Friday, October 15, 2021

RPP #197: Melvin Hines of Upswing


Interview with Melvin Hines, CEO, and Co-Founder of Upswing. "A virtual assistant and student services platform to reach, relate to, and retain your non-traditional students." We discuss:
  • Melvin's Background
    Melvin Hines, CEO
  • History of Upswing
  • Great disparities in education 
  • Reach, Relate, and Retain
  • Reach: answer questions via text chatbot
  • Relate: connect to campus or Upswing human resources via web conferencing to provide support and tutoring on more than 400 topics
  • Retain: collect analytics to identify students at greatest risk   
  • Result: 15% reduction in dropouts each year
  • Unique chatbot technology integrates with campus calendars to schedule web conferences with campus and Upswing staff and tutors
  • Support for mental health and wellness 
  • Support for faculty     
  • Changes due to the Pandemic 

Duration: 37:48