USD One Stop Student Center Before and After

1. USD One Stop Student Center • Before and After

2. Today’s Topics • A little about USD • Life before the one stop • The decision process • Creation – virtual and physical • Research methods used • Life after the one stop – results, successes, & lessons learned

3. University of San Diego • Private, Catholic Liberal Arts University • Total Enrollment: 8300 students • 5490 undergraduates • 1525 graduate students • 1285 law students • 90% retention for our fall freshmen return rate – a new high

4. The “Before” Picture • Three separate home offices (Financial Aid, Registrar, and Student Accounts) • Located in two separate buildings and separate floors • Each office provided their own walk-in and telephone customer service • Students waited in three separate lines • Students felt they got the “run around” • Customer service was inconsistent

5. The Transcript Example Financial Aid 3rd Floor Founder’s Hall Registrar’s Office Hughes 112 Steps 333 Steps Student Accounts 2nd Floor Students walked many steps to request a transcript

6. Students ready to stage a tea party

7. Research for answers • Conducted extensive student survey • Focus groups • Senior engineering project • Formed a one stop task force • Visited other one stops and attended ISSP conference

8. What we heard from students • Need better services & processes to: (top 7) • Register for classes online • Check status of financial aid • Accept financial aid offer • Monitor/pay student account • Request a transcript • Review academic record • View holds

9. Student Quotes Frequent quotations (out of 620) • “Three very important words: Online Class registration! My Dad registered online!” • “It is difficult to find the right person to talk to when you have questions about any of these services.” • “It is very annoying when you have to go to multiple departments to get something taken care of like a hold on your account.” • “In each department the person tells you something different.”

10. Engineering Seniors Project Findings and recommendations • 92% of processes can be provided online • Other 8%, and some of the 92%, represent complex issues best resolved in person • Physical office will require a minimum of 5 counselors • Purchase a queuing system to call students in order and to collect data for wait time, serving time, etc. • Home offices and one stop office should be co-located; project provided suggested floor plans • Office should include self-help PC’s or kiosks

11. One Stop Task Force • Cross-sectional representation from across campus • Mission: Create the nation’s preeminent One Stop Student Center by designing and implementing state-of-the-art virtual and physical portals that proactively meet students’ needs. This center will serve as a catalyst for developing student-centered academic, administrative, and financial processes that are clear, logical, and easy for students to navigate.

12. Task Force Findings • Top 18 services are offered in four offices: Registrar, Bursar, Financial Aid, and Campus Card • Offices and/or relevant business functions should be grouped into a single organizational unit (division) • Virtual One Stop portal must be functional prior to opening physical One Stop Center • Business processes must be reviewed and redesigned to make them more student-centric • All offices should be co-located

13. Task Force Recommendations • One Stop should be in the Provost division • Include functions of Registrar, Financial Aid, Student Accounts, Special Sessions, and Campus Card Services • Virtual one stop must become an immediate priority • Set service goal of 80% online & 20% in office; of the 20%, 95% served completely & 5% referred to home offices • Fund the One Stop positions by shifting budget for service positions from home offices to the one stop • Implement and utilize an imaging system

14. A One Stop concept is born FA Reg One Stop CC SA

15. Timelines to Opening Day

16. Getting Started • Hired a director 21 months prior to physical opening to: • create and implement the virtual one stop • participate on the Banner implementation team • create physical one stop • hire and train staff • Worked with Associate Provost to find space or plan construction of co-located offices • Formed a committee of the directors of the financial aid, one stop, registrar, and student accounts offices

17. Virtual One Stop • Went live in May, 2007 • Established a One Stop Services tab on our portal using the Luminus portal product (Ellucian/Banner) • Adopted slogan: “Save time – go online where you are always first in line!” • Contains such routine services as: • Make payments, enroll in payment plans, and view bills • View and accept financial aid • Monitor financial aid status • Order official transcripts and print an unofficial version • Manage registration of classes and monitor academic progress

18. Virtual One Stop

19. Directors Committee Task List • Analyze all processes affecting students • Use process mapping to edit processes • Focus on making each process more student-centric • Assist in hiring process • Analyze and recommend reporting lines • Student Accounts reports to Controller • Financial Aid, Registrar, and One Stop report to Associate Provost • Determine exactly what business functions will be done by the one stop office and what functions will remain in the home offices.

20. Initial Decisions • Obtained HR approval for five counselors at administrative level, an assistant director, and an executive assistant • All walk-in customer service for the three home offices will be performed by the one stop staff • Abandoned co-location dream • Home offices to perform all “student-not-present” functions • A central telephone number for all four offices will be used with a phone tree/menu • After meeting with Auxiliary Services, decided not to include the Campus Card in the One Stop

21. Creating the One Stop Team • Hiring philosophy: Hire the heart, train the brain • The innate willingness to serve students is more difficult to find than the necessary intelligence • Interview questions designed to seek out student-centric staff • Looked for the ability to make decisions in the gray area • This would be the single most important step in creating the one stop operation

22. Training • New One Stop staff still needed in their current positions in the home offices until July 1 (new FY) • We were determined that each counselor would be a one stop so extensive training needed in all areas • Designed 6-month schedule for training • Limited training to half days • Rotated OS staff every two weeks among home offices • Trained in pairs to develop a team attitude; rotated these partnerships so everyone worked with every member of the staff to form relationships and a team attitude

23. Training • Held each counselor accountable for their own training; did not have luxury of blaming poor trainers • Used three phases of training: lecture, observation, and performing the service while the home office “expert” observed • Held bi-weekly staff meetings to check progress of training and to cultivate team spirit • All parties learned to adjust training when needed

24. One Stop Opens • Office opened on August 8, 2008 • Operating hours: Mon-Fri 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., open until 6:00 every Wednesday • Imaging technology used to view documents • Most forms submitted by students to one stop office • No paper records in the one stop office • Each counselor is significantly empowered to handle any transaction • Referrals within our 5% goal. 90% of these are to the office of financial aid

25. Physical Office Space • Welcome desk greets students as they enter office • Staffed by executive assistant and student employees • Quick transactions performed here • Longer transactions are checked into the queue • In our lobby: • Seating for waiting customers and self-help computers • Flat screens display students called from queue; also display TV programs to alleviate any waiting time • Partitioned offices offer visual privacy but not audio

27. Insert photos here

31. What We Do • All front line processes of the three home offices • Accept payments including maintaining a cash drawer • Other atypical processes performed: • Student account special payment arrangements • Some academic counseling using DARS • Meal plan assistance • New Veteran Students Coordinator position • Strive for the absolute best customer service possible • Customer service is a significant part of every discussion • Ongoing training and emphasis; part of annual evaluation

32. Successes • Extensive training worth the pain - each counselor is equipped to handle 95% of questions • Team approach has been successful in handling stress and burnout among the staff • Location a gift from the one stop gods • Staff meetings provide excellent opportunity to discuss processes, continue training, and cultivate team spirit • Students are ecstatic at handling so many transactions in one place!

33. Lessons Learned • More time should have been devoted to mapping current processes to make them more student-centric • Organizational structure – all offices report to same person? • Is co-location really necessary? We thought so at first. • We are more independent and less likely to refer to home office • Very difficult to find physical space for all four offices • The effect on the home offices of not seeing students • Avoid implementing an ERP system at the same time • We implemented portal, Banner, and did extensive training – on two administrative systems!

34. Lessons Learned • Relationships with home offices require a positive attitude, maturity, and excellent collaboration • As the new kid on the block, home offices can naturally be territorial. Be ready to respect and work with that. • If hiring from the home offices for budgetary reasons, be prepared for disappointment by those not selected • Fully address all communication issues • Phones, emails, website, Facebook, etc. • Staff accordingly – phones and emails can add 3-4 positions • If new to the campus, look deep to fully understand the campus culture – student-centrism, acceptance, etc.

35. Lessons Learned • Consider taking payments for convenience of students • Carefully map the flow of documents between offices • Be sensitive to the staff’s mental & emotional health • Possible issues: burnout, frustration, negativity, inconsistency • Ways to help: staff meetings, team (we’re in this together) approach, humor, creature comforts, outreach opportunities • Classify counselors as administrators • Obtain all necessary system access in advance • Virtual one stop limited only by our imaginations • Do as much outreach as possible across campus

36. After all is said and done… L I F E I S G O O D 

37. ?? Questions ?? • ???

38. Contact Information University of San Diego One Stop Student Center www.sandiego.edu/onestop Steve Schissler, Director, 619-260-7529 steve.schissler@sandiego.edu