when to intervene?
JP: Data and insights are really about helping us intervene with the right student at the right time. Higher education has always been data rich but information poor. We have data coming from ERPs, financial aid, learning management systems, attendance, engagement and more. The challenge has been making sense of it all. That’s where AI becomes a gamechanger.
Every day, students make decisions that either move them closer to success or further away—attending class, completing assignments, paying bills, engaging with course materials. When we can harness that data through AI, we can create a digital safety net that flags risk but also recognizes progress. Not every message has to be negative. Sometimes it’s reinforcing positive momentum.
The real challenge isn’t how to help students—often the fix is simple—it’s when to step in. With limited staff and resources, data helps us focus our human effort where it will have the greatest impact, whether that’s before classes start or during the first critical weeks. Timing is everything.
Evo: What kind of partnerships are essential to delivering meaningful student engagement?
JP: Meaningful student engagement comes down to strong internal partnerships. For us, enrollment, admissions and advising are already integrated, which makes a big difference. Information technology and institutional research are both critical partners as well, making sure our systems are connected and data is flowing so we can personalize support at scale. One key role has been our functional business analyst, who bridges the gap between functional teams and IT and helps us get the most out of our platforms.
Marketing is also essential, not just for enrollment but for nurturing students through key steps before day one. And finally, close collaboration with faculty and academic leadership matters. Advisors work directly with academic departments to share insights, flag challenges and align scheduling with student needs. When these teams are aligned, engagement becomes more consistent and effective.
Evo: What does a successful early connection look like from your vantage point? And how do you measure its long-term impact on student success?
JP: From my vantage point, a successful early connection isn’t about a single interaction. It’s about a student believing that someone at the college knows them, cares about them and will notice if they’re struggling. That might be a person, like an advisor or faculty member, or it might be knowing exactly where to go for help through their portal or the website. The key is that mindset shift from I’m on my own to I know what to do and who to contact.
Measuring that can be tricky, but there are indicators: students completing early steps like FAFSA, responding to outreach, showing up on day one and engaging before they go silent. Over time, you’d expect to see fewer no-shows, stronger early retention, faster interventions when issues arise and ultimately higher retention and completion rates.
Evo: Is there anything you’d like to add?
JP: One thing I’d add is how important strong strategic enrollment management has been for us. Early on, many of our wins were focused on enrollment and marketing, and that came from tight collaboration between those teams and student success. Over time, we’ve expanded that work to include retention, academics, institutional research and IT. Strategic enrollment management isn’t just about bringing students in. It’s about supporting them across their entire lifecycle.
We’re not perfect, but we’ve made real progress by operating as one team with shared goals. Regular touchpoints help us move quickly when issues arise, and we’re constantly working to shorten the time between identifying a problem and putting an intervention in place. Getting the right people aligned and moving in the same direction makes a meaningful difference for students.
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