Just one stop, but many potential pitfalls: ensuring a strategic student service initiative doesn't result in worse service

University Business, March, 2006 by Kathy Kurz, Jim Scannell

MORE AND MORE INSTItutions are strategically bringing together interconnected offices such as Financial Aid, Bursar, Registrar, and Advising under a "one-stop shop" with the intention of improving customer service. However, if not planned and executed properly, the action could deteriorate rather than enhance service. The following real examples represent typical pitfalls to avoid in moving forward on your own campus.

INADEQUATE PHYSICAL SPACE

Housing all key student service offices together isn't easy, and compromises may arise that can hinder service. At one institution, a chosen space that could house all the operations they wanted to include was away from the main campus, where no student parking was available, and getting to the building involved a one-mile walk.

Another institution's "solution": Separate front- and back-office functions so the one-stop shop included only front-line staff from the Financial Aid, Bursar's, and Registrars offices. Processing staff and office leadership remained in their original spaces. But front-line staffers weren't empowered to make corrections, and they couldn't easily access physical files to answer questions. Students went directly to the various back-office units to have their issues addressed and front-line staffers were underutilized.

Given these space challenges, some schools now offer their one-stop shops virtually, allowing students online access to view their information, submit forms, and make certain changes through the web. As web-based services become increasingly sophisticated, this approach can be quite effective at helping students navigate routine functions and answer basic questions. However, students with more complex situations or detailed questions may find themselves running back and forth between offices if the various services are still provided by offices that function as "silos."

Institutions should provide a virtual one-stop shop and ensure staffers in key offices are trained to work effectively together to provide seamless service to students with issues that can't be handled over the web.

RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

Creating a one-stop shop often involves bringing together offices that in the past had a distant or even adversarial relationship. Even when previous relationships were positive, staff members can be reluctant to learn new areas of responsibility or physically relocate. These challenges can be minimized by:

* Being clear about the new organizational structure, the primary responsibilities of each staff member, and the new location of the office.

* Involving the staff as much as possible in planning the details below the basic structure and set of responsibilities.

* Building in sufficient time for both training and team building.

* Setting measurable goals that can only be met with the staff truly working together as a team.

INADEQUATE COMMUNICATION

Here is a tree story you won't believe. After her university consolidated several Admissions offices into a one-stop admissions shop, the business school dean at one Scannell & Kurz client did some "secret shopping" to check the new system. She called the campus switchboard to request information about MBA program admission. The campus operator offered two options: Graduate Admissions or the Graduate Education office. She requested Graduate Admissions, but was connected to the Registrars office. The Registrars office then connected her to the main Admissions number, where a young man attempted to be helpful but didn't know the graduate admission requirements. So, he connected her to the business school, at which point the call was transferred to her own phone!

The moral of this story, of course, is that informing the whole campus about changes in the configuration of offices is critical to the success of any reorganization. Directories must be updated with clear information about who should be contacted for which issues. Students must be informed of the changes as well as faculty and staff. For example, with virtual one-stop shops, students need clear instructions about using any new online services. A surprising number of institutions introduce new web-based functionality and fail to market the new services to students. Bottom line: You probably can't over-communicate about changes in how services will be provided.

Interoffice communication is equally important. Even within a one-stop shop, protocols for routine communication must be established. At one school Scannell & Kurz visited, front-line staff in the one-stop center reported having been taken by surprise when students inquired about certain programs or communications being handled by the office's processing staff (e.g., information about turn-around times on issuing refund checks). Officewide operations calendars, routine e-mail updates, and regular staff meetings can be very helpful in improving in-office communications.

INFORMATION OVERLOAD

In their quest to streamline service, some institutions mistakenly try to bring together too many offices with too little training.