1.1 Please indicate below if any aspect of the service is legally mandated by any of the following and provide the relevant reference.

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1 Response ID:90; Data 1. Support Services Report Template Report Info Name of the person completing this report : Annette Walker Title of the person completing this report : Special Assistant to AVP Supervisor/dean reviewing report : Greg Smith Name of second reviewer (if necessary) : Linda Dalton Service : Communication/Telephone Services Division/College : PEMSA 3. Mandated Service 1.1 Please indicate below if any aspect of the service is legally mandated by any of the following and provide the relevant reference. Executive Order : CSU Handbook Title 5 : Title 5, Division 5, Subchapter 3-Admission Requirements for CSU Any other : CSU Enrollment Reporting System's Operational Manual Federal Law : FERPA Provide a brief explanation, if necessary, in < 60 words. The Office of Admission follows the admission standardss provided by Title 5 and the CSU Chancellor's Office. Call Center representatives often explain admission policy to students. Compliance with FERPA is particularly important, including authentication of callers, so that no protected information is inadvertently shared inappropriately over the phone. 4. Importance of Service Briefly describe the service in terms of its primary function(s) and purpose(s) using <120 words The offices in PEMSA receive a high volume of phone calls for a variety of support services and for topics of interest to current and prospective students. The Center helps an average of 50,000 people/calls annually and even more during peak cycles for admissions, financial aid and the records office including immediate trouble-shooting and problem-solving. The Center is also a central feature in PEMSA's superior customer service for all continuing, prospective, newly admitted undergraduate and gradulate students/applicants. The mission and purpose of the center is to help callers and leave them satisfied and with answers or resolutions no matter how much time it takes. 2.1 Who are the primary receivers of this service? (Please enter the percentage of each user group that is relevant) Students : 90% Alumni : 5% Community outside University : 5% Total : 100% 2.2 Please indicate the direct or indirect impact of the service on students for each of the three University Action/Student

2 Impact Areas listed below (for example processing financial aid applications would be direct impact on students while managing utility services would be indirect). Direct Impact on Students Indirect Impact on Students Pre-college (helping students to enter the system) During college (helping students succeed while they are at Cal State East Bay) After college (helping students establish meaningful lifework and be socially responsible contributors to society) Provide a brief narrative (<60 words each) explaining your selection for each area. Evidence submitted to support the chosen selection (<60 words for each) Pre-college (helping students to enter the system) During college (helping students succeed while they are at Cal State East Bay) After college (helping students establish meaningful lifework and be socially responsible contributors to society) For many prospective or pre-college students phoning the Admissions and Records Call Center is often their first point on contact with the university. Therefore, potential enrollment can be lost or gained depending on how incoming calls are handled. We take phone answering seriously by staffing the center with highly trained individuals who can assist and support prospective students through the application process. This information may include how to apply, application and document deadlines, sending transcripts and test scores, and determing residency status. Representatives proactively communicate high school and/or transfer admission requirements. The Call Center is a customer service tool that helps students to navigate self-service portals, and take care of the caller's needs right then and there. For example, students needing to take care of basic task like locating online admissions, records and financial aid forms, class schedules, and important dates. Some calls relate to Lifelong learning opportunities and alumni inquiries. 2.3 Applying the four choices presented below, please indicate the consequence of NOT having this service on each of the actions in the left hand column. 4 - Service provides evidence of direct impact in more than one area 3 - Service provides evidence of direct impact in one area 2 - Service provides evidence of indirect impact in more than one area 1 - Service provides evidence of indirect impact in one area Pre-college (helping students to enter the system) During college (helping students succeed while they are at Cal State East Bay) After college (helping students establish meaningful lifework and be socially responsible contributors to society)

3 Provide a brief narrative (<60 words each) explaining your choice. Evidence submitted to support the chosen selection (<60 words for each selection) Pre-college (helping students to enter the system) During college (helping students succeed while they are at Cal State East Bay) After college (helping students establish meaningful lifework and be socially responsible contributors to society) Providing accurate and timely information regarding deliverable services such as admissions and document deadlines, updates to applications, submitting supplemental documents, intent to register, required residency documentation, admission petitions, fee payments, registering for classes is necessary for students to successfully navigate through the admissions process resulting in meeting university enrollment targets. Timely notification and communication to students serves to help students enter the system seamlessly and with support along the way. Helping students to succeed while they are at EB include netid and horizon activation assistance allowing them to obtain and/or request information or report a problem. Students are directed towards self service options that serve to expedite application processing, registering for classes, accepting finanical aid awards more readily in a more efficient manner. Inquiries from alumni include those who might be returning for additional courses as post-baccalaureate or graduate students. 2.4 Alignment with Shared Strategic Commitments How does this service contribute to or align with any of the eight Shared Strategic Commitments (SSC) listed below? Reinforce academic quality through open-minded inquiry, innovative teaching, engaged learning, and distinguished scholarship Enhance our inclusive campus, responding to the backgrounds and interests of our diverse community and promoting their academic, professional and personal development If aligned or contributing, provide a description. (<60 words for each SSC) Serve students first, by expanding access and enhancing each student's educational experience and prospects for success as a graduate and lifelong learner Our commitment towards taking a more in-depth look at how students obtain information may involve extending services to facebook clients and other social media outlets. Foster a vibrant community through enriched student services and student life that support student engagement and learning Contribute to a sustainable planet through our academic programs, university operations, and individual behavior Continuously improve our efficiency, transparency, and accountability while practicing mutual respect, responsiveness, and collaboration across the University Our commitment towards improving customer service includes weekly admissions updates meeting for Call Center representatives, working from scripts and collaborating with other staff and departments across the university to assure accurate and consistent information. Support the civic, cultural, and economic life of all communities in the regions we serve through partnerships that promote education and social responsibility Demonstrate our continuing record of leadership and innovation in higher education, focused on

4 and innovation in higher education, focused on 21st century skills, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) 2.5 How might the demand for this service change over the next five years? (Please choose one category below). Likely to increase Provide a rationale for your choice (assumptions, impact of new policy, etc.) in <120 words. As the volume of applications increases and enrollment grows, the number of students calling the University for information increases. Further, as requirements and opportunities become more numerous or complex (e.g., SB1440), students have more questions to ask. 5. Quality of Service 3.1 Do you assess the quality of the service you provide? If, what benchmarks, best practices or measures of success, either internal or external, do you use to measure service quality (e.g., timeliness, accuracy, adequacy, meeting deadlines, satisfactory completion of assignment, etc.)? Please describe in <120 words. If no, please explain. The number of incoming phones calls received and answered are monitored/tallied daily and compliled for the daily Call Center/Phone Report including queue time and dropped calls. This volume of activity is summarized in the PEMSA Annual Activity Report. 3.2 During the last three years, have you adopted any measures to improve the quality of this service? Please describe in <120 words. Due to budget cuts, furloughs and a hiring freeze within PEMSA during the years , the Call Center has reorganized. Staff received cross-training to handle phones in order to address staff turnover and to allow this service to continue with fewer staff. Over the last two years, the call center for admissions and records has been re-centralized under a single supervisor, and staffed primarily by student assistants and temporary workers. (Financial aid call center staff are separate due to the more specialized nature of their calls.) 3.3 What idea(s) do you have for improving the quality of this service within existing resources (e.g. development of benchmarks, surveys, feedback, etc.)? Please describe your plan(s) in < 120 words. Ideally, given the success of hiring students and non-recruited temps to staff the center, we would prefer to recruit temporary or permanent employees to ensure high-quality training. In so doing, continuity and investment in human capital will help provide more consistency as well as greater customer service overall. 3.4 What ideas do you have for improving the quality of the service if additional resources were provided. Please describe your idea(s) in <120 words.

5 We would recuit more skilled labor and hire them as permanent employees with benefits. 3.5 Do you use any formal or informal process to assess the level of satisfaction of the service users? If yes, describe the process and most recent results in <120 words. If no, please explain. We generate a high level report capturing incoming phone calls received and answered includng queue time, response time and dropped calls. Furthermore, we address customer complaints as well as statisfaction by escalating calls to a supervisor or lead representative with the knowledge-base, skill and authority to resolve problems. 3.6 The university recently conducted a customer satisfaction survey for some services (results for this service are attached, if applicable). Do you have any comment or response to the results? Please describe in <120 words. The Call Center was not included in the survey 3.7 Do you have any formal or informal guidelines for personnel in your department regarding how to treat/interact with receivers of this service? If yes, please describe in <120 words. If no, please explain Every Call Center representative receives a full three weeks of traning (more or less training if ncessary) from a permanent staff person for each respective area (i.e., admissions, records, financial aid). The center uses 6 basic steps to success in phone customer service; 1) give a name, 2) answer the phone with a smile, 3) get the caller's name, 4) then repeat the caller's name, 5) ask how can I help, and 6) thank caller again before ending the call. Moreover, every agent must compete FERPA and Security Awareness training first. Training includes knowlege and handling on all admissions, records and financial aid forms and the University's People soft system and Singularity (access granted to view only) 3.8 Does your service have annual goals (targets) of achievement regarding the quality of the service provided? If yes, describe the annual quality goals (targets) and indicate if the service achieved those goals (targets). Please provide evidence, if possible, in <120 words. If no, please explain. We strive to reduce inconstistencies in information given by providing scripts to representatives and weekly admissions update meetings including question and answer periods. Escalating complicated inquiries to a supervisor rather than asking the caller to call back or re-route them. Also, common emerging issues and questions are addressed at Weekly Admissions Update meetings.

6 3.9 Does your service have annual goals (targets) of achievement regarding the quantity of service provided? If yes, describe the annual quantity goals (targets) and indicate if the service achieved those goals (targets). Please provide evidence, if possible, in < 120 words. If no, please explain. The overall goal is to answer 95% of all calls in no less than 12 seconds (currenly average time is 20 seconds) Target max. abandonment rate: 5% or less (met goal) Evidenced as: Daily Call Center Reports 6. Efficiency of Service (cost effectiveness) 4.1 Using the spreadsheet provided for all employees in your department, please distribute salaries of individuals across all services provided to reach an educated or reasonable estimate of the cost of providing the service Attach your allocated spreadsheet here. AVP Enrollment Dev & Managment.xlsx 4.2 Using the spreadsheet provided, please distribute your department s annual operating expenses across all services provided to reach an educated or reasonable estimate of the cost of providing the service Using the spreadsheet provided, please distribute the square footage of work space across all services provided to reach an educated or reasonable estimate of the use of this resource. 536 Attach your allocated spreadsheet here. AVP Enrollment Dev & Managment.xlsx 4.4 During the last three years, have you adopted any measures to improve the efficiency (cost effectiveness) of providing this service (e.g. reducing salary costs, operating expenses or use of space, or increased output without increasing cost. Etc.)? If yes, please describe the measures in <120 words. If this is a new service introduced over the past three years, please indicate. If no, please explain. Over the last two years, the call center for admissions and records has been re-centralized under a single supervisor, and staffed primarily by student assistants and temporary workers. (Financial aid call center staff are separate due to the more specialized

7 nature of their calls.) 4.5 What idea(s) do you have for improving the efficiency (cost effectiveness) of this service within existing resources (e.g. restructuring, merging, outsourcing, ways to cut costs, technology, etc.)? Please describe those ideas in <120 words. Several ideas to improve the efficiency and the center within existing resources is as follows: Centralize the work space/locations for all reps, Assign a lead rep to oversee daily operations during center hours M-TH 10-3pm., Quarterly team meetings to outline performance metrics, workload and scheduling, additional training and call center staffing and patterns. 4.6 What idea(s) do you have for improving the efficiency (cost effectiveness) of the service if additional resources were provided. Please describe your idea(s) in <120 words. The center is currently staffed by student assistants and temps limited to 6 month assignments because they're non-recruited. We are experiencing a high turnover of staff due to assistants taking classes during call center hours limiting thier availability, and temps having to separate from the university for a month in between assigments. Hiring workers as temps-recruited would alleviate this problem and attract a more serious, dedicated worker. Not to mention making them eligible to receive benefits. 4.7 Do you have any plan(s) to improve the efficiency (cost effectiveness) of this service in the next 1-2 years (e.g. reducing costs, increasing productivity, etc.)? If yes, please specify whether these plan(s) involve reducing salary costs, operating expenses and/or use of space. Please describe your plan(s) in <120 words. If no, please explain. We are planning to centralize the use of space/location of call center reps, and hiring a lead person to oversee daily operations during center hours. 4.8 Please describe the estimated output for this service for fiscal year , quantify if possible (e.g. volume, service tickets resolved, people serviced, appointments, etc.) in <120 words. 45We the number of incoming calls received and answered regarding undergraduate and graduate admissions and student records is about 45,000 annually. The Financial Aid call center responds to an additional 25,000 calls each year. 7. Other 5.1 Are you aware of services similar to this one that are being provided by another department at CSU East Bay? If yes, please provide a list of those departments. How are the services described here similar or different? Please describe in < 60 words. The Call Center differs from the University operator's services by staffing highly trained representatives who must adhere to FERPA

8 laws and provide guidance and information to current and prospective students mostly related to admission and records questions. Typically, the university operator serves as a conduit to provide callers with the phone number of a faculty, staff member or department. 5.2 Is there anything unique or distinctive about your service? Please describe what is unique or distinctive in <120 words. The PEMSA Call Center specializes in responding to information requiring adherence to FERPA laws provided by only trained representatives who provide guidance and information of a variety of support sevices and for topics of interest to current and prospective students mostly related to admission, records and financial aid questions. 5.3 Are there any additional things about this service that you would like the task group to know? Please describe/explain in <250 words. The Call Center operates during the hours of 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday - Thursday. Friday hours were eliminated during the furlough year and have not been resumed as this was a low volume day. Download PDF Version