Podcast Summary: The Signal – Ep. 81

Guest: Devin Purgason, AVP for Student Experience, Marketing and Outreach, Forsyth Technical Community College
Host: Jeff Dillon
Date: April 3, 2026
Theme: "Who Owns the Student Journey in the Age of AI"

Overview

In this episode of The Signal, host Jeff Dillon interviews Devin Purgason, a recognized leader in student experience, marketing, and outreach at Forsyth Technical Community College. The conversation explores how collapsing traditional silos—marketing, admissions, onboarding, and student care—improves the entire student journey. Devin dives into how data-driven strategies, human-centered support, and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping higher education, particularly within community colleges. The dialogue addresses both opportunities and risks of AI, the necessity of authentic communication, and practical tips for leaders looking to modernize their marketing and student support in an evolving tech landscape.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rethinking the Student Journey: Beyond Silos

• Collapsing Organizational Walls

  • Devin explains that Forsyth Tech intentionally combines marketing, recruitment, onboarding, and student care under one division to ensure accountability for the entire student journey, from discovery to graduation (00:00; 04:19).
  • “Every handoff is another place where a student can fall through the cracks. So we deliberately tried to collapse those walls…” – Devin (00:12)

• Philosophy Over Org Charts

  • Structural integration is not just administrative, but deeply philosophical: it centers the student and aligns every touchpoint with the institution's values and brand promise (04:19).

2. Student-Centered Communication & Outreach

• Authenticity and Transparency

  • Outreach reflects the realities of diverse students: single parents, adult learners, immigrants, and others who often don't see themselves in standard campaigns (05:43).
  • “We stop saying things like, take the step in your next journey. Instead, we're like, here’s what it costs, here's how long it takes, here's what our graduates are earning.” – Devin (06:10)

• Meeting Students Where They Are

  • Multiple channels: text, workplace visits, community org events, and student ambassadors help Forsyth Tech connect more authentically (05:52).

• Common Mistakes in Higher Ed Communication

  • Institutions often use institutional language—like "transformative"—and focus on themselves rather than what students really want or need to hear (07:34).
  • Many colleges underestimate or ignore how prospective students actually discover colleges today: via Google, social media, and increasingly, by using AI tools like ChatGPT (08:25).

3. Embracing Artificial Intelligence in the Student Lifecycle

• Early Adoption and Experimentation

  • Forsyth Tech’s president fostered a culture of early experimentation with AI, establishing an AI committee as soon as ChatGPT emerged (10:20).
  • Their 'AI enrollment stack' includes Blaze Bot (an AI-powered chatbot), advanced AI search features, and analytics tools—leading to real, measurable improvements in responsiveness (10:37).
  • “When we launched [Blaze Bot], the chatbot answer rate was about 53%, and now it’s pushing 85%.” – Devin (11:01)

• AI as a Relationship Amplifier, Not a Replacement

  • AI tackles routine, transactional queries so staff can focus on meaningful student relationships (11:20).
  • “AI has not replaced the human relationship. It handles that transactional layer so humans can focus on the relationship.” – Devin (11:50)

• Institutional Barriers & Attitudes Toward AI

  • Some colleges delay adoption, waiting for perfection, but Devin advocates for experimentation and learning through "failure as a way to learn and optimize" (13:15).
  • “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of great.” – Devin (13:37)
  • “Perfect is the enemy of progress.” – Jeff (15:15)

4. Data-Driven Decision Making Across Teams

• Breaking Down Data Silos

  • Marketing data (searches, drop-off points, campaign engagement) is shared across teams to improve onboarding, advising, and student support—not just campaign performance (15:22).

• Example: Removing Onboarding Roadblocks

  • Tracking where students dropped off (financial aid complexity) led Forsyth Tech to create a dedicated onboarding team—raising completion rates from 19% to 45% since 2019 (15:58).
  • “That doesn't really happen by accident. It happens when you follow the data, past the enrollment, and stay accountable for what happens after.” – Devin (17:26)

5. The Role (and Limitations) of AI

• Opportunities:
  • AI enables scaling support and personalized communication without extra staff—crucial for lean community colleges (18:14).
• Risks:
  • The main risk is avoidance: institutions that don’t adopt AI will be left behind, as it’s already reshaping student expectations and behaviors (18:38).
  • “Sitting out to me is not really a neutral choice.” – Devin (18:57)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------|-------| | 00:12 | Devin | “Every handoff is another place where a student can fall through the cracks. So we deliberately tried to collapse those walls…” | | 02:24 | Devin | “Marketing in higher education is often done to students, not for students.” | | 06:10 | Devin | “We stop saying things like, take the step in your next journey. Instead, we're like, here’s what it costs, here's how long it takes, here's what our graduates are earning.” | | 11:50 | Devin | “AI has not replaced the human relationship. It handles that transactional layer so humans on our team can focus on the relationship.” | | 13:37 | Devin | “Don’t let perfect be the enemy of great.” | | 15:26 | Jeff | “Perfect is the enemy of progress.” | | 17:26 | Devin | “…That doesn't really happen by accident. It happens when you follow the data, past the enrollment, and stay accountable for what happens after.” | | 18:57 | Devin | “Sitting out to me is not really a neutral choice.” |

Segment Timestamps

• [00:00] - Introduction to the integrated student experience philosophy
• [02:03] - Devin’s background and student-centered marketing approach
• [04:19] - Breaking down institutional silos for a seamless student journey
• [05:43] - Designing outreach for diverse student populations
• [07:34] - What colleges are still getting wrong in communication
• [09:17] - The rapid evolution of AI in recruiting and student engagement
• [10:20] - Forsyth Tech's AI stack and chatbot ‘Blaze Bot’
• [13:15] - Embracing imperfection and experimental culture with AI
• [15:22] - Connecting marketing data to student outcomes
• [15:58] - Example: Improving onboarding and raising completion rates
• [18:14] - Where AI offers most value—and risks to consider
• [19:53] - How teaching in the classroom shapes Devin’s approach to engagement
• [21:49] - Perceptions of AI in coding vs. writing assignments
• [23:57] - Where leaders should start with modernization: metrics, structure, and content
• [25:34] - What excites Devin most about the future of community colleges

Practical Advice for Higher Ed Teams

• Start with Meaningful Metrics:
  • Track outcomes beyond inquiries/applications—measure from first contact to completion (23:57).
• Identify Hand-Off Gaps:
  • Examine where students fall “between the cracks” in the journey and ensure someone owns each transition.
• Invest in Content before Tools:
  • Outdated program pages or FAQs can undermine even the best AI or CRM tools; ensure your information is accurate and student-centered (24:45).
  • “AI tools, CRMs, chatbots, all of them are only as good as the information that you're working with.” – Devin (24:57)
• Normalize Experimentation:
  • Don’t “wait for perfect”—pilot, learn, iterate, and improve as technology evolves (13:37).

Looking Forward: The Future of Tech in Community Colleges

• Increasing Enrollment & Breaking Old Narratives:
  • Despite “enrollment cliff” fears, community colleges are growing and adult learners are returning (25:34).
• Tech as Leveler:
  • Technology, if used thoughtfully, levels the playing field—enabling scale, personalization, and predictive support that was impossible a decade ago.
• Urgency to Act:
  • Community colleges are well-equipped philosophically and structurally but must bring intent and urgency to technological transformation.

“We just have to show up for the technology conversation with the same urgency that we bring to the classroom.” – Devin (26:52)