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VEO Frequently Asked Questions
What is the strategic goal of the virtual engagement officer (VEO) tool known as “Claire?”
Strategic Goal: To help more alumni feel more deeply in tune with college news and information.
The Virtual Engagement Officer focuses on a group of alumni (less than 5% of the total population), using AI to quickly analyze large amounts of data and spot patterns in how alumni connect with the institution. This allows it to identify interests and send relevant information far more efficiently and on a larger scale than staff could do on their own. Used alongside the work of the team, this approach helps to share more meaningful custom messages to build stronger, more personalized connections with a greater number of alumni.
What does the tool actually do?
Let’s start with what it doesn’t do. This is not a chat bot and is not meant to replace staff who thoughtfully answer questions and calls from our alumni base. Instead, the software cultivates alumni connections using data and news already produced and vetted by college staff and disseminates it based on interests and experiences of individual alumni. The tool does this using artificial intelligence built by our partner company, Givzey.
What is the Environmental Impact of the VEO?
This tool has very minimal environmental impact. Unlike AI companies that train foundational models, Givzey’s technology leverages existing, pre-trained models. This eliminates the massive computational costs and carbon emissions associated with training large language models from the ground up.
How have other institutions found success with this tool?
Givzey reports strong statistics associated with this tool which quantifies engagement and activities managed that exceed what a human could do. Partner institutions of the company have reported securing multi-year pledges and gifts, as well as increased giving after using the tool.
Is this replacing a staff position at Westminster?
This tool is part of our software budget, as opposed to our personnel budget, and helps us to stay ahead of current trends in fundraising. It does not replace or utilize funds of human employees and is set up, managed, and reviewed by our staff with weekly reports. It is a platform we have chosen to use to help supplement the information we have and receive from alumni to make their alumni experience even better.
What is the safety of alumni data with this tool?
Givzey is committed to protecting our organization’s data, ensuring transparency around how their systems operate, and supporting IT and security teams with clear, comprehensive documentation.
To ensure the responsible use of artificial intelligence and other modern software tools, the Westminster College evaluates all third-party technology using the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT), a nationally recognized framework developed by and for higher education. As part of our review of Givzey’s VEO tool, we examined key areas including data privacy and ownership, information security controls, encryption of data in transit and at rest, access management, incident response procedures, compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and the vendor’s policies regarding the use, training, and retention of institutional data. This process helps confirm that College data is protected, used only for its intended purpose, and governed by clear contractual safeguards.
As its first step into using AI enabled tools, the College approached this review thoughtfully, applying the same rigorous standards used for all enterprise software to safeguard community trust and information.
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Westminster College