By Camille Perlman
Front desk operations have always fluctuated according to the needs of students and parents, but over the last decade, this work has been shaped primarily by mail/package and room key services, the pandemic, and the level of customer service a campus needs. Today, budgets are tighter than ever, and the decisions about increasing or decreasing front desk staff are not made in haste. They come from thorough discussions rooted in business analysis and feedback from students and parents.
Before the pandemic, staffing front desks in residence halls was a 24/7 operation on many campuses. However, when schools reopened, many struggled with the decision to go back to that capacity or to scale back. They have also had to shift gears and reshape what the front desk job involves. What work should they be doing? Sorting and delivering mail and packages? Handling room lockouts? In several ways, front desk staff positions are evolving in the same way that RA positions have. Directors are mulling over issues like how many responsibilities are too many and what functions the position should prioritize. They are also looking for that sweet spot between staying on budget and still meeting the needs of students and families.
Hours of operation, the number of locations, and the types of services provided are tailored to each campus. Directors weigh each of these factors to determine both staffing and the desired level of customer service. “Over the past couple of years, we’ve really wrestled with this discussion – we’ve seen both expansions and adjustments in staffing hours, depending on demand and operational needs,” says Lucas Novotny, executive director of housing and dining and interim director of unions, events, and services at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. “In some cases, we’ve increased hours to accommodate higher traffic and ensure comprehensive coverage to meet the expectations of students (and parents). In other cases, we have looked at approaches to offset labor with new efficiency (i.e., package lockers that saved student labor hours on the mail shift), and we have closed less visited front desks by consolidating hours into a few 24-hour desks. It has been a balance.”
Other campuses that are consolidating front desk operations have outsourced staff for assistance with overnight hours. Middle Tennessee State University has struggled since the pandemic with a lack of student staff to cover their front desk operations. They had been operating 24-hour service at seven locations prior to the pandemic, but that went down to four when the campus reopened. Then they hired a security company at the end of the 2023-24 academic year to cover the overnight hours at their apartment complexes; starting with the 2024-25 academic year, this will be the only residential area to have a front desk open overnight (those in their residence halls will close when visitation hours are over for the night). “Even with this change, it is a struggle beyond RA required hours to keep the desks operational on a consistent basis,” says Michelle Safewright, director of housing and residential life.
Tarun Grover, manager of front desk and guest services at MacEwan University, explains that their front desk operates 24/7 year-round at their on-campus housing location downtown. They also manage housing for students in a few hotel rooms at this location, and both the on-campus and hotel housing are staffed by students. “Besides having student staff during the overnight shift, we also have security staff on hand to assist our front desk team with any emergency matters, which has been a significant support and safety enhancement for our staff and residents.”
Staffing for front desk operations has remained the same over recent years at the University of Houston. They staff a front desk in each of their nine residence halls and operate 24 hours a day. What has changed is the services they provide. They have installed a package locker in each hall for mail and package deliveries, and their mailing and package service has moved to central receiving. “This has given us the opportunity to re-purpose the space that the mailboxes of old took in some of our buildings. In one building, we added offices for new staffing positions, and in another, we are adding space that will support student success (study rooms, meeting spaces, etc.),” explains Holly Alexander, executive director of residential life.
MacEwan University offers a similar service. “In January, we installed an automated parcel locker system to handle the increasing volume of deliveries efficiently,” says Grover. “This has eased the burden on our front desk staff and provided a convenient solution for our residents. Courier companies are able to make direct deliveries to these lockers, and it allows students to pick up their package without front desk involvement.”
Leveraging additional technologies has led to more service changes. The College of New Jersey has started using mobile credentials so that students can carry their ID card on their phone instead of carrying a physical card. This allows staff to quickly confirm if a student is a resident in the building. It has also streamlined room entry, lockouts, check-in, and move-in. Tina Tormey, director of residential education and housing, explains how these are “big wins” that this technology provides: “For buildings that also use it for room entry, it reduces the number of lockouts and replacement keys we have to deal with (because students rarely go anywhere without their phone). It also has meant shorter check-in lines when students don't have a key to pick up at opening.”
At MacEwan, information updates have gone digital since the recent installation of digital screens on each floor of their residence hall allows them to share important announcements, advertisements, updates on renovation projects, and emergency notifications. Grover explains how convenient they are to work with. “The content is managed remotely via cloud-based software, making it easy to keep information current and reducing our reliance on paper posters and manual bulletin board updates.”
Customer service expectations and staff training have also been part of the evolution of front desk positions. Novotny says that skills like communication, problem solving, and adaptability are key to today’s successful operations and that customer service at the front desk has grown far beyond its origins as an extension of policy enforcement. These days, part of its purpose is for housing to extend its services by helping students with tech questions. At the same time, Alexander notes, the expectations for customer service are higher as well. No longer serving as just utility staff – handing out keys, checking guests in, giving directions to help students and families get around campus – this staff is trained to provide exceptional service and to be adaptable to different situations.
At the University of Houston, there is the expectation that front desk staff are not only the extra eyes and ears that help gauge student well-being but are expected to be active in building community. “This is very much a work in progress for us,” Alexander says. “I see these folks as building relationships and community with students as they pass through the desk area (sometimes these are in lounge spaces, so even more opportunity). Our desk staff might be the first to notice a change in a student's appearance or that they return to the building upset and can inquire. I've been talking with our team for the last 18 months about how, for reasonable requests, we can get to 'yes' at the lowest level possible. This requires our desk staff to be well equipped to ask good questions and have a level of agency to respond and assist.”
Alexander explains that they have been working with their supervisor of desk operations and community services (a full-time position) and with student staff on expanding their skills. In order to further nurture community building, they have also combined a good portion of front desk and RA training. “Previously, our desk staff was trained separately from the RA staff, and we've merged most of this as these are building teams that are working towards the larger community goals of helping students find their sense of belonging and community along their student success journey.”
Training staff for front desk operations is also important at MacEwan, and one part of the process is to put all the information staff will need at their fingertips. “We're in the final stages of developing an in-house training manual, accessible through our new learning management system software,” Grover says. “This platform will allow our team to access up-to-date information on our processes, participate in quizzes to test their knowledge, and much more. We are eager to roll this out as it promises to improve our training process significantly.”
Colleges and universities have made great strides in supporting the holistic development of students, and these efforts extend to front desk operations. It is a visible, student-facing position located in what serves as a central hub in the residence hall. Since new technologies have streamlined some of the services (such as delivering room keys, identification cards, mail, and packages), staff now have more time to focus on engaging with residents and making them feel part of a larger community.
Camille Perlman is the managing editor of Talking Stick for ACUHO-I.
