Brennan LaBrie
News Editor
The concierge desk, the one-stop-shop for Pacific Lutheran University students for questions and services ranging from ID cards to directions, is gone. Earlier this month, the desk was cleaned out and shrouded in black curtains as it was dismantled. Within days, the space was filled with tables and chairs meant for eating, studying and lounging. The services offered by the concierge desk have been relocated across campus departments, PLU’s website and a brand-new app designed for student use. PLU faculty hopes this move will increase student services while making those already in place more convenient and accessible for students.
“The concierge is a concept that has run its course,” said Valerie Seeley, Assistant Director for Business Operations. “This is much more efficient with more services for students.”
While this move may have seemed sudden to many students, it has been long in the works. The catalyst for this change came about in the summer of 2018, when PLU partnered with GET Mobile to create an app aimed at students. It would offer many of concierge’s services, as well as new ones such as food and drink orders and ID photo submission. After numerous schedule pushbacks, the app was rolled out in January, with its team hoping to work out any kinks before the start of spring semester.
Administration also realized that many of the concierge’s services were offered by members of other departments and that this new system could be more efficient.
Seeley adds her department saw the reimagining of concierge’s role at PLU as a way to cut down their budget and offer new services for students, while also envisioning a better use of the concierge desk’s space as a lounge and study space that wouldn’t be roped off during events.
All student worker positions with the concierge were cut, including three students who will be returning to PLU next year and must apply for other jobs.
“We realized we can save the budget and the space at the same time,” Seeley said, emphasizing that the goal of creating a more efficient system for students and increasing the pre-existing services outweighed any budgetary concerns.”
“If GET wasn’t a piece of it, it wouldn’t have happened because it wouldn’t have enhanced the services that we already had,” said Director of Retail Services Josh Girnus.
Although the reallocation of services may seem quite complicated at
first, Seeley and Girnus argue that overall, this move will make students’
lives easier.
Girnus highlighted the convenience of students’ ability to make payments to their accounts at all hours of the day on the app, or during Old Main Market’s (OMM) long business hours, as opposed to the limited hours of the concierge. Now, students can refill their printing points, for example, from the comfort of their chair in the library, and pay their parking ticket within 24 hours for a 50% discount without having to physically go to the desk.
Much of concierge’s former services are offered by the Hospitality Services Office, the Business Operations Office and OMM, all of which sit just feet away from the former desk. Seeley noted that Hospitality Services already fielded much of the general questions that the concierge desk took, and so its staff is well-equipped to take on the full load of
questions. Seeley said that the first week of the transition was difficult, but that the second week was much smoother. “It’s progressively getting better,” she said, a sentiment shared by Girnus. OMM workers are currently learning how to add dollars to student accounts and process the food and drink orders offered by the GET App. This hasn’t been too much of a problem, said OMM Location Manager Erika Hoagland, crediting the smaller crowds of J-Term for the grace adjustment period.
“People are still getting used to the change. But I feel that as it continues it’s gonna get really easy,” she said.
Hoagland is pleased that the new services offered by OMM are creating more opportunities for students to come to the store. She believes OMM’s centralized location makes it a perfect place to offer services for students other than food-and drink-related ones.
The GET App can be downloaded on the Apple store, the Google Play store, or accessed online at: get.cbord.com/plu.
