The Higher Education Consortium of Metropolitan St. Louis (HEC) has been around for over 60 years as a representative voice for higher education in St. Louis, Missouri. They serve as the catalyst and connector of various educational programs that set students up for success in higher education and beyond.
TRIO Upward Bound is one of the educational programs HEC offers. Upward Bound’s mission is to provide low-income, first-generation students the guidance and instruction they need to attend college.
The program provides exposure to university-level classes, digital resources, college tours, and instruction that readies students and their families academically and socially for the rigor of higher education.
So when unexpected circumstances left Kevin Todd, the program’s director, without an administrative assistant and a star student recruiter, he faced a critical challenge: onboarding new students for the Upward Bound program in time for the summer.
So Todd looked to a Jotform AI product — Presentation Agents — to maintain the nonprofit’s student pipeline. The results were remarkable.
He used Presentation Agents to do the complex and nuanced work of introducing the program, walking students through the application process, and explaining the stipend payment process via presentations. Upward Bound went from having no ability to onboard students independently to achieving 100 percent self-onboarding using AI.
TRIO Upward Bound case study results at a glance
12 hours of manual onboarding saved
Presentation Agents subbed in without a drop-off in the quality of student onboarding. This freed up the recruiter to connect directly with those students who needed prescriptive help.
100% self-onboarding using AI
Fifteen new students received a presentation and applied on their own, eliminating weeks of potential scheduling conflicts.
Invaluable flexibility
The advisor was able to prioritize family needs without sacrificing student recruitment, and the program continued operating without delays.
From digitizing paper forms to finding new creative solutions
The work of nonprofits is never-ending. One day you’re striving to ensure you have the federal funds necessary to continue (something that sadly can no longer be counted upon), the next you’re looking for additional staff and resources so others don’t get burned out.
Todd first started using Jotform years ago when he worked for an HEC TRIO Educational Talent Search program that needed to digitize its paper forms. Once the program switched away from lengthy paper-based applications to digital forms, the application rate went up, which was critical given that federal mandates required the program to serve at least 800 students to receive funding.
The forms require both student and parental agreement, e-signatures, and a timely turnaround, so shifting signups from paper to digital was a necessary step for the program’s growth.
When it comes to running a nonprofit and you’re thinking about ways to cut costs, using Jotform AI Agents, in my opinion, helps with reducing expenses. I was able to eliminate two other programs because of this product.
Kevin Todd, Program Director, TRIO Upward Bound
Flash forward to 2025 and Todd, now working at TRIO Upward Bound, faced a new challenge, a perfect storm.
Two of the program’s employees had to step away for personal reasons. Both played key roles in the new student onboarding process: The advisor/recruiter helped get new students in the door, and the engagement specialist helped onboard students and finalize financial paperwork with parents.
“We had to get a W-9 form signed, and a direct deposit form signed, because we pay a stipend,” explained Todd. “It was critical to get that information correct. When the assistant got sick, we got very behind on getting those in. Though the recruiting process has started, students are not considered onboard until all of those documents are signed.”
With summer quickly approaching, a mandated number of students to serve, and a full plate of his own, Todd needed an onboarding solution fast.
Presentation Agents solve a critical need
While Todd had been a savvy Jotform user for several years, he hadn’t yet used AI, not even ChatGPT. But Todd thought AI might offer a solution for his particular need: providing a consultative walkthrough that would engage students and parents.
When I looked at Jotform AI and saw Presentation Agents, I’m like, hallelujah, this is it.
Kevin Todd
He uploaded existing PowerPoint presentations to Jotform in seconds and used two main Presentation Agents as helpers and surrogates for his team members. The first agent walked students through the recruitment application, while the second agent finalized the students’ onboarding with their parents.
For recruitment, Upward Bound sent the agent to classroom teachers, who simply played the presentation for their students to learn about the program.
The agent was linked to the recruitment form, so after the presentation, interested and eligible students filled out the digital application form on their devices.
Once the applications were submitted, the onboarding presentation was sent to the students’ parents.
“We created a presentation that could walk the parents through those forms . . . that presentation allowed parents to complete the onboarding process,” Todd said. “We followed up with a phone call just to say ‘Hey, check your email,’ because they may not be used to all this. But I did not have to have my employee involved.”
Efficiency, cost savings, and invaluable flexibility for Upward Bound
Despite being down two employees, Director Todd and TRIO Upward Bound turned to Jotform Presentation Agents for a successful student onboarding flow.
The results were better than hoped. By introducing an innovative new way to work with students and their parents, the program broke new ground and was able to maintain engagement levels.
The program achieved 100 percent self-onboarding using AI, helping Upward Bound meet its federal student number requirement. In total, 15 new students received a presentation and applied on their own, which eliminated weeks of potential scheduling conflicts.
The agent implementation helped Todd save 45 minutes per student, totaling 12 hours — time that otherwise would have been spent on manual onboarding. The agents also benefited the employees who were out, enabling the team’s assistant to focus on getting well and the recruiter to attend to family matters and reach out to students via phone when she had availability to close the onboarding loop, a fact not lost on Todd.
“Beyond efficiency and cost savings, this solution provided invaluable flexibility. My advisor was able to prioritize her family’s needs without sacrificing student recruitment, and our program continued operating smoothly without delays. Also, my engagement specialist could return to work with confidence, knowing she was not behind. The impact of Presentation Agents wasn’t just quantitative — it was qualitative, providing peace of mind and allowing us to focus on the students who truly needed human assistance.”
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