AU Central, an office in charge of answering student questions regarding course registration and financial issues, will open July 1, according to Director of Operations Jonnel Clothier.
AU Central will integrate the three offices of Financial Aid, the Registrar and Student Accounts that have in the past been referred to as AU’s own “Bermuda Triangle” by students.
The project, first approved by the AU Board of Trustees in February 2009, establishes a brand-new office space, cross training for existing staff from the three offices and the institution of a new student portal.
Overseeing the operation are Clothier and Betty Douglass, AU Central’s interim director, who was brought out of retirement specifically to oversee the office’s construction.
Douglass described the purpose of AU Central as a one-stop center in the Asbury building.
“Students won’t be put in the position anymore where they need to self-diagnose,” Douglass said. “You won’t need to think about which office you need to go to, you can just head straight to AU Central.”
The eight staff counselors that will work at the AU Central office will be able to utilize tools that were previously unavailable.
When students go into AU Central to get their questions answered, counselors will be able to pull up a screen that has the student’s financial aid, registration and tuition history, according to Clothier.
“It’s a ticket that travels with you and prevents students from being forced into a position where they need to explain their problem multiple times as they are shuttled from office to office,” Clothier said, “[It’s] like a medical history.”
The office space in Asbury for AU Central comes complete with 10 offices for the counseling staff, two assistant director offices, an office for the secretary and one for Clothier, who will take over for Douglass starting July 1.
Both Douglass and Clothier believe that AU Central will be an answer to many of the complaints that have come up in the past few years about service in the “Bermuda Triangle.” Douglass cited the most recent Campus Climate Survey, a report released by the Office of Institutional Research every year. The CCS has shown much criticism of student services over the past few years.
“AU Central is a direct response to the complaints voiced in the Campus Climate Survey,” Douglass said. “I think students will be very pleased.”
According to Clothier and Douglass, the eight staff members of AU Central will have completed cross-training that will give them the ability to counsel students on all aspects of their accounts at AU.
“The staff will be more like general practitioners rather than specialists,” Douglass said.
While AU Central will pull staff and resources from the offices of Financial Aid, Student Accounts and the Registrar, the three original offices will remain intact for the most specific of questions that AU Central is unable to field. However, Douglass and Clothier hope that such instances will be few and far between.
Student Government President Andy MacCracken said he is very excited about the prospects of the new office.
“I’m very pleased with the outlook for AU Central,” MacCracken said. “It will finally make how student services are supposed to work in theory [into] a reality.”
MacCracken’s only concern was for the transition period as current students adapt to the new system.
“I worry that if AU Central does not communicate the changes it will bring, it might cause confusion in the short run,” MacCracken said.
Douglass and Clothier shared his concern, saying the system will take some getting used to but will be a much more efficient and simple way for students to manage their campus accounts.
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