Customer Service Committee formed to help students
Student input has resulted in the formation of a committee to help cut through the red tape of registration and other bureaucratic woes at Utah State University.
“President [Kermit L.] Hall met with the students and then the administration met with the students to get feedback on how we’re doing business,” said Barbara White, vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer.
The students who attended the forums did an excellent job, said Joyce Kinkead, vice provost for Undergraduate Studies and research professor of English.
“They explained what works well and what doesn’t work well at the university,” she said.
These forums, held last semester, inspired what is now called the Customer Service Committee. The CSC is made up of Kinkead, White, Fred Hunsaker, vice president for Administrative Services, and Pat Terrell, vice president for Student Services.
The committee is currently looking at ways to expedite and simplify registration and other activities at USU. Ideas in the works are a one-stop registration site and electronic signatures.
White said, if implemented, electronic signatures would make it possible for a student to get signed into a class almost entirely online.
White said this would be a cheap way to improve the service for students.
“Every time you go to an office, unless you have an appointment, you may or may not get a signature,” White said.
Shane Jessop, a sophomore majoring in pre-med, said he would be interested in the electronic signature option for adding and dropping a class.
“Trying to track those teachers down and getting to talk with them is a pain,” Jessop said.
Other ideas are to reduce the list of signatures required to change a major from six to two. This option is currently in the process of being approved.
“We want to make sure that when we make a change we don’t run into unintended consequences,” Kinkead said.
White said most of the changes being considered are ones in the way the administration does its business and not in how much money they have. However, some problems would most easily be solved with more money.
Kinkead said the simplest way to eliminate bottleneck classes at USU is to hire more teachers. Another option is to have bigger classes.
However, Kinkead said, “We don’t want our students to be anonymous.”
She said if students would make sure their schedules were solidified before 15 days into the semester, took an average class load of 15 credits, and if they made sure not to drop out of any classes, this would reduce the problem of bottleneck classes and keep cost low at USU.
“I’m really excited about this. We’re focused. We’re working with students. We really want to improve customer service,” White said.