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Educause 2026

Built, Not Bought: Delivering a Fast, Frugal, and Fully Accessible Virtual Safety Walk Mobile App

Wednesday, September 30, 2026 | 9:30AM–10:30AM MT
EDUCAUSE Commons, EDUCAUSE Central, Poster Area
Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster

In today’s evolving campus environment, students expect fast, mobile-first services. At the University of Houston (UH), we saw an opportunity to meet these needs by leveraging creative technology solutions where we could deliver a safety-focused app with custom features. With limited resources and a growing need for scalable solutions, we partnered with the University of Houston Police Department (UHPD) to build the UHPD app featuring the Virtual Safety Walk.

This digital alternative to traditional escorts allows students to request a virtual safety walk directly from their remotely monitored phones, eliminating the wait for an officer to be dispatched, optimizing the use of valuable personnel, and saving time in students' busy schedules. Using UH property lines (geofencing) and real-time location tracking, UHPD can virtually monitor a student’s walk and respond quickly as needed, greatly improving response time and campus coverage. Originally designed to be provided in UH Go, the UH official mobile app, the university pivoted to a standalone app as part of our ecosystem to meet the needs of users and UHPD. Designed with student habits in mind, the app is fast, intuitive, and available 24/7. It empowers users with control and convenience while enhancing campus safety through smarter, tech-driven solutions. Come to this session and learn more.

Speaker

Robert Birkline, Manager - Web Technologies

Presentation Resources

Download the Poster [JPG]

Measuring Chatbot Impact in Higher Ed: Measuring Chatbot Success and Performance Gaps

Thursday, October 01, 2026 | 9:30AM–10:30AM MT
EDUCAUSE Commons, Enterprise Hub, Poster Area
Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster

As chatbot adoption accelerates across higher education, institutions face a critical question: How do we measure success beyond basic usage metrics? This session presents a practical framework for evaluating chatbot performance using real institutional data from a scaled deployment that grew from 4 enrollment-focused chatbots to 23 across campus services.

Participants will explore how metrics such as resolution rate, deflection rate, conversation volume, and staff engagement provide a multidimensional view of chatbot effectiveness. This framework separates signals of success such as high-resolution rates and strong staff engagement from indicators of performance gaps, including escalations and low-performing topics, enabling teams to identify gaps and prioritize improvements. We will also examine how chatbot data informs integration decisions that drive more personalized user experiences, as well as how combining chatbot analytics with call center data reveals true service impact. Attendees will leave with actionable strategies to measure, interpret, and improve chatbot performance at scale.

Speaker

Huyen Vu, AI Solutions Analyst

Presentation Resources

Download the Poster [JPG]

Educause 2025

Lessons from the Front Lines: Deploying a Campus-Wide Chatbot in Higher Education

Tuesday, October 28, 2025 | 4:30PM–5:15PM CT
Nashville, TN - EDUCAUSE Commons, Enterprise Central, Poster Area
Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster

Transformative technologies bring both opportunities and challenges to higher education. Among the most promising is the use of AI-powered chatbots to improve how students access campus resources and support services. When designed and deployed effectively, chatbots can deliver timely, personalized assistance, enhance the student experience, and reduce the volume of routine inquiries handled by staff. However, if poorly implemented or inadequately supported, these tools risk weakening student trust—delaying adoption and limiting the potential for long-term transformation. This session will share lessons learned from piloting a campus-wide AI chatbot, including the importance of leadership and staff buy-in, committing resources for long-term success, and identifying meaningful ways to measure impact. Attendees will gain insight into what it takes to move from a promising pilot to a reliable, student-centered service. The session offers practical guidance for institutions considering similar initiatives.

Speaker

  • Mark Rosanes, AI Solutions Manager

Presentation Resources

Educause 2022

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 | 10:15a.m. – 11:00a.m. MT

Wednesday, October 26, 2022 | 3:00p.m. – 3:45p.m. MT

Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster Session

The Good, Bad, and Ugly QR code

QR codes are everywhere, and some are good, some are bad, and some are just ugly. Explore different scenarios and what we can do to address these concerns on the way to providing a useful and secure QR experience.

Speakers

  • Robert Birkline, Manager of Web Technology, University of Houston

 Downloads:

  • Downloadable poster : [PNG]
  • QR code answer key: [PDF]
  • QR information packet: [PDF]

Educause 2021

Philadelphia Convention Center | Philadelphia, PA

Wednesday, October 27, 2021 | 4:15p.m. – 5:00p.m. ET

Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster Session

Transforming Campus Safety with Location Services and Emergency Calling in Your Mobile App

Class ends, it’s dark, and your car is a 15-minute walk away. Shadows become ominous, every other person on the sidewalk is suspect, anxiety builds. You feel threatened! Do you call 911, campus police? How do you explain where you are? An emergency phone kiosk 300 yards away. If it works, you’ll get the police, and they will know where you are, but you are stuck there and vulnerable until the police arrive. During this session we will demonstrate the mobile solution we developed in house and built into the campus mobile app that calls the University of Houston (UH) emergency number and uses geolocation and geofencing to allow the UHPD to track the caller during the call. We will explain how we worked with UHPD, students, local law enforcement, and others to deliver a highly effective emergency calling feature. See behind-the-curtain administration functions and dashboards used by UHPD that go beyond the technology used on most campuses. This demonstration will go far beyond a normal show-and-tell, providing insight on how we worked with key stakeholders from initial conceptualization to testing and deployment, all while saving the university hundreds of thousands of dollars through cost savings and cost avoidance.

Speakers

  • Robert Birkline, Manager of Web Technology, University of Houston

 Downloads:

  • Downloadable poster [PDF]
  • Poster Powerpoint: [PPTX]

Educause 2019

Tuesday, October 15 | 1:15p.m. – 2:15p.m. and 5:00p.m. - 5:45p.m. CT

Session Type: Poster Session
Delivery Format: Poster Session

Journey Through a Mobile App

Explore paths along the journey through a mobile app implementation. We'll share experiences from the perspective of organizational leadership as well as consideration for software development. From conception to engaging stakeholders to end-user adoption, we'll address many unanswered questions as we examine the "why" and "how" of mobile.

Outcomes: See the value and process of strategic planning, building relationships, and understanding your options in your journey ahead based on firsthand experience from our key team members * Receive a downloadable journey guide, which covers our journey from past to present.

Speakers

  • Robert Birkline, Manager of Web Technology, University of Houston
  • Diane Trippel, Director of Web & Communication Services, University of Houston

 Downloads:

  • Journey Guide: poster [PDF]
  • Sample Project Templates [long] [short]
  • Sample Organizational Chart [PDF]
  • Sample Testing Matrix [PDF]

Understanding and Interpreting the Needs of a Centralized/Decentralized Help Desk

Our aim is to demonstrate an IT help desk system for the entire University of Houston system that's easy to use, cost-effective, scalable, adaptable, and integrable with SharePoint and Microsoft Microsoft 365 for the centralized/decentralized IT model of the university system.

Outcomes: Identify the unique support needs of a centralized/decentralized IT structure * Understand the complications that a decentralized model places on IT support in a major university and how this can be addressed to the benefit of the customers * Identify the financial benefits of implementing an economically viable software

Speakers

  • Srinidhi Parshi, Instructional Assistant, University Information Technology, University of Houston

 Downloads:

  • Overview Poster: [PDF]
  • Middle Poster [PDF]
  • Results Poster [PDF]
  • Sample Financial/Market Analysis Matrix [PDF]

Network Assessment

This project was initiated by the Assistant Vice President for Technology and Support Services University of Houston to assess the UH network. The main objective was to determine the current state of the UH network, identify future needs, expectations, and emerging technologies and create an immediate and long-term Network Plan. Furthermore, a cursory look into the methodology used, the first step was to identify the departmental structure, personnel and stakeholders involved in delivering information technology solutions; for the UH case study this departmental team were

  • Network Planning and Development - the Core Network,
  • the IT Network Services, -access layer network planning,
  • the UIT customer support ticket-based customer support,
  • Information Technology Availability Center (ITAC)Network Operations Center.

Customer feedback was gathered through online surveys and the use of a mobile app during townhall meetings. Input used to determine expectations and future demand on the UH network was also gathered from stakeholders including everyone who's activities were impacted by the network from teaching faculty to faculty Researchers, Students, Administrative Staff, IT Leadership etc.

In addition, we needed a way to measure and quantify the data available to us. during the early stages of the network assessment, one key strategy was to pull up all relevant data. This efficient data collection and analysis will be presented.

Finally, the results are interesting as this produced several high risks immediate action items and also future network plan.