In the AACRAO Annual Meeting presentation, “Partnering With One Stop Shops: A Registrar’s Perspective,” Tina DeNeen of the University of Alabama at Birmingham provided attendees with an overview of one-stop concept and functions, suggestions for reorganizing departmental function, and strategies for cross-departmental collaboration.
DeNeen defined a university one-stop as “a place which provides comprehensive student-facing services at a single location” with the following general goals: to identify and redesign critical service elements essential for student success/satisfaction; to consolidate business transactions into one location; and to provide excellent customer services. Typical functions, she said, include ordering transcripts, registration and add/drop services, paying bills, navigating the financial aid process, and enrollment verification.
7 steps to launch
For campuses preparing to launch a one-stop center, DeNeen suggested the following:
1. Identify services to provide.
2. Be transparent and ensure staff in back offices are involved.
3. Identify an adequate space/location
4. Hire one-stop leadership.
5. Determine communication expectations.
6. Survey students to determine needs.
7. Hire counselors.
8. Provide training.
DeNeen noted the importance of getting “buy in” from those departmental leaders who will need to adjust their work. “You have to let them know how their role might change and how they can contribute.”
Restructure & collaboration
Focusing on the registrar’s office, DeNeen suggested the following steps to take during restructuring:
- Allay staff fear;
- Involve staff in auditing office structure and function;
- Shift focus from being generalist to being a subject matter expert;
- Identify questions that are asked repeatedly;
- Review university mission and align departmental mission with that;
- Be immediately accessible to one-stop staff; and
- Shift priorities
In terms of cross-departmental collaboration, DeNeen recommended that campus leaders:
- Give honest feedback;
- Accept honest feedback;
- Show appreciation;
- Share credit;
- Keep one stop personnel in the loop;
- Ensure communication is intentional and reciprocal;
- Meet frequently;
- Include counselors in staff emails/meetings; and
- Have a safe forum in which to hear/vent frustrations
“Let’s make sure that we are partnering at teammates,” DeNeen said.
Best practices
She encouraged audience members to engage in the conversation throughout the session, and many offered best practices from their campus one-stop centers, including:
- Have a liaison in staff meetings of the registrar’s office, finance aid office, etc., to bring back information to one-stop;
- Define the line where subject matter experts should to hand over questions to others and use a CRM to monitor communication between campus and students;
- Design a communication campaign, which involves students, in naming the one stop center;
- Include other functional areas (advising, student accounts, international students, career services, parking/ID cards, immunizations) in the one-stop center;
- Utilize online training for one-stop staff; and
- Have counselors train new counselors (shadow, then be shadowed).
DeNeen concluded by recommending informal and formal assessment options such as surveys, secret shopping and focus groups.