A Blazer Enrollment Center has been established in HUC 313 to assist students with questions, and a new website for current and prospective students is now online at www.uab.edu/students.
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| Brent Gage |
Those are just some of the customer-service focused changes under way in the Office of Enrollment Management, said Associate Provost Brent Gage, Ph.D. Others include a new focus on international recruitment and the creation of an Office of New Student Programs and an Office of Enrollment Operations.
Interim Provost Linda Lucas said the efforts are contributing to the sense of excitement about the upcoming start of the 2011-12 academic year. “We are very focused on continuing to enhance our recruitment and retention efforts, and all of this important work will help ensure our future success,” she said. “I especially appreciate how many students, faculty and staff have been actively involved in bringing these changes to fruition.”
Gage said Chenise Ryan will assume the role of executive director of Enrollment Operations effective Sept. 1. DeeDee Bruns began serving as executive director of New Student Programs July 1. A search is under way for the executive director of the new Office of International Recruitment and Student Services, which will begin formal operations Nov. 1. In the meantime, renovations of Smolian International House are in the works.
“We introduced our new website a few weeks ago, and have gotten great feedback on how it is very student-friendly and -focused and easy to navigate,” Gage said. “We’re working on offering more online tools and resources — such as registration, records, catalog, academic policy, and classroom scheduling, as well as an online degree audit program — and look forward to sharing news about all of that with the campus in the coming months.”
Gage said the new Office of Enrollment Operations will offer centralized undergraduate admission, financial aid, and registration processing functions to maximize processing and efficiency, as well as streamlined communications with prospective students. New Student Programs is already offering a revamped New Student Orientation, campus tour program and special events, as well as a new Visitors Center, located on the first floor of Hill University Center.
The Blazer Enrollment Center — a one-stop shop for all student enrollment services for prospective and current students — is in temporary quarters now; Gage said it was important to get it up and running before the fall term begins in order to assist students with questions about the change in the tuition payment policy. “We hope to have the current Registrar office space reconfigured and the center its permanent home Nov. 1,” he said.
