According to the 2015 Academic Experience Survey Report, student satisfaction for the services provided by Enrolment Services Professionals (ESP) has improved overall in comparison to last year.
71 per cent of UBC students who completed the survey expressed that they were satisfied with ESP services, which was a seven per cent increase from last year. The percentage of students who strongly agreed that ESP services were satisfactory went up from 19 per cent last year to 38 per cent this year.
“To have 71 per cent of our people speak positively and 15 per cent neutrally to our service levels, so over 85 per cent of people that are neutral or positive to the services that we offer, is quite high,” said Darran Fernandez, Director of UBC Enrolment Services.
According to Fernandez, the current system that Enrolment Services operates on, where every student has an assigned ESP, has only been in implementation for the past three years. He attributes the improved results of this year to how Enrolment Services has now adjusted more fully to its current system.
“Learning takes time, as well as other things just becoming more streamlined, so I’d say the first year, there was still the confusion… whereas now, it’s a bit more of a cultural norm,” said Fernandez.
Previously, Enrolment Services used to consist of separate units responsible for different areas of student services, which Fernandez describes as having been very inefficient in that it constantly redirected student inquiries. In the current system, a single ESP can address the inquiries of his or her assigned students.
While ESP services have achieved a noticeably higher level of satisfaction from students than last year, there were still one sixth of UBC students who did not know that they have an ESP.
Fernandez said that the fraction of students who were not aware of ESP services is possibly due to the fact that those students were not in need of them. He said that this is not indicative of any flaws in Enrolment Services, but rather that there is room for improvement.
Fernandez said that he hopes to continue increasing the amount of student recognition for Enrolment Services. Some possible initiatives in achieving this include continuing the use of information sessions as well as distributing Enrolment Services brochures on public buses.
“So [we’re] focused very much on ensuring where students are and doing our programming and awareness outreach in those areas,” said Fernandez.