Best for customer service

Top quality customer service to our students has been recognised in the latest "mystery shopping" benchmarking exercise undertaken by the University of Adelaide's Student Centre.

As part of the University's strategy to maintain and improve high standards of student service delivery, the Student Centre's enquiry telephone service participates in regular benchmarking surveys.

In Customer Service Benchmarking Australia's (CSBA) latest Quarterly Report, the University of Adelaide set the benchmark for overall performance for the universities surveyed.

The CSBA survey judges the quality of customer service by measuring and assessing the time taken to respond to a call, greeting skills, manner, enquiry resolution, communication skills and complaint handling skills.

Student Centre Manager Sue Ciccarello said it was pleasing to see University of Adelaide in the overall top position, and many points above the sector average, in the latest survey which included 14 universities across Australia.

"We like to monitor our performance so that we get an external, objective assessment of how the enquiry service is shaping up against its peers and against similar operations in other sectors so that we can take any action necessary," Ms Ciccarello said.

The quarterly report also surveys other sectors including financial institutions, councils, utilities, airlines and telecommunication companies, although comparisons between sectors are only on sector average.

"Interestingly, the university sector compares well against these other sectors across all criteria," said Ms Ciccarello.

The University of Adelaide's Student Centre has a team of dedicated staff to help current and future students.

"We're here to provide help and advice to students or their families on a range of issues - from choosing what to study and how to apply, to information about scholarships or accommodation, and many other issues that affect students," Ms Ciccarello said.

"Our promise is that if we don't know the answer to your query, we will find the person who does."

For many students, deciding what they want to study and whether they are making the right choices can be a difficult and stressful decision.

"Students can easily feel overwhelmed with options," she said. "It's also common for students to worry that they will be locking themselves into a future study and career path for the rest of their lives. This simply isn't true."

In addition to the team at the Student Centre, there are many staff who provide support services to students.

Student support includes help with accommodation, making the transition from school, study help, counselling, financial support, careers advice and specific support networks for international students, elite athletes and students with disability.

Story by Robyn Mills