The Office of Registrarial Services (ORS) is currently undertaking a program to improve how we provide services for prospective, current and alumni Gryphons.
The Lincoln Alexander Student Service Centre (Linc) Program is centered around the creation of a new “one-stop” service centre that will bring together the services offered by Admission Services, Enrolment Services and Student Financial Services in a new space on the third floor of the University Centre. The service centre will be called the Lincoln Alexander Student Service Centre – or “The Linc” for short.
Additionally, the program will include the creation of a new service-focused staff team, to operate the new centre and the (re)development of existing and potential student service methodologies (email, phone, online self-service, live chat, etc.) to provide students and alumni with service that is as fast, accessible and seamless as possible.
Read more in this Campus News article about the new Lincoln Alexander Student Service Centre.
Program Rationale
The impetus for this program comes from our desire to provide students the best support possible as they navigate their academic journeys.
Research is showing that today’s students, on the whole, are coming to university with fewer experiences of independence and, as a result, greater levels of uncertainty around how to navigate their post-secondary experience. Additionally, service improvements made possible through technology are changing the expectations students have for service quality. We want to meet students where they are today, providing them the quality service experiences and interactions with university staff that are proven to support enhanced student satisfaction, academic achievement, social development, and more.
The Linc Program is part of ORS efforts to work towards the community priorities captured in the University’s Strategic Framework and President Yates’s Goals, builds on the terrific work happening through the Student Information Systems (SIS) Refresh Initiative and includes significant alignment with the University’s IT Strategy.
The OSSSC program supports a number of the intersecting themes identified in our 2016 Strategic Framework:
Related to the theme of Stewarding Valued Resources, this program will support our efforts to remain an employer of choice (see the program objective "Improved ORS Staff Experiences" below) and help the ORS department ensure we are using resources responsibly, through a full review of systems and processes and the continuing shift to providing students integrated, accessible, self-service options.
Related to the theme of Nurturing our Distinctive Culture, our communal commitment to serving others provides foundation for the program’s primary objective of improving students’ service experiences with ORS, while the significant investment in this project aligns with the University’s recognition of the importance of facilities and services in supporting our academic mission and building communities where people thrive.
Lastly, related to the theme of Connecting Communities, the amalgamation of front-line services for the Admission, Enrolment and Student Financial Services’ will support new levels on collaboration and knowledge-sharing partnerships within the ORS team, while the prioritization and centering of inclusion in service redevelopment efforts will support the further development of a campus culture that is inclusive and respectful and where everyone feels valued.
Stemming from our Strategic Framework, President Yates has also identified a number of goals for the University that are equally supported by the OSSSC program:
In the spirit of President Yates’s goal to Promote Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, the creation of a new service model provides ORS with a terrific opportunity to ensure every effort is taken to create an environment that supports community members’ equity and inclusion. For more information on how the program team is working towards this reality, visit the Centering Inclusion page.
In alignment with President Yates’s goal to Create the Post-COVID University of the Future, this program will create new cross-campus collaborations, will increase the digitization of resources and student self-service opportunities, and will redevelop ORS service methods to ensure we have the flexibility to support the full breadth of students' needs and preferences.
Program Objectives
There are three primary objectives of this program:
The experiences of prospective, current and former students will be improved by:
- Consolidating services, which will allow for decreased service stops;
- Continuing the shift to online, on-demand, self-service options;
- Decreased wait times and more relational interactions between staff and students;
- Increased staff focus on service quality and customer satisfaction; and
- Significant and on-going exploration of the experiences of equity-deserving populations, to support actions that make service experiences as accessible and inclusive as possible.
The new service model will enhance staff satisfaction in the following ways:
- Continued investments in online, on-demand, self-service solutions for students’ transactional interactions will support a decreased workload and greater opportunity to focus on comprehensive student service conversations, reflection and innovation.
- Cross-training will reduce the frequency of periods of heightened workload for specific ORS team members.
- Increased exposure for front-line staff to the breadth of the ORS operation will lead to greater awareness of potential career paths and will better equip them to pursue those paths (if interested).
- Anticipated that system and process improvement opportunities will be identified through the thorough review of the existing service model included in the program.
- Targeted data collection and the adoption of a formal service assessment plan to support continual improvements.
- Improved training plans and materials.
- Decreased failure points (i.e., fewer positions that are sole keepers of knowledge).