It can be draining to pay your parking ticket at one location, your tuition at another location and go grab your financial aid
In fact, for some, not only is it taxing on the body, it’s also hard to remember exactly where you pay for everything and register for everything.
In the attempt to be in the top-25 list of public universities, UT will start building a One Stop student services center that will cater to the needs of students, all in one place. Starting in the summer of 2013, One Stop will be open for use.
The goal of the center is to create a wireless network where one can have everything from financial aid to tuition, common enrollment and payment services readily available.
Wireless as it may be, the ground level of Hodges Library will be the physical, central location where the One Stop will be stationed.
While One Stop may be a critical component for students to access information, pay for college, and check one’s DARS, it’s also vital in helping UT obtain its top-25 public university goal.
“This is important for us in the top-25 list of public universities because it will increase the friendliness and the welcoming quality of the student experience coming right in the door,” Provost Susan Martin said in an interview with UT. “We know that students, particularly in that first year of their college experience, need to learn how to negotiate the university, and the retention of our students, especially our first and second year retention, is a critical component of our top-25 plan as we seek to improve time to graduation and graduation rates.”
Martin said that one of the goals is to have a more welcoming, friendly environment that is easier to maneuver and results in less time standing around.
“Our idea is to have a very fluid, customer-service friendly space where there will not be that window at which you stand in that line to get your answer,” she said. “There will be a more modern feel to it, if you will. The counselors will be roving, the students will be comfortable.”
According to UT, the financial aid office and the bursar’s office will continue to stay open once One Stop opens, assisting One Stop in performing existing functions as well as aiding in any counseling help, as well as in scheduling and payment issues.
Anna King, junior in human resources management, says the scattering of all the different payment locations and information desks causes unnecessary stress.
“I try to be a very organized person, so the lack thereof causes confusion and makes simple tasks much longer than they should,” she said. “I can imagine UT employees are being bombarded with unnecessary phone calls and questions all day, taking away from time they need to complete job duties.”
King said that this could be a positive step for the university because it would allow for UT staff to focus more on their primary duties rather than taking needless questions that could be better answered in a more efficient way.
Many students end up rushing last minute to pay their tuition, only to realize long lines await them. One Stop plans to decrease the lines and increase the wireless, paperless system.
“I have overheard many frazzled students talking about how much of a pain the system is, and always seems to be slowed down especially when registering for classes,” King said.
In their reach to achieve being on the list of top-25 public universities, UT continues to make changes to try and enhance their status as elite.
However, King doesn’t think this will bump up UT’s status that much.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure if this up’s their status to get on the list,” she said. “I would have to say that I would not be more drawn to a school just because it was paperless.”
