A521.5.8.RB Value Narrative

Before the operations center came on board back in January of 2010, the calls were answered by student assistants who on average took about 200 calls a day.  Sometimes students would be on hold for close to 2 hours before they were able to speak to an actual human being.  The financial aid office was not operating to the best of its abilities to satisfy the customer.  Many students were not getting their financial aid in a timely manner which meant that they were not taking classes and this affected enrollment which affected profitability and targeted goals for many campuses that relied on these enrollments.

In order to provide quality customer service the operations center took over our 800 number and began taking calls 24/7.  This meant that calls would be answered within 3 minutes and most of the students questions would be answered in a timely manner. What couldn’t be answered would be escalated to our office and the escalation would be answered within 24-48 hours.  This was much better than the 2-3 week wait for a return phone call from a voicemail.

At first the operations center was met with resistance from the students of all people!  They thought they were talking to people in another country (think of Peggy from the Capital One commercials) and would call financial aid directly to say that someone was impersonating our university.  There were even a few who felt it should go back to the way it was before even though the operations center had increased enrollment because students were able to get their issues resolved in a timely manner these few didn’t like change. 

 Now that the operations center was under way was it making a difference?  Data was analyzed and more training was conducted and still is today to better service the customer.  It was clear that the operation center taking the calls outweighed the few problems that came with it (sometimes going over budget for the month in calls, continuous training that is required) and the increase in financial aid paid out, increase in enrollment and prospective students proved this.

The purpose of the operations center is continue the values that ERAU WW has and that is to provide the best possible service and education to its students.  By finding a way to improve services to the student not only did ERAU listen to the students who said that there had to be a better way but they took action to follow through.  There has been a 20% increase in enrollment (due to students receiving their aid faster) because of the operations centers.  Many other departments have now taken our lead and utilize the operations center to help increase student satisfaction and this in turn promotes our integrity to provide the best service possible.