AI strategies for family engagement: save time and scale impact
Let’s face it — AI is everywhere. You’ve probably heard “AI is here to stay” more times than you can count (maybe even in your sleep). But here’s the thing: when it comes to family engagement in higher ed, AI is a game-changer.
At CampusESP, we’ve seen it firsthand. Our AI Content Tools have been used more than 9,500 times by 336+ colleges to create, refine, and translate family communications — helping teams save time, scale impact, and reach more families without growing their staff.
To explore how it’s working in the real world, we sat down with two of our top AI power users:
Fritzie Charne-Merriwether from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Ben Trapanick from Framingham State University
Read on to hear how they’re using AI to elevate their family engagement strategies — and why they’re not looking back. (Want to watch the discussion? Jump to the recording below!)
AI for faster family content creation
AI tools have drastically reduced the time teams spend creating content. Instead of hours spent drafting emails and posts, institutions now get it done in a fraction of the time. “Once the AI tools in CampusESP were launched, it went from 5 to 8 hours per week to barely an hour a week now!” — Fritzie, UMBC
Quick tip: Start by writing in your own voice or copy and pasting facts you want to include, then use AI to refine and enhance it.
Try this prompt: “Polish this message for clarity and engagement, but keep my voice intact.”
Translation services
AI-powered translation tools help schools instantly translate content into multiple languages, like Spanish and Portuguese — without outsourcing. This creates more inclusive, equitable communication for non-English-speaking families.
“We’re translating as much as we can and making it as equitable as possible.”
— Ben, Framingham State
Try this prompt: “Translate this into Spanish while keeping the tone and messaging the same.”
Enhanced family engagement
AI-assisted content is actually performing better. Fritzie shared that her AI-generated posts had a 33% higher click rate than the ones she created manually.
“Those posts really do a great job of catching people’s attention and getting engagement.”
— Fritzie, UMBC
Quick tip: Use AI to repackage existing content instead of starting from scratch. Easily turn a blog into a social post or email, or change the audience focus.
Try this prompt: “Take this announcement for students and rewrite it for families, highlighting why it’s important for them to know and how they can help their student.”
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to using AI. The best way to get comfortable? Start experimenting. Try different prompts. See what works. The more specific you are, the more helpful the results will be.
AI isn’t replacing your team — it’s making it easier to scale your impact, connect with more families, and do more with the resources you already have.