The Martlet

If you find the student support system complicated, get lost without a map, or you just think the university could be a better host, you can take comfort in the fact that a new Welcome Centre is coming soon.

The new facility, due by 2011 on the second floor of the University Centre, looks to provide new and prospective students with superior service in question-answering and way-finding.

“It’s going to be a [starting] point for anyone who is unfamiliar with the university, or is not sure how to get where they need to go,” said Bruno Rocca, the future manager of the Welcome Centre.

The goal is to reduce the frustration of “the run-around,” said Rocca. Currently, students who need an administrative-type question answered could easily get bounced from office to office until they find the facility or faculty member they need.

“What I’d like [faculty] to think is, if you are unsure what the student needs or where they need to go, refer them to the Welcome Centre. We’ll take the time to find out,” said Rocca.

Perhaps the most refreshing idea is what staff at the Welcome Centre won’t be doing. They won’t send you to another building without phoning to make sure it has what you’re looking for. They won’t carelessly send you to the office of someone who’s gone home for the day. They won’t tell you to look for information elsewhere.

“It’s an effort to provide a level of service where staff are highly trained, and know how to ask the right questions,” said Rocca, who sees an expert staff as being the key to the centre’s success.

As such, it will likely be staffed with experienced personnel from the Transition Centre, or other areas of the university. Rocca’s vision of the Centre is as a helpful, lasting impression that helps the university with both enrollment, and retention.

Currently, the closest thing UVic has to a welcome mat is Admissions and Records in the University Centre — an area with no seating or reading material.

Rocca feels that asking students to stand next to an automatic door and wait for their next appointment isn’t good enough.

“It’s not showing our visitors, staff, or students the best treatment,” he said. “We’ve always felt that there has to be something better than this.”

The Welcome Centre will not only have comfortable seating, but also public computers, a presentation room, and two private consulting rooms for meetings with recruiters and admission officers.

Further details will be announced in the coming months, said Rocca. An advisory committee has been formed to collect ideas on what should be included in the centre, and the UVic Students’ Society (UVSS) and Graduate Students Society (GSS) will each be providing two representatives.

While making the originally-planned September opening is not out of the question, it is highly unlikely, said Rocca. There is still a lot of work to be done on the University Centre before the new facility begins, which includes seismic refitting.

Construction of the Welcome Centre is part of University Centre renovations being completed while staff are being accommodated in newly-constructed buildings. The university set aside $6 million for moving staff and renovating absent space during the university’s expansion.

A construction schedule is expected by April.