From Password Resets to Partnership: How Lincoln University Is Building AI Into Campus Helpdesk

WHY THIS SESSION

Account and access issues are roughly 70% of all inbound support volume, 2.5x the next category. No hiring plan closes that gap. Lincoln University started where most institutions do, with the highest-volume problem on the board. What makes their story worth an hour is what happened after that.

Greg Emanuel, Chief Information Officer at Lincoln University, walks through the full arc. The support challenges that made the status quo untenable. What adoption actually looked like on his campus, including the parts that were harder than expected. And where the numbers sit today:

• 56.8% of calls resolved end to end by Voice AI with no transfer
• 90.7% accuracy,
• and an 8.1 average score on resolved calls.

Then he gets into what is next. Greg is working with BlackBeltHelp to extend the AI Front Desk into triage, deciding in real time whether a call belongs inside the AI’s scope or with his own team. Less escalation weight on both sides. Faster answers for students and faculty alike.

This is not a vendor pitch. It is the CIO who lived it, telling it himself.

WHAT YOU’LL LEAVE WITH

• The challenges that pushed Lincoln to act, and why more headcount was not the answer
• How Greg built internal buy-in, and what the first weeks of adoption actually looked like
• The metrics Lincoln watches: resolution, accuracy, satisfaction, and what each one changes day to day
• Where they are taking it next: AI Front Desk triage, scope routing, and pulling escalation weight off both teams
• The best practices Greg would hand to a CIO starting this today