Students now have an extra incentive to get business done or check up on financial information after they grab a coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts, because if you need to go to the Registrar, Bursar, or Financial Aid offices, you will not find them where they used to be.
Over the summer, after some years of planning, these three offices not only moved under one roof, but one room. What was once the Alumni Office or the Payroll office is now the Student Financial and Registrar Services Office.
Commonly being referred to as the “one-stop” office, this room in the front of Bergami Hall houses three of the most important offices to students while they are at school. Also, on the other side of Dunkin’ Donuts is the brand new Student Employment Office, which, combined with Payroll, will serve as the standalone responsible office for student jobs on campus.
Marc Maniatis, Director of Student Accounts & Risk Manager, stopped by a USGA meeting in April to talk about the proposed change and to gauge student opinion on the move.
“One change that we didn’t have before was we have eight computers now that can be used for self-service. Whether it’s to check e-pay, look at a schedule, or check financial aid online,” he explained.
This is a significant change from the previous operation because in that situation students would have to either use their own laptop or have the person at the counter look up information for them.
“Internal efficiencies will increase for all of us, but it’s all about a better customer experience,” Maniatis said.
“The idea first started in conversation with me back in 2002,” says Karen Flynn, Associate Vice President for Financial Aid. “Part of the problem was we never had the space. Charging forward and the student feedback really moved it forward.”
The goal of this office move was to cut down on student frustration, increase office efficiency, and maximize the amount of space available on campus.
As pointed out by Maniatis, “A lot of other offices had to move out so we could move in here.”
“We also needed a place that was handicap accessible,” said Lynn Kohrn, the University Registrar.
In terms of the Student Employment Office, it will take a huge burden off of financial aid, which was handling that process in the past. “The creation of that office and having the space to do that is going to be very, very good for the students,” Flynn noted.
The new office will be taking over all of the responsibilities of student employment, streamlining paperwork, coordinating online payroll, and allowing students to job search on campus. The office will handle all jobs on campus as well as some community service activities.
While returning students have not had much of a chance to experience this new set-up, first-year students were able to fully utilize this new space as they and their families began their journey at UNH last week.
“They’re happy that they can come to one place,” said Kohrn.
With these new amenities and conveniences in one place, students did not have to be sent all over campus to solve different issues, and wait times and turnaround times were very low. According to Karen Flynn, “For those of us who’ve been through it before, it was incredibly smooth.”
“The proof in the pudding will be when everyone comes back and has a chance to come in,” Kohrn said.
The three officials plan to come back to USGA in September to talk to students and see how they have benefitted from this new office, as well as to look to the future in seeing what improvements can be made.
“We wanted to give students time to come see the office, then we can get some feedback and make improvements as we need to,” said Maniatis.
The only change in policy that will come from the change is the new requirement of photo identification from anyone who walks in for help. This can either be a government ID or student ID.
The new Student Financial and Registrar Services Office or “One Stop” is located in the front of Bergami Hall next to Dunkin’ Donuts. The Student Employment and Payroll Office is located there as well on the other side. Students can visit the offices in normal business hours to handle services that would have been taken care of by either the Registrar, Bursar or Financial Aid offices.
