A new online resource on myASU, the Service Center, will help guide students to find answers and solutions to their problems. (Screencapture courtesy of Crystal Gustavson)
Students who are tired of hunting for answers to their questions throughout myASU will soon have a solution to their problems in the form of the Service Center.
A new online resource on myASU, the Service Center will serve as a comprehensive knowledge base to guide students to the answers to their questions.
Stacey Lippert, director of Student-Centric Initiatives for the Office of the University Provost, said the main purpose of the feature is to improve student's ability to find information and get answers to their questions.
Lippert said the department collected feedback from students to enhance the student service experience.
"We know that students are very busy and it's sometimes difficult to know exactly who you need to speak with or where you need to go to get the service that is needed," she said. "The Service Center in myASU addresses this by becoming a more convenient centrally located place that students can visit 24/7 with any question they have."
The Service Center will serve as a question-and-answer portal. Students can submit a request or question online that will be sent to whoever can best assist them. Phone and online chat support will also be available.
Additionally, past service requests will be stored so that students can track open cases and refer back to them.
"The Service Center is really an enhancement of the student portal, bringing together new and existing tools into the myASU student portal," Lippert said.
Mason Smith, a sports management major, recently transferred to ASU and is excited about the opportunity to use the new service center.
Smith transferred from Grand Canyon University, where he didn't have access to similar tools, and said thinks it will serve as a great asset to his experience.
"I think that the new student services center is a great resource to have," he said.
Smith noted the convenience of the system is its best feature.
"One of the things I like most about it is that it's all right there, no jumping through multiple hoops to get the answer I need, it's as straightforward as it gets," he said.
Global studies junior Shelby Clark, said she thinks the new feature is good idea in theory but doesn't address other serious issues with myASU and the ASU webpage.
"The Student Service tab offers steps, not solutions," Clark said. "A student would still need to wait 40 minutes or more to talk to a real human being in the financial aid office to actually get help."
Additionally, Clark said the feature is a good tool for current students but the webpage for visitors is still lacking.
"It's a great search engine for current ASU students, but for prospective students there is no such amenity and leaves them at the mercy of the hard-to-navigate website," she said.
Reach the reporter at icbeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @ICBeck21.
