PAGE 5: More scholarship money and new majors on the horizon for Columbia
PAGE 7: REVIEW: Italian comfort food warming chilly Chicagoans at BAITA
PAGE 10: EDITORIAL: U.S. maternal death rate reflects flaws at every level PAGE 13: College communities weigh in on mayoral election Volume 54, Issue 16
January 28, 2019
ColumbiaChronicle.com
New program to improve college services, student experience » ARIANA PORTALATIN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
SEE PROGRAM, PAGE 3
STUDENTS ENTERING THE Fall 2019 semester can expect improved services in multiple areas of the college as the result of an incoming restructuring designed to benefit students and staff. According to Cynthia Grunden, assistant vice president of Student Financial Services, Columbia is in the process of revising enrollment-related student services, currently being thought of as a “one-stop” service. “There are a lot of examples where we see students whom maybe we’re not serving as well as we want to,” Grunden said. “Many of us have been talking about this and brainstorming ways to better serve students. One idea that came up is what a lot
of colleges have been doing, which is to put enrollment-related services in one location and cross-training staff to provide students a more integrated service experience.” The change will merge parts of SFS and the Office of the Registrar and include collaboration from additional areas of the college. The goal of the new program is to streamline services, increase student satisfaction and retention and promote intensive student advising, Grunden said. When launched in the fall, the combined services will include: student record management, registration assistance, financial aid services, bursar services, veteran services, U-Pass services, cashier services and campus card services.
» ORLANDO PINDER/CHRONICLE