November 10, 2000

Students are at the top of the schedule in the Office of Student Records

By Betsy Schmitt, A'01, Intern in the Offices of Public Affairs and Publications

"Our highest priority is customer service to students and other members of the university," according to Michael Rachal, director of administrative services and Kathy Gros, director of student services in the Office of Student Records. During the past two years, utilizing advanced technology and through a major reorganization, they have revamped the Office of Student Records and turned it into a customer service oriented operation.

The office environment was redesigned into a customer-friendly space that increases the level of service with glass doorways opening to a wide area providing easy access to customer service specialists, a friendly atmosphere is created by bright walls and large windows. Customer Service Specialists in the office include Susan Brunson, Diane Fletcher, Debbie LaMarca and Antoinette Jones. These staff members specialize in registration, enrollment verification, grading issues, transcripts and graduation applications.

Director of Student Services Kathy Gros says the level of service is so great because the staff is cross-trained to better serve the university community. "We assist students in all aspects of the registration process, including online registration and providing copies of schedules," she says.

Using LORA (Loyola Online Record Access), students have a permanent pin number that will connect them directly into the web for students. With technical support from Information Technology, students will be able to audit their schedules, and advisors will have less trouble gaining access to students records. Students can now change addresses, see their schedules, track billing online and register for courses after seeing their advisor. They can also see their scholarships and financial aid awards along with up-to-date availability of courses online.

"Online registration has taken us away some face to face contact, but there is more contact via email," says Michael Rachal. "Technology makes many aspects of what we do easier for students but we are still available for personal assistance," he emphasizes.

If the staff is not helping students or preparing for a event, they are working on new projects like planning the schedule for next year. With teamwork, the student records staff continues to extend excellent service to the Loyola community. From scheduling classes to the graduation ceremony, student records has had a productive hand in students' total educational experience.

"We recognize that previous services our office provided will eventually become obsolete. It is important that we, as a service office and as individuals, continually develop along with the advancing technologies," Rachal adds.