UAPB Leaders Earn Certifications for Service Excellence

Dr. Sheena Meadows, UAPB director of educational assessment/assistant to the vice chancellor-interim, and Mrs. Dora Sanders, UAPB director of the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL), received certificates of completion for the Customer Service Skills in Higher Education certification via Academic Impressions in December 2024. Their Service Excellence certificates support one of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) 2023-2030 Strategic Plan priorities, strategic priority five, ‘Sustain a Culture of Institutional Excellence through Professional Development.”


The 2023-2030 Strategic Plan, titled Accelerating the Next Seven Years of Growing the Pride, is focused on maintaining a student-centered and student-focused institutional culture that is effective, efficient, and responsive to changing conditions and circumstances in UAPB’s environment. The plan outlines university values, which include Quality Customer Service, and states, “UAPB provides an environment of respectful, polite, and consistently excellent service to its internal and external constituents.” Meadows and Sanders’ certification in customer service skills in higher education keeps this value at the forefront of university priorities and directly impacts the student experience and the university’s commitment to excellence.
Academic Impressions play a role in the professional development of UAPB faculty and staff. It offers leadership, personal development, skills-based training opportunities, workshops, coaching, learning paths, and certificate programs. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, in line with its commitment to strategic priority five, “Sustain a Culture of Institutional Excellence through Professional Development,” provides Academic Impressions membership to approximately 60 employees, including academic deans, department chairs, and university directors campus-wide.
According to Academic Impressions, “As competition in higher education intensifies, so do the appetites of prospective students for institutions that provide the best education and experience for their tuition dollars. Instilling a culture of service excellence at all levels of an institution can directly enhance enrollment and improve student retention.”
The three-day Customer Service Skills in Higher Education virtual learning experience, completed by Dr. Meadows and Mrs. Sanders, covered a wide range of topics. These included the critical competencies of good customer service in higher education, communication strategies and scripting, inclusive practices in service excellence, and tools for measuring and assessing the campus customer service culture.
The Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at UAPB promotes excellence in teaching and innovation. It provides faculty development programming based on strategic plan priorities and faculty needs. Sanders states that “this intensive training not only enhances my customer service capability, but also allows me to share the knowledge I gained to strengthen customer service campus-wide via the Center for Teaching and Learning. This accomplishment is not just about completing coursework or fulfilling requirements; it represents the resilience of dedication and passion for growing the mission of the university.”
UAPB’s commitment to providing quality customer service has always been prioritized in various ways, and this commitment is ongoing. Featured workshops have included Retention through Excellent Customer Service and Mindful Classroom Management, presented by CTL and the UAPB School of Education, a mandatory in-service customer service training provided by an alumna and credentialed customer service professional via the Office of the Chancellor, and most recently, WE CARE!: Creating a Culture of Confirmation, Accountability, Respect and Equity presented by Derek Young, a culture and career strategist/keynote speaker. This ongoing customer service commitment ensures that the university continues to strive for excellence and provides the best experience for our students and staff.
For the past year, UAPB has convened its campus leadership to develop strategies to increase recruitment and retention, whereby strengthening customer service is a critical component. Dr. Meadows states, “We are excited to leverage the knowledge gained from this training with the initiatives in place on campus to provide exceptional customer service experiences that are consistent and sustainable.”
The Center for Teaching and Learning is funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Institutional Services (Title III, Part B, Historically Black Colleges and Universities Program).
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