How Portland Community College Scaled AI Student Support and Freed Staff for Higher-Value Work

About Portland Community College

Portland Community College (PCC) is the largest post-secondary institution in Oregon, serving more than 50,000 students across multiple campuses in the Portland metro area.

As a comprehensive community college, PCC offers a wide range of programs — from career and technical education to university transfer and workforce development — serving a diverse population of traditional and non-traditional learners.

The challenge: When demand outpaces capacity

With a highly diverse and multilingual student population and a strong mix of online and hybrid learners, Portland Community College supports students who rely on digital services in different ways, at different times.

Today, the majority of PCC students engage with the institution online in some form, whether they are fully remote or attending classes on campus. That reality has fundamentally shaped expectations around access, responsiveness, and support.

As a result, PCC found itself in a position many institutions recognize.

More students were reaching out for help. More questions were coming in across more channels. But staffing levels and budgets were not increasing at the same pace.

At the same time, a large portion of those inquiries were repetitive. Staff were spending valuable time answering Tier 1 questions — a common challenge in higher education student services — even when those answers already existed on the website but were difficult for students to find or trust.

This created a clear set of challenges:

• Rising volume of student inquiries
• Heavy reliance on staff for Tier 1 questions
• Gaps in website content and clarity
• Limited ability to scale support with existing resources

Behind the scenes, something else was happening.

Student questions were surfacing patterns. The same topics kept coming up again and again, not because students weren’t trying, but because the experience wasn’t working the way it should.

PCC did not just need to keep up with demand.

They needed to rethink how support worked altogether.

The solution: Build a scalable, student-centered model

To address these challenges, PCC implemented Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty, adopting a thoughtful, phased approach.

Rather than launching across the entire institution at once, PCC started where the need and impact would be greatest. They first focused on high-volume areas of the student enrollment journey, including financial services, and partnered with teams already familiar with live chat.

From the beginning, the goal wasn’t just to answer more questions. It was to create a scalable AI student support system that could grow with them.

A key part of that system was the shared brain technology in Ivy & Ocelot that connects the virtual assistant across departments. By connecting responses across teams, PCC ensured students would receive consistent answers, regardless of where they entered the experience. This also made it easier to expand the platform over time without duplicating work.

That mindset guided the approach. Digital support wasn’t treated as an add-on; it became a core part of the student experience.

Just as important, PCC built a model for ongoing improvement. They regularly reviewed gaps in chatbot responses, added new content, and refined workflows. Over time, this created a feedback loop in which student questions directly informed improvements to both the chatbot and the website.

What started as a way to manage volume quickly became something more: a smarter, more connected approach to student support.

The results: Less tier 1 work, more meaningful impact

As PCC expanded its use of AI-powered student support, the impact became clear — not just in metrics, but also in how teams worked.

Key outcomes included:

• Tier 1 traffic dropped significantly
• Live chat became more efficient
• Staff gained time for Tier 2 and Tier 3 work
• Confidence in responses steadily improved

At the same time, adoption and usage continued to grow:

• 21,000+ messages handled through the chatbot
• 8,000+ live chat interactions supported
• 200+ custom responses built across departments
• 13,000+ knowledge sources powering answers

But the real story isn’t just volume — it’s what that volume made possible.

Teams were no longer stuck reacting to repetitive questions. They had the space to focus on more complex, higher-impact work. Support that requires context, nuance, and human connection.

Beyond efficiency: Turning questions into better experiences

One of the most valuable outcomes wasn’t something PCC set out to solve directly.

As student questions flowed through the chatbot, patterns began to emerge. Certain questions came up again and again — not because students weren’t trying, but because the information wasn’t easy to find or understand.

Instead of treating those questions as noise, PCC used them as a source of insight.

This led to closer collaboration with their web team and ongoing improvements to website content. Over time, this created a more intuitive experience for students — and reduced the need to ask those questions in the first place.

The chatbot became more than a support tool. It became a continuous source of feedback.

A model that continues to grow

As results became visible, interest across campus grew.

More departments began to see the value — not just in reducing workload, but in improving the student experience. What started with a focused rollout has continued to expand, with new teams and use cases coming on over time.

This kind of momentum reflects an important point: the model works.

It balances efficiency with intentionality, and scale with consistency, allowing PCC to grow without losing control of the experience.

Key takeaways: What other institutions can learn

PCC’s experience offers a clear path forward for higher education institutions facing similar challenges.

Start where it matters most. Focus on high-volume, high-impact areas first, then expand.

Build for how students actually engage. Digital support isn’t secondary; it’s central.

Use student questions as data. The insights are already there. Capture them and act on them.

Protect your team’s time. Automating Tier 1 work creates space for work that is greatly impacted by the human touch.

Think beyond support. The same tools that answer questions can improve the entire experience.

PCC didn’t just scale student support. They built a model that adapts, improves, and grows with their students — while giving their teams the time to focus on what matters most.

Solution spotlight

Gravyty is the AI-powered engagement platform purpose-built for higher education, K-12 schools, and nonprofits. From first engagement to first gift, Gravyty empowers institutions to deliver smarter, faster, and more personalized engagement at every step of the student and donor journey. With solutions for 24/7 student support, alumni engagement, fundraising, and stewardship, Gravyty helps teams scale their impact, break down silos, and provide always-on support without burning out staff.

Ivy & Ocelot from Gravyty empowers colleges and universities to deliver always-on, high-touch communication across every corner of campus – without increasing staff workload. From multilingual support to data-powered insights, Ivy & Ocelot helps institutions drive meaningful engagement with students, athletes, alumni, and staff alike.