Extending Services to Boost Enrollment
EAST PEORIA — The student service center at Illinois Central College has been increasing their level of service to students this semester by offering more convenient enrollment processes and extended weekend hours in student service offices.
ICC’s department of Advising and Counseling Services has always been a place for students to come get advice. Often, students meet with advisors by appointment, but for about a year and a half, these offices have been setting aside every Wednesday as a day when their office calendars were clear of appointments. By doing this, they kept those days open for students to just walk in to get help – no appointments needed.
They called these days Walk-In Wednesdays, and these appointment- free Wednesdays became popular enough with students that the other student service departments decided to join advising and counseling in their practice.
Before the beginning of this semester, the student service hallway held its first collaborative rendition of Walk-In Wednesdays.
Pam Wilfinger, director of advising and counseling services, said that what really made these updated Wednesdays different from the ones of the past was the testing center taking walk-ins. This enabled students to go through the whole registration and enrollment process in one day without any appointments. Wilfinger sees more room to improve the concept in the future.
“It has been successful; we’re getting a lot of people through here,” said Wilfinger. “The purpose of these media blitzed Walk-In Wednesdays, though, are to try and get new enrollment, and we’re getting some and that’s good, but we’re also getting a lot of current students who are still just coming in on the Walk-In Wednesdays. So we’ve talked about in this office if we should have First-Timers Fridays or something separate from the Walk-In Wednesdays just for first time students.”
In preparation for the spring semester, Walk-In Wednesdays new hours, and the Campuses are following were brought back in November, but ICC expanded services even more this time around. At the encouragement of ICC President John Erwin, the student services have now expanded their office hours, as well.
Previously open until 4:30 p.m. Monday- Thursday and 2:00 p.m. on Fridays, the East Peoria Student Service Center is now open until 4:30 p.m. each weekday except Wednesdays, when its open until 6 p.m. The largest change, though, is the new addition of Saturday hours. On Saturdays, the offices will be open from 9 a.m. till noon.
To maintain student service, the East Peoria Bookstore is matching or surpassing these new hours, and the student service offices at North and Downtown Campuses suit are following suit where they can.