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Be PROFound. That simple statement encompasses a very big initiative led by the customer service sub-committee of the Professional Development Committee. Spearheaded by Kelly Tallarida of Senior Vice President Jeff Hand's office, the committe convened early this fall to standardize the Division's customer service standards.

The desired outcome is a commitment for consistent and improved customer service as a Division. "We want the students to have a great experience at É«ÀÇÉçÇø - not just a great academic experience, but their overall, total experience at É«ÀÇÉçÇø." 

The most important outcome of Be PROFound, Kelly says, is to, "Meet the students where they are - not where you want them to be. Don't approach students, when they come to you with a problem, with 'You should have done _____.' Instead, have empathy. This is a student: this is a customer. We need to help them where they are, and move forward from that point."

When forming Be PROFound's five main standards, the committee gathered feedback from Division colleagues, combed through student surveys and researched best practices in place at other universities. The research informed the development of our Division's five standards being: Personal, Attentive, Quality, Professional and Ethical. 

The next phase in Be PROFound's launch will be for the committee to reach out to the Division within a few weeks to introduce the initiative. From there, Division colleagues will be invited to join in-person or online learning workshops. "How we greet people. Our interpersonal skills. How we answer questions. Our students' experiences with us need to be consistent, from person-to-person, from department-to-department."

Many thanks to the committee members for developing Be PROFOUND: Kelly Tallarida (Senior Vice President's Office, Division of Student Affairs), Katherine Kealey (Orientation & Student Leadership Programs), Jessica Syed (Undergraduate Admissions), Carol Primas-Young (Strategic Planning & Management), Kira Aguilar (Financial Aid), Brandi Blanton (Financial Aid) and Jeremy Trowsdale (Human Resources.)