An Update From Vennie

This is the year of the Spartan! With the New Year comes new beginnings and resolutions. Our Victories and Values celebration in December was wonderful and invigorating. That energy was carried over to our consultants’ visit the first week of January. So, you ask what’s next?

One step is to define our approach to “Delivering the Outstanding Spartan Experience” through a well-articulated customer service philosophy. We have asked Kurt Kwiatowski, The Gallery General Manager, and Dean Snyder, Production Manager with Marketing Communications, to lead this effort (story on page 12.) What is a customer service philosophy? It is a detailed philosophy that guides our staff selection process, our guest and student interactions, and our customer experience. We know that a great experience delivers superior value and generates customer loyalty, which is what will make us successful.

I am often asked the following question: “I work for xyz unit. How does this impact me, or better yet, why should I care?” If you remember in our values video, Chuck Feise states “I am their Spartan Experience!” How true. To the students, guests, faculty and staff, we are Michigan State University. We all make a difference in their total Spartan experience. Our students and guests remember our people more than any product or service we provide. What we do in this Division reflects on the reputations of each unit, the Division, and the University.

After the first visit of our consultant teams, several themes emerged. I would categorize them in two areas: organizational and institutional touch points. They are as follows, not in order of importance:

What is unique about “State” is its people! The people of this Division are our greatest asset.

We are at the heart of the University. Because of our breadth and depth of services, we have many stakeholders. Relationship management, collaboration, and flexibility are very important.

• The Living-Learning experiences in the residence halls are defining moments for many students and alumni.
  
  
• Community happens at all of our locations. We provide places and opportunities for people to gather, interact, and connect.
  
  
• Technology is a strategy. We will need to use technology to serve our students and customers, but also to help us become more competitive and efficient.
  
  
• Our organization has many interrelated parts. We must explore synergies and opportunities to create value for our customers.
  
  
• Organizational flexibility is key to our future success. We will need to be flexible in service delivery, and facilities. We will need to be nimble as an organization to meet our ever-changing customer needs. As a result, our decision making processes must evolve to become flexible and nimble.

Lastly, there is something special about “State.” Our consultant group experienced what I experienced when I interviewed for this job. The people here are special. We must never lose that!

I look forward to this ongoing process, and I urge you to stay engaged. Make a promise to yourself to stay informed. Keep visiting the website. Keep asking questions. Most importantly, be a leader where you are. Model our values, encourage others to do the same, and our culture will change. Not overnight. But over time, you will see change happening that will shape our preferred future. My commitment to you is to keep the dialogue open.

You are the Spartan Experience.

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