The Bauer Image Presentation

The Bauer Image slideshow was created near the beginning of the upward migration of standards, ratings and rankings that our college continues to evolve to.  As the spotlight of the media, business partners, current and prospective students focuses more often on BCB, our customer service practices are more important than ever.  The image of the Bauer College is created, fostered and encouraged by each of us. Together we can create an image of superior customer service and professionalism.

BCB’s external customers are:

              Current and prospective students

              Business partners

              Donors

              Alumni

              The Houston community

These are the components of customer service that are expected for staff interactions with external customers:

• Tangibles

                           Being present when customers seek you

Having Professional Attire and Attitude

Going above and beyond duties to fulfill customer needs

Following up with commitments

Showing consistency

Using politeness

Taking ownership and responsibility, sometimes even when it’s not within your        normal job duties

• Reliability

                            Accessibility during established university hours

                            Punctuality with arrival, in answering phones, and with lunch hours

                            In absence, still taking responsibility for your work

 Let your supervisor or someone else know what’s pending

                            Make arrangements to reschedule meetings if possible

                            Make arrangements for a stand in to cover essential responsibilities

Not impeding upon others’ work areas and time

Knowing other departments, staff, trends and events

Being a good representative and reference for the college

• Responsiveness

                            Being proficient with correspondence

                            Answering phones immediately

                            Returning voicemail within 24 hours

                            Responding to emails within 24 hours

                            Responding to questions within 24 hours

Following through with commitments within the timeframe promised

Being deliberate with personal communication

                            Maintaining a calm and professional tone of voice

                            Avoiding speech patterns that involve slang or profanity

                            Keeping neutral or positive body language

• Assurance

Having credibility – You must believe in what you say and do before the other person will

Following through to assure job was done

Asking about the service and saying thank you for their business

Following policies and procedures

• Empathy

  Listening

                            Take a deep, full breath as you begin to listen, which gives the person time to express

                            his or herself.

                            Repeat the problem back to them, showing that you understood what they said

The less obvious, but just as important customers in BCB are our internal customers:

              Staff

              Faculty

This means that we are all customers of each other.  The way that we treat each other matters, as members of a common organization.  The customer service principles outlined above also serve as a code of conduct for peer to peer interaction within our building.  The following are some additional guidelines to remember when work together with other staff and faculty members:

• Urgent to you doesn’t mean urgent to everyone
• Remember that there is always another side to the story
• Policies and rules apply to all
• Your opinion is not a decision, rather just an opinion
• Assume the best and not the worst
• Yelling is never appropriate
• Nastiness doesn’t equal effectiveness.  Although it may create an immediate result, the damage done to morale and working relationships does not justify the method.

The Bauer Mantra

• Respect of self
• Respect of others
• Respect of property

The Bauer Image Presentation [ppt]

Role of the Dean's Business Office

Because the Bauer College is centralized, the dean’s business office plays an important supportive role in the functioning of the centers and departments.  This arrangment is best described by the "upside down pyramid" structure:

As depicted in the above graph, the dean’s business office serves to be a resource, support and ally to the centers and departments of the college.  The staff in the academic units and centers of excellence are specialized in their own areas of research, teaching and service.  The intent of the dean’s business office is to specialize in the clerical and professional administrative functions, to minimize the pressure of those duties in the other cells of the college.

The target turnaround times for documents routed through the Dean’s Business Office are as follows:

*Please note that turnarounds may be longer if documents need deans’ signatures or are recycled for any reason.

Dean's Business Office Duties [ppt]

Out of Office Protocol

Out of Office Protocol [doc]