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Launching a New Reservations System

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Launching a New Reservations System

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    1. Launching a New Reservations System Mike Strong Assistant Director, University Center Widener University

    2. Purpose & Plan of Action This will be an INTERACTIVE and ACTIVE discussion! I will tell you about my software experience…and our current launch. Then we will talk about reservations systems and how they work at our individual institutions.

    3. About Widener University Mens sana in corpore sano Mission, Vision, Goals Institutional profile Student body Academic atmosphere Division of Student Affairs Mission, Vision, Goals Organizational Structure

    4. About University Center Function (compared with student union/center) Facility Information: 54,000 square feet 3 levels—offices, lounges, meeting rooms Department Responsibility Areas Reservations/Event Services—non-academic Student Programming Logistics Marketing/Advertising for Division Campus Master Calendars Performance & Lecture Series Facility Management: two main areas, two “quasi” areas Assistant Director Responsibility Areas Department Management: Staffing, Budgeting, Programming, Planning/Development, Assessment Programming committee membership Divisional leadership opportunities

    5. Why we needed to change! Miracle – old reservation system Communication Process Statistical Power Basically, it was worthless to us!

    6. New System – R25 Purchased by University c. 2003 Problems right from the start! IT refused to support program Would not send representative to Oregon Would not network system and add security features 2003-2006 System sat idle…but we continued to pay for it Initial data entry started in 2005 but then stopped

    7. 2007 New push for program revival Special Events Coordinator Assistant Director, UCTR Chief Information Officer Implementation Team renewed University Systems (IT) Special Events University Center Registrar’s Office Enrollment Services

    8. 2007-2008 Data structure and entry began Conceptualization of space, structure, cabinets, etc. started Key Questions to Answer: What do we want to be able to track? How do we want to describe our usage patterns? Will this setting be optimal?

    9. Challenges in 2007-2008 No training on how the program works for any of the data entry personnel Loss of Special Events Coordinator (implementation chair)—no plan to replace them Structure was more complex than we expected—There was no foundation and it had to be built from scratch!

    10. Benefits to the Challenges New chair emerged with centralized functions—University Center Lack of training forced a detailed study of the program and its data entry methods—enhanced our understanding of what it does and how to do it ten-fold

    11. On-Going Concerns Politics Number of available seats To centralize or not? Realignment of university structure WebViewer Incorporation of students into process Selling program to service departments What do we do with external organizations?

    12. Questions for Discussion What system do you use at your university? What are the primary benefits? What would you change? Does it work for you? What is your event management structure? Who does reservations? What spaces are you responsible for? How do requests outside your responsibility area get processed? Does this work for you?

    13. Questions for Discussion Do you have a centralized reservations process? What are the primary benefits? Challenges? Would you change if you could? How? How did you come to have this process? Who was involved in the decision-making?

    14. Questions for Discussion What is the best type of reservations process? What does it look like? Who manages it? What is the process to reserve space?

    15. General Questions? Thank you for your time and attendance. Please stay and complete the session evaluation.

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