[cfarmer@gsu.edu]

Good afternoon Michael,

 

We haven’t hired Student Assistants since Covid started, so we haven’t had anyone working our Information Desk. We have used the desk at the start of each semester as an Ask Me Booth to help our new students.

 

Now that we are back on campus, we are hiring assistants to use our desk again.

 

Wishing you a bright and cheerful day,

 

Cheryl Farmer

Administrative Coordinator

Office of Dean of Students & Student Life

555 North Indian Creek Drive

CN Building, Suite 1400

Clarkston, GA 30021

Office of Dean of Students: (678) 891-3525

Office of Student Life: (678) 891-3225

 

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude – Denis Waitley

   

Together we are strong. Together we can make a difference. Together we can stop the hate. Together we can show love. Together we can bring peace. Together we can change the world.

 

P Please consider the environment before printing this email  
This message is intended for use only by the person(s) addressed above and may contain privileged and confidential information. Disclosure or use of this message by any other person is strictly prohibited. If this message is received in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete this message.

 

——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 2/11/2022 3:43:00 PM
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Welcome Desk

I recall a few universities had mentioned limiting or all together removing Welcome/Information desks from their operations.  We are experiencing short staffing and are exploring whether a reduction in Welcome Desk hours or all together removing the welcome desk from building operations.  Can anyone help me out with examples of a reduction in staff?  Also if you changed the description of your welcome desk operations- I’m thinking maybe merging scheduling desk with information?  

Any examples would be helpful.

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————

[Monica Duran]

Hey Michael,

?Here at UW, we close the information desk a few hours before building close, since most foot traffic dies down, and the Student Building Managers may sit at the information desk between building rounds. There is a sign with their cell phone number if someone needs assistance.
We also have a merged team of scheduling and info desk – with info students doing some entry-level scheduling, and meeting reservation students doing more complex scheduling. This helps with staffing and call outs as well, giving us more students who are trained and able to step in. I’m happy to talk more specifics if you have questions!

——————————
Monica Duran (she/hers)
Director, Student Union Experience

ASUC Student Union | University of California, Berkeley
t.?(510) 664-4502 |e.?moduran@berkeley.edu
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-11-2022 15:42
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Welcome Desk

I recall a few universities had mentioned limiting or all together removing Welcome/Information desks from their operations.  We are experiencing short staffing and are exploring whether a reduction in Welcome Desk hours or all together removing the welcome desk from building operations.  Can anyone help me out with examples of a reduction in staff?  Also if you changed the description of your welcome desk operations- I’m thinking maybe merging scheduling desk with information?  

Any examples would be helpful.

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————

[Julie Eatley]

Hi Monica! Could you provide the delineation between info students scheduling responsibilities vs. Reservations students? If you have procedures, I would love a copy. I’m trying to cross train our student building managers(who also work the info desk) on some scheduling responsibilities and I’m having a hard time finding where to stop training them. 🙂

——————————
Julie Eatley
Events Coordinator
West Texas A&M University
Canyon TX
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-16-2022 14:42
From: Monica Duran
Subject: Welcome Desk

Hey Michael,

 Here at UW, we close the information desk a few hours before building close, since most foot traffic dies down, and the Student Building Managers may sit at the information desk between building rounds. There is a sign with their cell phone number if someone needs assistance.
We also have a merged team of scheduling and info desk – with info students doing some entry-level scheduling, and meeting reservation students doing more complex scheduling. This helps with staffing and call outs as well, giving us more students who are trained and able to step in. I’m happy to talk more specifics if you have questions!

——————————
Monica Duran (she/hers)
Director, Student Union Experience

ASUC Student Union | University of California, Berkeley
t. (510) 664-4502 |e. moduran@berkeley.edu
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 02-11-2022 15:42
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Welcome Desk

I recall a few universities had mentioned limiting or all together removing Welcome/Information desks from their operations.  We are experiencing short staffing and are exploring whether a reduction in Welcome Desk hours or all together removing the welcome desk from building operations.  Can anyone help me out with examples of a reduction in staff?  Also if you changed the description of your welcome desk operations- I’m thinking maybe merging scheduling desk with information?  

Any examples would be helpful.

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————

[Deanna Cahoon-Draus]

Hi Michael,
Our Information Desk got integrated into our Student Involvement (Student Activities) team — previously it had been housed in our Operations team. For our process we had to make a few changes — we are the main phone number for the campus and over COVID we changed our phone system so most callers now can be automatically transferred to some of the main departments on campus rather than getting sent to us. This decreased our workload at the Information Desk, which allowed us to combine our Involvement Center (Student Involvement) Desk and Information Desk and run all of the tasks out of one desk!

Also similar to Monica’s response, our Building Managers are trained in Info Desk procedures and can be backups when needed.

——————————
Deanna Cahoon-Draus
Building Operations Specialist
University of Wisconsin River Falls
River Falls WI
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-11-2022 15:42
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Welcome Desk

I recall a few universities had mentioned limiting or all together removing Welcome/Information desks from their operations.? We are experiencing short staffing and are exploring whether a reduction in Welcome Desk hours or all together removing the welcome desk from building operations.? Can anyone help me out with examples of a reduction in staff?? Also if you changed the description of your welcome desk operations- I’m thinking maybe merging scheduling desk with information???

Any examples would be helpful.

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————

[Lynn Rotter]

Hello Michael,?

We have not closed our information desk, but just tailored our hours to be open during peak times (i.e. we close at 8pm, and the building closes at 10:30pm).? We typically just staff 1 student at a time.?

Our info desk also serves as our ID card office, the main phone switchboard for the campus, and also provides ticketing for both on campus department events and also as an outlet for other venues in our city.??

Thank you,
Lynn?

——————————
Lynn Rotter
Ticketing & Information Services Manager
University of Wisconsin?Green Bay
Green Bay WI
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-11-2022 15:42
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Welcome Desk

I recall a few universities had mentioned limiting or all together removing Welcome/Information desks from their operations.  We are experiencing short staffing and are exploring whether a reduction in Welcome Desk hours or all together removing the welcome desk from building operations.  Can anyone help me out with examples of a reduction in staff?  Also if you changed the description of your welcome desk operations- I’m thinking maybe merging scheduling desk with information?  

Any examples would be helpful.

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————

[Kerrie Dalrymple]

We have not closed our Information Desk but have been attempting to re-work the student job descriptions for those workers.? Currently incoming freshmen are typically assigned to the Info Desk and it gives them an opportunity to learn a lot about the campus as well as gets them “in the know” for campus life.? My “operations” team consists of the Info Desk, Facilities (the student center) and Campus Transportation but the term “operations” is a huge umbrella to cover all of those areas.? Like Michael, I would love to see how others manage and also cross training procedures.

Thanks and have a great day!

Kerrie Dalrymple

——————————
Kerrie Dalrymple
Facilities and Services Coordinator
Berry College
Mount Berry GA
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 02-11-2022 15:42
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Welcome Desk

I recall a few universities had mentioned limiting or all together removing Welcome/Information desks from their operations.  We are experiencing short staffing and are exploring whether a reduction in Welcome Desk hours or all together removing the welcome desk from building operations.  Can anyone help me out with examples of a reduction in staff?  Also if you changed the description of your welcome desk operations- I’m thinking maybe merging scheduling desk with information?  

Any examples would be helpful.

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————

[Lynn Rotter]

Our Information Desk is still fully staffed, but running a little slimmer than in the past.? We typically staff 1 information desk assistant working at a time, rather than 2, like in pre-COVID times.? Currently, we still staff 2 people during peak times, like the first month of each semester.? ?

Our area also oversee ID Card production and processing campus point deposits, ticketing services and box office staffing for University produced events, ticketing services as an Outlet for other events in our city.? We also play the role of the main switchboard for the entire university.? We get all those interesting phone calls (“for all other questions, press 5”).? So our student employees still have a full plate.?

Post-COVID, we did reduce the hours that we were open however.? We are now closed at 8pm each evening, instead of closer to building close which is typically 10:30 or 11pm.

——————————
Lynn Rotter
Ticketing & Information Services Manager
University of Wisconsin?Green Bay
Green Bay WI
——————————
——————————————-
Original Message:
Sent: 06-01-2022 15:22
From: Kerrie Dalrymple
Subject: Welcome Desk

We have not closed our Information Desk but have been attempting to re-work the student job descriptions for those workers.  Currently incoming freshmen are typically assigned to the Info Desk and it gives them an opportunity to learn a lot about the campus as well as gets them “in the know” for campus life.  My “operations” team consists of the Info Desk, Facilities (the student center) and Campus Transportation but the term “operations” is a huge umbrella to cover all of those areas.  Like Michael, I would love to see how others manage and also cross training procedures.

Thanks and have a great day!

Kerrie Dalrymple

——————————
Kerrie Dalrymple
Facilities and Services Coordinator
Berry College
Mount Berry GA
——————————

Original Message:
Sent: 02-11-2022 15:42
From: Michael McKean
Subject: Welcome Desk

I recall a few universities had mentioned limiting or all together removing Welcome/Information desks from their operations.  We are experiencing short staffing and are exploring whether a reduction in Welcome Desk hours or all together removing the welcome desk from building operations.  Can anyone help me out with examples of a reduction in staff?  Also if you changed the description of your welcome desk operations- I’m thinking maybe merging scheduling desk with information?  

Any examples would be helpful.

Thanks

Michael McKean

——————————
Michael McKean
Associate Director
Texas A & M Commerce
Commerce TX
903-886-5819
michael.mckean@tamuc.edu
——————————