Case Study, Higher Education Help Desk
How Dartmouth College
Transformed Alumni Support
with a Dedicated Help Desk
With 80,000+ alumni and a growing portfolio of online services, Dartmouth needed a help desk partner that could scale on demand and deliver Ivy League-level service every time.
Partnership Overview
80,000 Alumni, No Centralized Place to Turn for Help
Alumni support at Dartmouth had historically been spread across multiple offices, Alumni Relations, Admissions, the library, and three professional schools, each operating independently. The result was an inconsistent experience for the college's 80,000+ alumni, with no single destination for questions about the growing array of digital platforms the college was deploying.
Beginning in 2010, Dartmouth embarked on a sweeping technology overhaul, implementing identity management, migrating dozens of services to iModules, and modernizing giving, events, email, and content management. The scale of change required a dedicated support operation that existing staff simply couldn't provide.
Fragmented, Decentralized Alumni Support
Support was spread across multiple offices, Alumni Relations, Admissions, the library, and three professional schools, creating inconsistent experiences for 80,000+ alumni.
Massive Technology Transformation
A sweeping 2010 overhaul, identity management, iModules migration, online giving, events, email, CMS, required a dedicated support operation existing staff couldn't provide.
A Dedicated Alumni Help Desk Built for Dartmouth
In 2013, Aureon and Dartmouth partnered to launch a centralized alumni help desk, a team of dedicated associates trained specifically on Dartmouth's tools, systems, and culture. Alumni now had one place to call for any question, on any platform, at any time. Aureon provides support seven days a week, including nights and weekends, the hours when alumni are actually available.
Aureon agents don't just answer questions, they teach, update directories, send emails on alumni's behalf, and manage web content edits. Average calls run nine minutes; complex calls often exceed an hour. Contact data is analyzed continuously, with staffing recommendations delivered to Dartmouth leadership to drive strategic service decisions.
Dedicated Alumni Help Desk
A centralized team of Aureon associates trained specifically on Dartmouth's tools, systems, and culture, one place for any alumnus to call with any question, on any platform.
7-Day-a-Week Coverage
Aureon provides support seven days a week, including nights and weekends, the hours when alumni are actually available. Coverage flexes up during peak periods like fiscal year-end fundraising and major technology rollouts.
Training & Hands-On Assistance
Agents walk alumni through digital tools, update contact information, send emails on alumni's behalf, and manage web content edits. Average calls run nine minutes; complex calls often exceed an hour.
Data-Driven Service Improvement
Aureon analyzes contact data continuously and delivers staffing recommendations to Dartmouth leadership, turning raw call data into strategic decisions about hours, staffing, and service offerings.
Consistent Excellence, and a Partner Trusted With the Whole Institution
The Dartmouth Alumni Help Desk consistently scores between 94% and 98% in customer satisfaction surveys, a remarkable result for a help desk serving a demanding, highly educated alumni base across a wide range of complex platforms. That trust led Dartmouth to call on Aureon for institution-wide support when it mattered most.
94–98% Consistent Customer Satisfaction
The Alumni Help Desk consistently scores between 94% and 98% in satisfaction surveys, a remarkable result serving a demanding, highly educated alumni base across complex platforms.
Institution-Wide Crisis Support
In 2015, when Dartmouth overhauled its login system for all faculty, staff, students, and alumni simultaneously, Aureon stepped in to provide after-hours support for the entire institution.
A Help Desk That Reflects Dartmouth's Standards
"Today, there is a team of Aureon employees that provide dedicated support for Dartmouth alumni and volunteers who have questions or need assistance or training on the use of a wide variety of online resources. Aureon has enabled Dartmouth to understand the impact that the help desk service has on alumni engagement and the overall Dartmouth experience."
Judy Doherty
Dartmouth College, home.dartmouth.edu
Ivy League · Hanover, New Hampshire · 80,000+ Alumni
A Help Desk Worthy of an Ivy League Alumni Network
Dartmouth College is one of the world's most respected academic institutions, an Ivy League university with approximately 6,300 students and a global alumni network of more than 80,000 graduates from 71 countries. When Dartmouth embarked on a sweeping technology transformation in 2010, the magnitude of change made it clear that fragmented, office-by-office alumni support was no longer sufficient.
In 2013, Dartmouth partnered with Aureon to launch a centralized Alumni Help Desk, a dedicated team trained exclusively on Dartmouth's tools, culture, and community. Rather than routing alumni to whoever happened to pick up, Dartmouth created a specialized service that put alumni first. Aureon agents handle everything from password resets and directory updates to event registrations and digital library navigation, spending as much time as needed on each interaction.
The data has validated the investment. With consistent customer satisfaction scores between 94% and 98%, an average of 9,000 contacts per year, and the flexibility to scale for institution-wide events, the partnership has become a cornerstone of Dartmouth's alumni engagement strategy, and a model for how higher education can deliver premium constituent support.
Frequently Asked Questions
Dartmouth's alumni support had been split across multiple offices, each serving alumni as a secondary responsibility alongside primary duties supporting students, faculty, and staff. When Dartmouth launched a major technology transformation in 2010, the volume and complexity of alumni support needs exceeded what decentralized staff could handle. A dedicated partner could put alumni first, provide coverage during nights and weekends, scale during peak periods, and deliver consistent messaging, none of which the existing model could reliably provide.
Aureon's Dartmouth team handles a wide range of alumni needs, from answering questions about digital tools and platform access to actively completing tasks on alumni's behalf. Agents update contact information in the alumni directory, send emails to classmates, manage web content edits, and walk alumni through technology tools with patience and expertise. Average calls run nine minutes, but agents routinely spend an hour or more with alumni who need in-depth assistance.
Aureon built flexibility into the engagement from the beginning. The team scales up quickly for planned high-volume periods, like fiscal year-end fundraising, admission application deadlines, and technology rollouts, as well as unplanned spikes. In 2015, when Dartmouth changed its login system for the entire institution, Aureon stepped in to provide after-hours support not just for alumni, but for students, faculty, and staff as well, demonstrating the depth of the partnership and Aureon's capacity to expand rapidly.
The Dartmouth Alumni Help Desk consistently achieves customer satisfaction scores between 94% and 98%, a remarkable result given the complexity of Dartmouth's technology portfolio and the high expectations of an Ivy League alumni base. Qualtrics survey responses frequently highlight the patience, knowledge, and genuine helpfulness of Aureon's team, with alumni commenting on agents who stayed with them for extended periods to fully resolve their issues.
Aureon continuously analyzes contact data and provides Dartmouth with decision support insights, including recommendations on staffing levels, service hours, and areas where alumni are experiencing difficulty. Dartmouth has used these recommendations to adjust staffing, shift service hours, and evolve what the help desk offers. The ongoing data feedback loop means the service improves over time, giving Dartmouth's leadership more capacity to focus on program strategy rather than day-to-day operational decisions.
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