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What is a Departmental Assistant?
Are you looking for ways to help visitors to your University of Maryland website find the information they need more quickly and efficiently? The Division of Information Technology is proud to introduce Departmental Assistant—a chatbot powered by Generative AI (Gen AI). Departmental Assistant is one of several types of UMD Virtual Agents, including Virtual Study Assistant, which has introduced GenAI chatbot technology to the classroom. Departmental Assistant responds instantly, guiding visitors with concise, accurate answers and links to the most relevant information on your site.
Getting Started with Your Departmental Assistant
To get started, you'll first need to submit a request to have your Departmental Assistant set up. Once it's approved, this guide will walk you through the setup process step by step.
It’s an easy process—you just start by submitting a request and getting approval. Then, you’ll use the Admin Console, a user-friendly web tool, to manage your virtual agent. From there, you can quickly add the URLs for the scraper and tailor the system prompt to suit your department’s needs.
The final step is integrating the chatbot into your website. We’ll provide instructions on how to do this in a separate guide. Once integrated, your Departmental Assistant will be ready for visitors to use and get the help they need.
If you need help at any point during the setup process, the DIT AI Solutions Team is here for you. We can answer your questions, help craft effective prompts to get the best results, and assist with setting up your chatbot. You can also reach out to us to discuss whether a Departmental Assistant is the right fit for your department’s needs. Contact us by emailing dit-ais@umd.edu.
Submitting Your Request
The first step to getting the Departmental Assistant up and running is to complete and submit the UMD Virtual Agent Provisioning Request form. Because both the Departmental Assistant and Virtual Study Assistant are types of UMD Virtual Agents, they use the same request form.
Where to Find the Request Form
Start by visiting the UMD Virtual Agent Provisioning Request form to begin the process.
Step 1: Choose Owners
The first step is to enter the primary owner.
The primary owner is the person responsible for managing the Departmental Assistant. Your name is filled in by default, but you can change it if someone else should be the primary owner. From the dropdown, enter either the person’s name or their directory ID in the Primary Owner field.
You can add Additional Owners to help manage the Departmental Assistant. Just like before, enter their names or directory IDs. If the name is recognized, it will appear as a tag you can remove as seen in the example above.
Step 2: Select the Assistant Type
Remember, the request form is used for both the Virtual Study Assistant and the Departmental Assistant. To proceed, select the Departmental radio button as shown below — the form will update automatically based on your selection.
Step 3: Enter Additional Details
Fill out the following four fields:
- Approving Manager - This is auto-filled to your manager, but can be changed.
- Department - This is auto-filled to your department, but can be changed.
- Will this virtual agent be public or internal?
- Public means the website is open to the public
- Internal means the website is restricted to certain people
- Requested Virtual Agent Name - The name you want for your Departmental Assistant. You can always change it after it is setup.
- University Health Center named theirs: UMD Health Center Bot
- Teaching and Learning Transformation Center (TLTC) named theirs: TLTC Instant Support
Step 4: Add Financial Information
In the last section, fill out the following
- Driver Worktag - This is the Workday account that covers the cost of the Departmental Assistant. If you’re not sure which one to use, check with your fiscal officer.
- Provide a Brief Explanation for Fiscal Officer - What is the purpose of the chatbot?
Step 5: Submit the Form
Once you click Submit, your form is complete!
At this stage, your request will go through two rounds of approval: first by the Approving Manager, then by your fiscal officer. Once both approvals are complete, the setup process for your Departmental Assistant will begin. You’ll receive an email confirmation once everything is ready.
What Happens Next
Once your request is approved, start by visiting Departmental Assistant - Admin Console Basics to begin managing your Departmental Assistant.
Need Help? Contact Support
If you have questions or need help, you can always contact the DIT AI Solutions Team. Email us at dit-ais@umd.edu—we’re happy to assist.