Dominican University offices collaborate in joint program to ensure a centralized service for student needs.
As of mid-March, after Spring break, Financial Aid, Registrar, and Student Account offices will be combined in Lewis 115 for unified service to student needs. The program, called Stars Connect, will open a door connecting Student Accounts to the Registrar’s office. The lobby area of the Registrar’s office will also go under reconstruction. The door to the Student Account lobby will be closed, effectively combining Student Accounts to Registrar’s office.
“Stars Connect is our effort to centralize the front facing student services of financial aid, student accounts, and the registrar’s office” Tory Spivak, assistant vice president of Student Enrollment Services said. “This is bringing together those frontline services. Student will now go to one location to address those questions”
Stars Connect is implemented to improve student experience and reduce hassles of students coming back and forth between the offices for class registration, or account hold lift. The need for Stars Connect comes from the Student Satisfaction Survey, research in higher education, and institutional data. Dominican also receives transfer students from local community colleges that had already implemented similar joint programs.
“The decision behind is to really improve the student experience”, Spivak said, “to make it [course enrollment process] simpler, more transparent, less asking student to go back and forth from to office to office and kind of bounce around, to just make it a more seamless experience”.
Stars Connect originates from President Cabinet Initiative and involves collaboration between several offices on campus. Support Center will help with the online services while Marketing and Communication departments will manage the design. Extra signages and emails will also inform students about Stars Connect after spring break. Stars Connect will use March to May as a testing period and make further adjustments or changes during summer break.
