Student Information Points launch with a new design
09 Dec 2013
Staff from central student support services and schools are working together to create a ‘joined up’ information, advice and guidance service for students.
Five ‘Beacon’ schools are now marked on the Campus map as Information Points, together with Student Services desks at Burlington Street, University Place and The Atrium. Students from all schools and disciplines are invited to come and ask for help if they are close by and have a query on any aspect of their University life.
Rosie Williams, Acting Head of School Administration in the School of Environment, Education and Development, said: "All our staff do their utmost to give students a great experience but sometimes our systems and processes prevent us from being able to go that extra mile and students often get fed up of being passed from pillar to post.
"The concept behind Information Points is to cut through the barriers. Creating a single identity and unified standards enables us to make the enquiry service more visible to students all over campus and helps us try wherever possible not to pass people around unnecessarily. It’s an idea that came from school staff themselves and wonderful that schools and central services are able to work closely together in this way."
University Place acts as the new ‘hub’ for information, advice and guidance services and Information Points referred to as the ‘spokes’.
Distinctive name badges, lanyards and black and white signage are the core elements of the new identity of any information, advice and guidance services, together with T-shirts and sweatshirts for staff that choose to wear them. The theme was designed by Stephen McCabe (Division of Communications and Marketing) to complement the innovative design of neon signage and black detail used in the refurbishment of University Place.
All staff signed up to the Information Points theme have committed to a set of minimum standards of operating. They aim to answer student enquiries at the first point interaction or arrange a managed referral to a service or person who can help.
Staff in the Beacon schools have been trained how to deal with simple finance queries, how to navigate round My Manchester to help students find information, and begun to issue standard student status letters so that students do not have to be sent to the Student Services Centre unnecessarily. To date over 200 letter have been issued to students from the 5 School offices which have saved 200 unnecessary trips to the Student Services Centre by students.
A detailed operating model will be produced in the new year, detailing elements of the new service provision and how other schools and services can sign up to the scheme.
Beacon schools are School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, School of Mathematics, Faculty of Life Sciences, School of Environment, Education and Development and School of Arts, Languages and Cultures.
The photo shows (L to R): staff from Beacon Information Points (Tracey Smith, Elizabeth Todd Davies, Georgina Stirling, Francesca Moss, Niko Wright, Lisa Wright and Rosie Williams) standing next to new signage and wearing sweatshirts, badges and lanyards.
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