Dartmouth College : 24/7 AI Helpdesk Assistant for Campus-Wide IT Support

Education / EdTech

Dartmouth College – AI-Powered IT Helpdesk Assistant for Education

Dartmouth College deployed our AI chatbot to automate IT support for students, faculty, and administrative staff. Built using advanced NLP models, the assistant handles everything from password resets and Wi-Fi issues to software installation queries. It integrates seamlessly with the college’s ticketing system and learns from historical tickets to offer faster resolutions. The bot is active 24/7, ensuring zero downtime in service availability. With our AI solution, Dartmouth reduced wait times, improved ticket deflection, and empowered its helpdesk to focus on complex tech needs.

Project Overview

Client: Dartmouth College (Ivy League institution with 6,600+ students and 900+ faculty)
Challenge: High IT ticket volume + long resolution times for common tech issues
Goal: Build an AI chatbot to:
- Resolve basic IT issues autonomously (e.g., Wi-Fi, login, software setup)
- Deflect repetitive support tickets from helpdesk staff
- Ensure uninterrupted support across time zones and schedules
Team: 7 (2 NLP Engineers, 2 Integration Devs, 1 ITSM Consultant, 1 QA Analyst, 1 PM)
Timeline: 4 months (Build → Campus Beta → Full Deployment)

“With GenX, we’ve moved beyond basic chatbots to create an intelligent support system that scales with our growing student population.”

Director of Campus IT Services, Dartmouth College

The Challenge

Critical Pain Points:

IT teams were overwhelmed by repetitive, low-complexity queries
Delayed response times during peak academic periods frustrated users
Ticketing system lacked AI capabilities to auto-resolve or triage tickets

Technical Hurdles:

Training the NLP engine on domain-specific campus terminology and tech stack
Connecting to Dartmouth's specialized ITSM platform and knowledge repository
Maintaining data privacy and FERPA compliance for sensitive queries

Tech Stack

Component	Technologies
NLP & Chatbot Framework	Dialogflow CX, BERT, spaCy, GPT-4 fallback
Backend & Integration	Node.js, Firebase, Google Cloud Functions
Ticketing System Integration	ServiceNow APIs, REST/GraphQL
Frontend Channels	React, Slack SDK, Teams SDK, Intranet Widgets
Security & Monitoring	Google IAM, Datadog, FERPA Compliance Logging

Key Innovations

The assistant resolved routine IT queries like Wi-Fi and password resets 24/7. It learned from past tickets to suggest instant solutions. Staff could focus on complex issues as ticket volume dropped.

24/7 Self-Service IT Resolution

Resolved most queries without human intervention, anytime

Result: 62% of IT tickets fully deflected within the first month

Smart Learning from Ticket Histories

Identified trending tech issues and adapted responses accordingly

Result: 29% faster response accuracy over the first 10K interactions

Cross-Channel Campus Integration

Available through web, mobile, Slack, Teams, and kiosks

Result: 48% increase in student engagement with IT support

Our AI/ML Architecture

Core Models

Campus NLP Engine:
- Fine-tuned BERT-based model trained on Dartmouth-specific queries
- Handles over 120 classified IT intents (from “forgot password” to “install MATLAB”)
Auto-Triage + Ticket Escalation System:
- Deflects tickets by resolving directly or routing to appropriate support tiers
- Learns from closed ticket patterns for improved intent detection
Knowledge Feedback Loop:
- Uses unresolved queries to update and expand the knowledge base
- Human-in-the-loop approval before publishing AI-suggested content