All good points, colleagues, but I'd suggest that we should
be lobbying for a third number for LEAs to ring with
problems related to specific students.  That way SLC have
the possibility of putting dedicated knowledgeable staff on
each line.

Regards

Paul


On Mon, 12 Mar 2001 16:55:15 -0000 [log in to unmask]
wrote:

> I see both points of view, however the problems inherent with the student
> helpline are or certainly have been
> the people staffing the phones very often do not seen to know the questions
> to ask the student or do not seem to have enough knowledge of the Loan
> company systems or student support regs to be able to assist the student to
> any great degree.
> Incorrect or misleading information has too often given to students who end
> up back at our door baffled and confused , and how many times should they be
> told to go away and phone the SLC?
> The quickest way to actually sort certain problems out is for the HEi to
> phone the SLC on behalf of the student and the staff who answer the  HEi
> phones do generally seem knowledgeable and capable of interrogating the SLC
> systems to find out answers.
> Having said all this it may be that now all the calls go through to the same
> call centre and the standard of service provided to the students has/will
> improve.
> Anne
>
> Admin.Assistant-Records & Loans
> Academic Registry
> University of Brighton
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
> > ----------
> > From:         Paul Norris[SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > Reply To:     Admin-student
> > Sent:         12 March 2001 16:20
> > To:   [log in to unmask]
> > Subject:      Re: Contacting the SLC
> >
> > Louise
> >
> > For once I'm with the SLC on this one.
> >
> > The reasons they cite are those I recall myself and
> > colleagues who deal with the term dates/fees side of things
> > using at the time.
> >
> > Paul
> >
> > On Mon, 12 Mar 2001 16:05:10 +0000 Louise O'Sullivan
> > <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > > I have just been looking at the March 2001 issue of the Student Support
> > > Update and was surprised by the message from the SLC as regards
> > contacting
> > > them.
> > >
> > > If you look on page 5 (this is available on the DfEE website if you
> > don't
> > > have a copy), there is a section entitled 'A message from SLC's HEI
> > > helpline' which says:
> > >
> > > WE ARE STILL receiving a number of calls from students as well as HEIs
> > > phoning on behalf of students.Whilst we understand you may prefer to
> > ring
> > > the HEI Helplines,the helpline was originally set up at the request of
> > HEIs
> > > to provide dedicated phone lines dealing specifically with
> > administrative
> > > queries (such as Course Database returns and queries,Tuition Fee
> > Enquiries
> > > and stationery).The freephone Student Helpline has been set up to
> > provide a
> > > dedicated information helpline for all student enquiries. We would
> > > appreciate your help in ensuring that where a query relates to a
> > > student,the Student Helpline is used. The exception to this would be if
> > it
> > > were a genuine emergency or a problem that cannot be resolved by the
> > > Student Helpline.
> > >
> > > ________________________________
> > >
> > > I would be interested to hear your reactions to the above.  Whilst I
> > > understand that the SLC may want to streamline the type of phone calls
> > they
> > > receive etc, it seems rather odd to me that HEI's will need to ring the
> > > already overburdened student number and have to be dealt with through
> > that.
> > > The number of complaints we get from students who say they can't get
> > > through/ get cut off etc is quite high and for us to have to join that
> > > process (and also therefore increase the traffic on that number) seems
> > > strange.
> > >
> > > You may also be interested to learn that in that same note it says that
> > the
> > > HEI contact number is 0845 702 3316 - which I presume is meant to inform
> > us
> > > that the 0345 number is not to be used anymore at all - but it doesn't
> > > actually tell you this is a change of number etc and so I presume we are
> > > meant to guess.
> > >
> > > I would also be interested to hear from people who were working in this
> > > area when the phone line was introduced, was that why you understood
> > that
> > > the helpline was set up?  I have spoken to colleagues who have dealt
> > with
> > > this area for longer than me and they have never heard that before.
> > >
> > > I would be interested to hear comments from people.
> > >
> > > Louise
> > >
> > > Louise O'Sullivan
> > > Brunel University, UK
> > > [log in to unmask]
> > >
> >
> > ----------------------
> > Paul Norris, Planning Support Office
> > Planning, Resource Allocation, Student Records and Statistics
> > University of Bristol
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
>

----------------------
Paul Norris, Planning Support Office
Planning, Resource Allocation, Student Records and Statistics
University of Bristol
[log in to unmask]