Bailey Bennetch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 12, 2021

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Mainstay (formerly AdmitHub), a national edtech organization, has invited Bailey Bennetch to share the ingenuity and technology behind a Tarleton State University chatbot that’s helping boost enrollment and enhancing communication with admitted students. The webinar takes place Wednesday, Oct. 13, with experts from several hundred post-secondary institutions expected to join.

Bennetch will share the history of Tarleton’s chatbot, adopted two years ago, and its success in encouraging, measuring and predicting actions that help students navigate college admissions. Since the ’bot’s debut, Tarleton has consistently broken enrollment records — even while national numbers remain depressed over COVID-19 uncertainties.

Tarleton began fall 2021 up 6.2 percent from a pre-pandemic count of 13,176. By the 40th class day, numbers had topped 14,145.

Bennetch credits Tarleton’s chatbot with helping set those enrollment records by sending timely reminders and personalized responses to prospective students.

“Bailey and her colleagues have done extraordinary work in taking student communications to the next level,” said Dr. Javier Garza, Vice President for Enrollment Management. “Her efforts are gaining national visibility for Tarleton and helping break enrollment records.”

A Tarleton graduate, Bennetch holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a master’s in agricultural and consumer resources.

A founding member of The Texas A&M System, Tarleton State is breaking records — in enrollment, research, scholarship, athletics, philanthropy and engagement — while transforming the lives of nearly 17,000 students in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Bryan and online. True to Tarleton’s values of excellence, integrity and respect, academic programs emphasize real world learning and address regional, state and national needs.