Earlier this year, university students were greeted by Cosmo, an AI chat bot designed to maximize student success.
Described as a “support resource for students as well as a retention resource for the institution,” Cosmo contacts students through text message.
Jon Geyer, the current associate dean of community responsibility and success, oversees numerous campus departments, such as Student Success, Residential and Commuter Life and Accessibility Services.
Geyer described the earliest inception of Cosmo as a brainchild of different university faculty members; however, only Geyer and one other are still employed at the university.
The initial committee involved current Director of Residential and Commuter Life Tom Snee, former provosts Deanna Wagner and Jody Fournier, and former president Dave Kaufman. According to Geyer, Kaufman leveraged his connections within the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) to get the ball rolling.
Cosmo is powered by EdSights, a company whose mission is to bridge the divide between students and faculty, where the goal is ultimately to help improve student success by closing the “gap of information.”
“When we would get grades or when someone failed a test, we weren’t getting anything from in between there,” Geyer said. “What led to that?”
Cosmo functions through a question-based ranking system, gauging responses covering mental health, financial aid and more. According to Geyer, Cosmo has answered almost 1000 students’ questions without any staff assistance.
To some, an AI chatbot could be seen as a low priority, especially for a private university that has struggled recently with their finances. According to a 2024 article published by the Washington Post, EdSights charges around $15 to $30 per student. Using this information, along with undergraduate enrollment numbers from the university’s 2024 Fact Book (1,609 undergraduate enrolled students), it is reasonable to assume Cosmo costs anywhere from $24,135 to $48,270 to run.
In a poll on the Chimes’s Instagram page, followers were surveyed on the question “Do you feel Cosmo is a valuable expenditure?” Possible answers included “Yes,” “No,” “I don’t know enough about it,” and “What is Cosmo?”
Out of 78 responses, 57 respondents answered “No” (73%).
Despite the strong feeling in the general population, Geyer believes it is too early to completely judge Cosmo’s effectiveness. In fact, he is using this year as the true tell of Cosmo’s practicality.
“It’s tough to tell; if every student’s coming back and saying this [concern] is the thing that’s causing me the most distress, that’s where we’ll take a look and address it,” Geyer said. “That’s where we can make an immediate impact. I’m excited to see what that looks like going forward.”
According to Geyer, 50% of students who are opted-in to the Cosmo chatbot are actively sending it texts; however, the texts might not all be helpful.
Some students who send threatening messages to Cosmo might not realize there are human eyes behind the screen. Even though some messages are sent in a playful manner, Geyer said it is unlikely any action will be taken unless there are possible university Code of Conduct violations (Title IX, violent threats, etc.).
Artificial intelligence is exponentially increasing its presence in every facet of daily life; however, it is unclear whether the university is looking to increase its presence on campus.
“Whether it’s AI or not, we’re constantly looking for ways to find tools that enhance experience and better support students,” Geyer said. “It’s important to look at other tools, because this may work really well for one population, and we may need to look at something else.”
As for future expansion of Cosmo, the possibilities are endless, even for prospective students.
“We’ve not had any significant conversations about whether that would be something we would do moving forward,” Geyer said. “But it might be something we would look at in the future as well.”
