Students and families increasingly choose a school on outcomes, and career readiness became a core goal in UCCS's strategic enrollment plan. Demand for career support kept growing, but UCCS wasn't in a position to add career center staff.
UCCS built Journey, a career services agent that joined its AI recruiter, Clawdia, and campus concierge, Lydie. The question behind her was simple: how do we help students get from where they are today to where they want to be tomorrow?
Meet Journey
Journey takes an initial pass at help desk questions, resume review, and mock interviews, so counselors can focus on high-impact work. Mock interviews are available 24/7. Journey calls when the student is ready, then texts a coaching summary and points them to a career coach.
She's built into the Gateway Program Seminar, UCCS's first-year experience course, which puts career planning in front of students from the minute they enter college. For Wendi Clouse, Ph.D., Chief Strategy, Analytics, and Enrollment Officer at UCCS, the goal was career support that's "easier to access," with students "engaging with career planning much earlier in their academic career."
What students ask
Jobs and internship questions and career center logistics each make up 25% of Journey's conversations. Major and career exploration follows at 20%, with resume and cover letter review, Clyde's Closet, and employer services at 10% each. These themes show UCCS where students need the most help, and where to focus next.
How Journey fits into an academic affairs ontology
Journey can be one capability inside an academic affairs ontology, a shared model of the academic side of an institution. As existing and new agents contribute information to that model, it supports even stronger outcomes. AI handles the repetitive, scalable work, so UCCS staff can spend their time on the high-touch work humans do best.
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