College advisors and staff attend a session at the Enrollment Services Training Day on Aug. 10, 2016.The professionals in EMM’s Enrollment Services (which includes the offices of the Registrar, Financial Aid and DePaul Central) work directly with advisors and staff from every college on a daily basis. In an effort to optimize those interactions and introduce the full array of its offerings, Enrollment Services, in partnership with Information Services, hosted its inaugural training day on August 10, 2016, in the DePaul Center.
The event brought together more than 150 employees from across the university. Participants could choose from 24 sessions on topics ranging from degree conferral best practices to PeopleSoft query writing to financial fitness resources (visit the University Registrar website for a full list of offerings). Topics were determined by surveying potential attendees prior to the event to ensure the material was relevant.
“This was a great opportunity to provide training and share best practices across departments,” said Paula Luff, associate vice president for Enrollment Services. “Just as important, the event strengthened our network with the advisors and staff who are such critical partners in providing high-quality service to our students.”
Attendee feedback confirmed the success of the event. Eighty-five percent felt the training day was either very or extremely effective at sharing information on procedures and policies, according to post-event surveys. PeopleSoft queries particularly popular; 80 percent attended at least one session on queries.
Michael Wright (left) and Sean Brown (right) from the Office of University Registrar field a question at the Training Day.“My staff and I attended the event to network, share information and learn—and it exceeded expectations,” said Cathy Gill, associate director of records in the Driehaus Undergraduate Programs Office. “I really appreciated the effort to increase transparency and clarify processes [within Enrollment Services]. And meeting the people behind the scenes really helps fosters collegiality and bring humanity into all the work that we do.”
The positive feedback reinforced the need for in-depth training-- staff in Enrollment Services is prepared to do more. “The event was a great success,” explained Luff. “We’re looking forward to how we build can on this for next year.”