Destiny Remezas
Daily Egyptian
Daryl Wall, an incoming student, wasn't sure what to expect when he
arrived at the College of Business and Administration Offices a half
hour early for his appointment.
What he found was a closed office-doors locked and lights off.
Wall, who drove to Carbondale from Sesser to register for fall classes,
was surprised, but what he encountered was not uncommon at SIUC.
From noon to 1 p.m., campus offices close their doors while office
workers eat lunch, leaving students who have only their own lunch hour
to handle their University affairs out of luck, according to a report
from the Agility and Efficiency Taskforce.
The taskforce, created by Chancellor Walter Wendler, is comprised of
campus members selected by the administration. They poll students
and faculty members to determine what SIUC's biggest problems are. The
taskforce's findings were distributed to the faculty senate on
Monday.
"We can't close campus down at lunch time," Wendler said. "It doesn't make sense."
The College of Business and Administration's office is not the only one
closed during the lunch break. Staff at the offices of the College of
Science and the law school also said their offices are closed between
noon and 1 p.m. The offices of the Marekting Department and the
School of Journalism were among the many offices closed during that
hour.
Some offices, such as the Research and Graduate Dean's Office, are open but staffed only by student workers.
The task force also found that students and parents are often frustrated with the way phone calls are answered or transferred.
The University does not have a policy requiring training employees in
proper phone etiquette, said University Spokeswomen Sue Davis.
"That is essentially across the board department subjective," Davis said. "There wouldn't be a need for standardized learning."
Kathy Blackwell, Director of Human Resources, said she is unaware of
phone etiquette training procedures being implemented on campus.
She said the amount and type of training depends on the department.
The person answering the phone for New Student Programs said she was
too busy to talk and to call the department back later before she hung
up the telephone.
However, those answering the phone in other departments, like student
worker Kaela Powley at the Recreation Center, had time to talk and
answer questions.
Powley said although she receives all incoming phone calls to the
recreation center, she received no phone etiquette training, but was
briefly trained on how to use the phone system.
Reporter destiny Remezas can be reached at
Destiny_Remezas@dailyegyptian.com
