Transcript Why and How’s of Integrating Career Advising into Academic

Customer
Service
Through the
Chaos:
Staying
StudentFocused
Elaina Bielser
Patricia Simpson
Todd Spinner
School of Chemical Sciences
Career Services and Academic Advising
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
“We’re not perfect. But we try hard to
reach perfection with every order. It
creates an attitude of service. That is
why your call is never an interruption.
Your question is never dumb.”
-Batdorf & Bronson Coffee Roasters
Olympia, Washington
Just a few customer service facts
How good does your work have to be? What
percentage of customers should we try to please?
90%, 95%? How about 99.9%?
If other professions used the 99.9% mark:
 At lease 20,000 wrong prescriptions per year
 8.6 hours of no water or power per year
 500 incorrect surgeries per week
 2 short or long landings at major airports per day
 2,000 lost articles of mail per hour
We could not accept 99.9% in many fields, what do
we expect with regard to ourselves?
Illinois Tuition and Fee Facts
Cost for Chemistry Life Science Tuition, Fees, Costs
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$33,482 for in-state students
$47,054 for out of state students
$48,054 for international students
Can we see why our students would expect excellent
customer service from advising?
Customer Service
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If you fail to meet expectations, you will get dissatisfied
customers/supervisors
If you meet expectations, you will get indifferent
customer/supervisors
You must exceed expectations
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If you cannot solve the problem, find someone who can
Be proactive, seek out and solve problems
Take personal responsibility (but don’t take it personally!)
Always explain what you can do for the customer, not what
you can’t
Don’t say “I’m sorry” unless you mean it
Never place blame on anyone else
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Provide solutions, not excuses
Customer Service
 Most
people are not rude or discourteous, just
indifferent
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No eye contact
Talking to others while assisting a customer
Talking about someone else within ear-shot of a
customer
Working on other tasks while customer waits
Pointing to an item or room rather than
showing/taking customer to it
Failing to immediately greet a customer
Responding “I don’t know” without attempting to find
out
Failure to follow through with promises
“It is critical for all people to strive to
carry out their work with professional
competence and with an attitude of
service to others.”
-Dr. Carlos Cavalle
IESE Business School
University of Navarra, Spain
The Student is…
the most important person at our University, without
students, there would be no need for your position
 not a cold enrollment statistic but a flesh and blood
human being with feelings and emotions like our own
 not someone to be tolerated so we can do our thing,
they are our thing
 not dependent on us, rather, we are dependent on
them
 not an interruption to our work, but the purpose of it,
we are not doing them a favor by serving them, they
are doing us a favor by giving us the opportunity to do
so
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Customer Service Based Advising
 SCS
has been moving to a customer service based
advising philosophy/theory for the past three years
 Student
 It
satisfaction and response has been positive
is a work in progress
 Not
all your interactions will be positive, all the time
Professional Competence
Appropriate Education
 Strong interpersonal skills
 Availability to advisees, faculty, or staff
 Appropriate referral activity
 Use and dissemination of appropriate information
sources
 Monitoring of student progress toward academic and
career goals
 Mastery of institutional regulations, policies, and
procedures
 Participation in and support of advisor development
programs
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-Criteria for NACADA Outstanding Advisor Award
Attitude of Service
 Availability
to advisees, faculty, or staff
 Frequency of contact with advisees
 Caring, helpful attitude toward advisees, faculty
and staff
 Meeting advisees in informal settings
 Participation in and support of intrusive advising to
build strong relationships with advisees
 Ability to engage in, promote and support
developmental advising
-Criteria for NACADA Outstanding Advisor Award
Avoid Gossip
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People choose to spread rumors because it makes
them look good, feel better or casts an unfavorable
light on the individual
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Gossip can cause irreparable damage
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Refuse to spread or listen to gossip
Set an Example, Walk Your Talk
 When
we focus on being positive and responsive to
the student regardless of their attitude, we present
a positive image for others to see and emulate
 The
impression we present of our department and
institution is memorable
 People
want to be around positive individuals and
are more willing to follow the example you will set
Be Accountable
 Avoid
placing blame on another department or
colleague for a mistake
 When
you blame someone else for the problem in
front of a student, it only generates more ill feelings
 Be
accountable for your department and institution
and provide alternatives in order to fix the situation
Avoid Complacency
 Strive
for constant improvement
 Recognize
areas you need to improve and establish
personal and professional goals
 Tackle
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the most difficult areas first
Look for the positive during your personal growth
and change processes
Listen to your Speech
 Hear
what you say to others and how you say it (i.e.
tone of voice)
 Mentally
observe your body language
 People
will mirror your message and your body
language
 If
your communication is positive you can better
expect a favorable response
Resolve conflicts immediately
 When
we delay the resolution of conflicts it allows
more time for people to let the situation fester and
create negative scenarios
 Address
a conflict when it arises and ill feelings will
be doused before they have the opportunity to
begin
“When there is an elephant in the room…
introduce him.”
-Randy Pausch
Use Positive Language
 Use
positive terms
 State
what you can do, not what you can’t
 People
to tend focus and remember the negative
words more then the positive
Avoid Negativity
 Listen
to your inner voice
 Surround
yourself with positive people
 Negativity
 When
breeds more negativity
you are around others who have a positive
attitude it will be easier for you to remain upbeat
and focused
Be Proactive
 Don’t
 Look
 Your
wait to take action
for positive solutions to challenging situations
genuine concern and upbeat willingness to
take immediate action will be remembered longer
than the negative feelings
Remember…
 What
you do is not inherently easy
 Select a student-focused attitude
 Strive for constant improvement
 Avoid gossip
 Set an example and walk your talk
 Be accountable
 Avoid complacency
 Listen to your speech
 Resolve conflicts immediately
 Use positive language & avoid negativity
 Be proactive
Assessment
“A systematic appraisal of advising is
necessary to determine whether student
and institutional expectations are being
met and to justify professional
recognition.”
-Frank J. Spicuzza
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Assessment
 Create
a survey
 Can
be either paper based or computer based or
 Web
Services on campus has a tool to create a
both
form
 Can
be anonymous but you can leave an e-mail to
have students to get a response from someone if
they want
Indicators of Advisor Success
 Student
Success
 Student
Attitudes
 Administration/Faculty/Staff
Attitudes
Some Issues
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Advisor Load (Student/Advisor Ratio)
Majors, Minors and Prospective Students
“The field of advising has yet to produce definitive
research on the relationship between advisor load
and either student satisfaction or advisor
effectiveness.”
“Frankly, there is no magic formula that fits
determining advisor load at every institution…In a
sense, the issue of advisor load is predicated on
understanding the differential needs of your students.”
-Wes Habley
ACT, Inc.
Some Issues
 Compassion
vs. Accountability
 Work
Environment
 Under appreciation
 Personality Conflicts
 Student
Responsibility
Questions?
Thank You!