Modernizing Technologies at The Beach
In a decade marked by rapid technological advancements and rising automation, at CSULB, modernizing the university to meet the expectations of today’s students, faculty, and employees is central to cultivating resilience for our institution.
The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is driving a number of cutting-edge initiatives across campus. From expanding our capacity to serve more students to enhancing communication among employees, these projects fortify the university to respond more efficiently in future times of dramatic shifts, and position CSULB as a leader in innovation through relevant and advanced technology upgrades.
An increased demand for more flexible modes of educational and information delivery was the impetus behind a handful of projects, including interactive wayfinding kiosks to help navigate campus, an online chatbot to answer questions on CSULB’s website 24/7, and virtual assistant technology that can augment in-person hours with on-demand virtual calls. Each of these provide a level of convenience and practical service that bolster the university’s mission to remain nimble and proactive in support of access, engagement, and resilience.
Interactive Maps & Chatbot
An interactive map of campus that can provide step-by-step directions, live shuttle tracking, parking maps, and faculty and staff directories are all features of the wayfinding kiosks that can be found in Brotman Hall and Maxson Plaza. Soon, another will go online in the Horn Center, part of efforts to further ensure our campus is accessible and easy to navigate for all visitors. By the same token, the Elbee chatbot, featured on the university website, expanded this past year to service even more areas of csulb.edu, improving wayfinding in the digital spaces run by the university. Since its launch, the Elbee chatbot has engaged in more than 155,000 conversations and answered about 367,000 questions. While the DoIT team enhanced the scope of the chatbot’s ability to answer questions, they envision even more for the program in the future, infusing AI-capabilities that could allow for more actionable tasks, like prompting students who ask about admission with information about how to enroll in CSULB.
Virtual Assistant:
While the chatbot serves as an automated service, the virtual assistant technology being piloted now blends the digital and physical to supplement in-person hours of service. This innovative technology, being tested now in the Beach Central office, allows in-person visitors to live video call a CSULB employee if no one is available in person. Possibilities are abundant for the future use and capabilities of these assistants, which could be used by students needing after-hours support, or by advisors who want to maintain a flexible work schedule while remaining open to meet with students any time. And in the future, with some AI implementations, the assistant could offer a self-service option for more complex tasks, like helping students register for classes, handing off to a video call with an enrollment professional at the right time.
Remote Work Technologies
With the increased demand for hybrid and remote work, CSULB leaders are rethinking what it means to stay connected as a workforce. Teams Voice, a service that will allow employees to replace physical desk phones and communicate through Microsoft Teams for phone calls, messaging, and video calls, is an initiative the DoIT team has been working on during the 2022-2023 academic year. With plans to roll out this service in the upcoming academic year, Teams Voice represents a significant step in ensuring our campus is responding sensibly to the changing trends in the way we work.
In an ever-changing technological landscape, CSULB’s IT leaders are ensuring our institution is at the forefront of innovative and forward-looking actions that strengthen our position as a leading university.
