Committing to customer services

Lisa Hogarty, who took on the role of vice president for Campus Services almost a year ago, made her strategic vision clear from the start: taking the exceptional service already being performed by Campus Services staff to the next level.

One way this is happening is through the creation of a Campus Service Center, which will bring together Harvard University Housing, ID Card Services, and the Parking Office. Located on the eighth floor of Holyoke Center, the Campus Service Center will be staffed by customer service representatives who will be able to assist clients with any of the services currently offered by these three business units.

“While many of our services are offered online, we still have members of our community who are traveling between several floors in Holyoke Center and the Blackstone Complex if they need to speak to representatives of our different departments,” said Hogarty. “It makes great sense to bring these service units together under one roof and to train our customer service representatives to handle multiple requests. It is better for our customers and a more efficient way to run our businesses.”

Led by Paul Malagrifa, director of Campus Services Operations and Logistics, the planning for the center was a months-long process that involved representatives from the three business units that will be colocated there. Discussions focused around the business processes of each unit as well as space, security, storage, and technical needs.

The goal was to design the center to support the Campus Services mission of providing efficient and extraordinary customer service. To this end, the group was guided by one question at each and every step of the process: Does this best serve the needs of our customers?

“One of my pet peeves is walking into a service department and seeing staff at desks with their heads down who are not helping customers, especially as the line gets longer and longer,” said John Nolan, director of Transportation Services and the leader for the operations piece of the Campus Service Center. “I promise, you won’t see that here.”

The Campus Service Center will feature a comfortable waiting area for use during busy times and two conference areas where confidential matters can be discussed privately with a customer service representative. The center’s flexible design allows for additional services to be added over time. For now, visitors will find information about a variety of Campus Services and Harvard services, such as Harvard University Hospitality and Dining Services retail locations, the Faculty Club, Crimson Cash, and others.

Construction began in early April and will be finished in June. ID Card Services will move in then, followed by Harvard University Housing. The Parking Office will move to the center on July 20.

Learn more and take a virtual walkthrough of the new Campus Service Center.