GROW: A Conversational AI Coach for Goals, Reflection, Optimism, and Well-Being

TL;DR

GROW is a goal-centered conversational AI coach designed to enhance college students' well-being by facilitating values-aligned goal setting, reflection, and progress tracking, addressing limitations of existing digital tools.

Contribution

The paper introduces GROW, a novel AI coaching system integrating SMART goals and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy principles for student well-being.

Findings

GROW received positive feedback from psychologists and students.

The system increased student engagement and accountability.

Design implications for digital well-being tools in higher education were identified.

Abstract

College students face well-being challenges driven by academic pressure, financial strain, and social expectations. While campus counseling and student-success programs offer support, access is often limited by stigma, waitlists, and scheduling constraints. Existing digital tools focus on emotional check-ins or chatbots and may overlook structured goal setting and aligning goals with personal values. We present GROW, a goal-centered well-being coaching system that puts values-aligned goals at the center of the student experience. GROW combines the SMART framework with principles from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in a conversational AI coach that helps students clarify aspirations, break them into concrete steps, and reflect on progress. The system links action plans with Google Calendar, sends reminders, and provides a dashboard that shows progress and engagement. We evaluated GROW through interviews with clinical psychologists, student-success staff, and faculty, followed by a one-week deployment with 30 undergraduates. Findings offer design implications for interactive systems that support engagement, accountability, and sense of purpose in higher education.