The Vision of Academic Customer Service

In order to change the culture of a college community, it is necessary to have a consensus on a customer service vision for the campus.  Every person at the school must have the same concept of what customer service is. They must have a vision that overrides their personal definitions and concerns and everyone needs to encompass one that all can understand and embrace. A vision is not a set of lofty statements such as students are our business our only business that one might find in a seven steps to salvation  mission statement; meant to be read not enacted. A vision must be a practical guide to see how things work and should work on campus.

A vision is like corrective lenses on someone who is nearsighted and can only see her own office and work. Most everyone can see after all, but not everyone sees the same. There are differences of perspective and angle, of ability and cognitive function and some people really do have such bad eyesight that they need to have corrective lenses out in font of their eyes or they will walk all over students who get in their path. They just do not see them. So think of the college’s vision statement as a set of eyeglasses to get everyone focused the same and on the same object and purpose. 

I do not mind seeing the customer service vision statement as a corrective set of lenses either because most campuses do not see students correctly and some don’t see them clearly at all. Students may be ruder than in the past but that is not who they are finally and that must be seen.In fact, there are some schools that wear blinders to keep students out of their research and self-centered vision of the world.

The vision needs to start from an understanding of who our customers are. Students primarily,. There are more than one set of customers on a campus of course. There is the entire caste system and everyone in that academic caste system is a customer of one another but for this vision formation we will focus on students, the primary customer.

And yes, I know there are people out there who hate the idea of student as customer and the college as a business but all I can say by now is “get over it.” It is true and a fact. Colleges are businesses and here it is once and for all. We are businesses whose budget depends on selling the University (recruitment) to its customers (students and parents) by sales (admissions) and collecting revenue (tuition) by billing (bursar) based on the college's brand (reputation), products (courses, programs, degrees), services (advising, FA..) and creating a connection with the customer (client services) by employees (faculty, staff, administrators) (some in unions) who receive salaries and benefits, delivering product (learning opportunity) fulfilling customer need (degree and career/Grad school). Get the message?

So what should the vision contain? Six elements.  

1.       Providing a positive return on student investment;

2.       Making students feel welcome and valuable in the classroom and on campus;

3.       Providing the care, concern and services needed to retain students in a college or   
         university…from making a school into Cheers University… to scheduling and advising to  
         classroom decorum and assistance… to all the services that can yield success for students
        and showing them you want them to be there

4.       Doing all this with a smile and pleased attitude that one can help students succeed and stay in school

5.       The Hillel thing –Do unto students as you would want done for your son, your daughter, your mother or your father

6.       Following the 25 Principles of Good Academic Customer Service. (want a copy. Just click here and ask)

Make Every Day Like Day One on Campus to Retain Students

It was move-in day at OSU around here and the campus was humming with activity. Students are starting to arrive on your campus too to get ready for the school year, or semester, or few weeks for some. But that first day is a magical one for most all students and parents as colleges roll out their best for move-in day.

And most every college will be doing all it

can to make the arrival day welcome big and hearty. Presidents will walk around greeting students and parents. A few may even help carry something in. Administrators are on hand doing the same. At some schools, faculty are around to help out too. And of course, student ambassadors are everywhere helping, pointing, guiding and smiling to try and make the move in easier and friendly. Great start. Sort of like drop-off day at summer camp feeling. 

Too bad it is like Tom Lehrer’s line in his song National Brotherhood Week. It’s only for a week so have no fear. Be grateful it doesn’t last all year. If he were singing about move-in, it would be Thank god it only lasts a day and not all year as it should! 

Yup, as the last parents drive away, their tears drying, it all ends. The president goes back to his or her office. Administrators too. Now faculty will be available for classes and help when needed, we hope. The student ambassadors wash their polo or tee shirts and put them in a bureau to be pulled out at the next organized move in or orientation day. But the excitement and happy welcome end.

Dumb move. 

The days after move-in day are some of the most important there are to build retention. They are the days the real anxiety builds. When the real work of college starts for students. When they need the most help. Where is building….? Where do I go to….? Who is the one to see for…..? How do I…..? My laptop needs and where ….? Do I need to….? And so and on. 

But this is when we have decided to let the news students sink or swim; if they can figure out where the pool is on campus and how to get a locker. And what do I need to bring to use it and what are the hours and….and…. The jolly helpful crew is only out there on the day we have labeled move-in. That is the easiest day of all. It is just schlepping in stuff, material stuff. Now when the new students need to set up the psychological stuff, we are not there to help enough. And it is the emotional concerns that will be coming into play when the reality of I am here and where is that and will I fit in and like this place and did I choose the right place. I feel so all alone and I’m sharing a room with some people I don’t know and one is really strange and I’ll have to dress and undress in front of strangers and ….starts to disrupt the new students. 

This is when a little irritation such showing up late for the first class at 8:00 am can become the first step on dropping out because I didn’t know how to get to the humanities lecture hall building and the signs don’t help because they just give me names of the buildings so the professor used me as an object lesson about never coming late to his class. And I so felt like a jerk and wanted to just get out of there. And then I wasn’t on his class list so he sent me to the registrars and where that is was a real mystery and there was no one who I could ask to help me out so I waited until later and missed the whole class. I am not sure I made the right choice. I feel so screwed up here. 

And all was needed were some of those same administrators and ambassadors, and yes the president, out and about with tee shirts that say “ASK ME AND I’LL HELP” to assist new students. The administrators and the president really do not have any work more important than helping students. Yes, that is right. Students are their business. Their core business. They need to be seen and recognized as a positive friendly force. The ambassadors will be upper-class students, so they will not be dumb enough to schedule anything too early in the morning. Besides, all one needs to do is make a schedule so the campus is covered. 

There should be someone at the entrance/exit of every dorm; at every parking lot walkway and at every intersection on campus with some in front of various administration buildings to let new students know if they are at the right place. On the first two days of classes, there should be a full effort with everyone out there to help students. This way you’ll be sure to get both the Monday-Wednesday and the Tuesday-Thursday class schedules.

After the first two days, the ambassadors should still be at intersections and paths from the parking lots just to handle any issues or questions that might come up during the first two weeks. After that, set up a Q+A area in the main student building or a main lobby to continue helping any students and any visitors. And, SMILE, SMILE, SMILE.

And to help you smile and learn some more chemistry, here is a link to Tom Lehrer’s Elements Song. It is certainly worth it and will make you smile. 

Kissing the Year Off Right 
And here’s an idea for the first days of classes that will make that first day a sweeter and memorable occasion. It is taken from an ancient Jewish tradition for students on their first day of studying. The day the youngster is to go off to school for the first time, the parents take a prayer book and drop honey on it. It is given to the student who then licks the honey off symbolizing the sweetness of learning. 

If possible, have faculty do the following in class, but if not have student ambassadors or others greet students at the doors to classes. They greet the new students with a welcome and give each a Hershey’s Kiss or other small candy to start the year right. It sounds corny and it is. But it is also very effective in creating that set of feelings that this school is a (excuse me) sweet place. I have never heard from any school that did this that students were anything than very happy for that early morning kiss.
  
 

If this article made sense to you, contact N.Raisman & Associates to see how you can improve academic customer service and hospitality to increase student satisfaction, retention, and your bottom line.

UMass Dartmouth invited Dr. Neal Raisman to campus to present on "Service Excellence in Higher Ed"  as a catalyst event used to kick off a service excellence program.  Dr. Neal Raisman presents a very powerful but simple message about the impact that customer service can have on retention and the overall success of the university.  Participants embraced his philosophy as was noted with heads nods and hallway conversations after the session.  Not only did he have data to back up what he was saying, but Dr. Raisman spoke of specific examples based on his own personal experience working at a college as  Dean and President.  Our Leadership Team welcomed the "8 Rules of Customer Service", showing their eagerness to go to the next step in rolling Raisman's message out.  We could not have been more pleased with his eye-opening presentation.    Sheila Whitaker UMass-Dartmouth

Get Dr. Neal Raisman's best-selling books by clicking here.