Gateway system reorganization scheduled for 2009-10
By Randi Johnson
Many students rely on Metropolitan State University’s Gateway system for more than just registration queries. Gateway staff receives questions about financial aid, advising and student accounts, among others. In an effort to better serve the student population, the Student Affairs division of Metropolitan State has recently implemented a Gateway Reorganization. They are working to devise a new system of more in-depth support and a higher level of customer service available for students.
Dr. Trenda Boyum-Breen, Vice-President of Student Affairs for Metropolitan State, is the executive sponsor of the reorganization. In an interview with The Metropolitan, Dr. Boyum-Breen spoke of the future commitment to a higher level of customer service and more in-depth support for students. Acting as project sponsor is Robert Bode, the Director of Financial Aid; project leadership is represented by Xy Johnson from admissions and Sidney Smith, Cultural Coordinator for the university.
Together, the Gateway Project Team will meet every other week to discuss coordination and implementation. The team will be broken down even further into various groups designed to expedite the reorganization, such as Roles and Respon
sibilities Work Group, Training Work Group and Hiring Work Group.
The Gateway staff will double in size from three members to six with complete training in support as well as an emphasis in customer service. The Director of Gateway will be a new position specifically designed for the upcoming reorganization and that role will report to Bode. Student workers will still play a role within Gateway, but because of the high turnover of graduating students, they will play a more supportive role to the Gateway staff, as in office support.
Along with staff updates there will be a technology update for Gateway. The aim for the new system will focus more on being a “one-stop shop” with an “ask us” feature for students to review Frequently Asked Questions before submitting their own. Other future technological updates will all be made with the student population’s best interests in mind.
The anticipated timelines for the new Gateway Reorganization suggest that the new system will be available in June 2010. The Communication Plan is scheduled to be completed by Oct. 2009 and the new facilities to be completed to accommodate the growing staff by the end of 2009. Hiring will be completed by March 2010 with a complete training of staff scheduled for May.
The Metropolitan plans to cover this story throughout the 2009-10 school year to update students on the reorganization.