Students and administrators mingled on Wednesday at the opening of Student Services' one-stop location in Mesa Vista Hall.
The Main Campus one-stop in North Mesa Vista Hall is one of two places students can now go for registration, admissions and financial aid needs. The other one-stop is located on South Campus.
Sophomore Matthew Sandoval said he liked the setup because he didn't have to wait for service.
"Not having to take a number is better than it was," he said. "I didn't wait at all."
Carmen Alvarez-Brown, vice president for Enrollment Management, said the one-stop will speed up the process.
"If there are two people in line, that is too many people for me," she said.
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But sophomore Rebecca Schimoler said she was not pleased with the service she received. She said the staff member who assisted her did not give her the appropriate information, so she spent unnecessary time going to different departments.
"It was not 'one-stop,'" she said. "This place may be quicker, but I don't know how helpful it is."
Brown said students can find the same services at the South Campus location, and Enrollment Management hopes to handle more non-traditional students there. "Eventually, that location will be open until 6 or 7 o'clock," she said. "So, if you are on campus here and you needed to do something but forgot, you can just go over there."
Brown said she changed the system because she knew from previous experience how successful it could be.
"We are committed to making sure that, if you have a registration, admissions or financial aid problem, we take care of it here," she said. "You do not leave those doors until we have taken care of your problem."
Brown said the renovation and opening of one-stop cost the University between $150,000 and $200,000.
"They had given me $200,000 to renovate the Office of Enrollment Management," she said. "I decided to use that money for a more functional space."
Brown said all one-stop staff members are doing the same tasks they did previously, but now they will be cross-trained to help students with wide-ranging questions. She said employees will be fully trained by next semester.
One-stop staff member Vanessa Griego said she went through a three-week training session before the opening.
Griego said learning about the other departments' work was enjoyable, and she was excited to move to the one-stop because it provides a good service for students.
"Students can find a lot of things here," she said. "Everything is right here, right now. It's really neat."
Junior Natalie Marquez said all of her needs were met, but there were aspects of the one-stop she didn't like.
"Before, you would go into an office and it was personal and confidential," she said. "Now, it's just at the front desk with everyone around."
Marquez said she wished Student Services hadn't changed.
"It was way more personal when they had individual offices," she said. "Sometimes you do not want to talk about things like financial aid with everybody around."
Brown said Enrollment Management is also going to launch a one-stop Web site where students can go to a single location for questions about registration, admissions and financial aid.
Senior Miguel Chavez said he liked the one-stop because it was efficient and he didn't have to wait.
"Before, it was awful," he said. "I was always getting bounced around. I had to spend several hours getting something silly done. This is a lot more effective."
Enrollment Management is asking students to fill out a survey to rate the services they receive. Eighty-two surveys have been recorded, with four negative responses, Brown said.
Brown said only surveys with valid contact information will be recorded, for quality purposes.
