An inside look of the university calling center
This content was reported on and written by a high school student for the University of Idaho’s annual journalism workshop.
Working at a calling center that asks for donations could be a tough situation if it’s not handled correctly.
“It isn’t about making a transaction, it’s about making a connection,” said Steven Nelson, manager for Vandal Connect, an on-campus call center whose focus is to make connections with alumni and friends to potentially receive gifts.
Vandal Connect started in the mid-1980s as a volunteer opportunity for students who were interested. Then in the 1990s it became a paid job open to students. It’s one of the higher paying student jobs on campus, Nelson said.
They call at least once yearly. The donations, or “gifts” as stated on uidaho.edu, are used to help students pay their tuition along with numerous other expenses. Annually the Vandal Connect earns around $1 million yearly for the University of Idaho.
“I learned a lot of communication skills and how to be understanding,” said former call center employee Savanah Slichhter.
Having a good experience for both the caller and the patron are very important to their team. The call center isn’t about the donations, Nelson said. It is about keeping in contact with people whom have any type of relationship with the university. The call center’s employees expect to be treated with respect and always hope for a positive experience. It’s important to make good strong relationships, he said.
“I haven’t had any really bad calls, just someone who might be frustrated,” Slichhter said.
Employees are taught how to deal with any poor conversations.
“Sometimes people will be abusive, but the positive experiences are far more numerous than the bad,” Nelson said.
The goal of Vandal Connect is to help ensure a future with people who have a history, or some kind of connection to UI.
The negative experiences are not very common, Slichhter said her best experience was someone who was happy to be called and informed about UI and was excited to be given the opportunity to see it again.
Slichhter said she enjoyed her time at Vandal Connect. Employees of Vandal Connect often have this positive outlook on their time spent there.
Nelson said he interviews, trains and hires potential employees for the call center. The training can take anywhere from two to three weeks to make sure that all calls are handled correctly and professionally.
He also writes basic introductory scripts for the callers to use. The script is a guideline for the callers to introduce themselves and to express what their goal is, Nelson said.
The calling center also offers an alternative to making a donation or transaction over the phone. They offer a postal mail option to send contact or transaction information to help donations become more available to anyone interested.
Aurora Wellington | Guest Writer