University of Calgary to outsource Student Calling Program to third-party company
By Scott Strasser, February 7 2017 —
The University of Calgary’s Student Calling Program (SCP) is looking for new management.
The U of C has submitted a request for proposal to outsource the SCP to a private party. The university is currently evaluating options for new management.
Yusra Warsi has worked for the SCP since September 2016 // Photo by Justin Quaintance
The SCP is a call centre within the U of C Development Office. Student callers reach out to U of C alumni to speak with them about their lives, update them on university news and request monetary donations. The program employs roughly 35 part-time students, as well as supervisors and researchers.
U of C vice-president development Nuvyn Peters said the program is being outsourced due to the success of privatized student calling programs at other universities in North America.
“We’ve decided to do a [request for proposal] to try and bring in a group that can help professionalize and raise the standards of development — provide [staff] with that expertise,” Peters said. “Many universities are drawing on external experience and bringing in industry-specific expertise to manage their call centre programs. They’re seeing positive results.”
Current student callers who want to continue working with the SCP will have to reapply when the new company is decided. According to Peters, those students will be given priority over other applicants.
Second-year environmental sciences student Yusra Warsi has worked at the SCP since September 2016. She said she wants to keep working there under new management.
“It’s a very easy, chill job and it’s fun because all your coworkers and supervisors are students at the U of C,” Warsi said.
The SCP is currently on a brief hiatus while the Olympic Volunteer Centre — where the program is located — undergoes renovations. The Olympic Volunteer Centre is next to McMahon Stadium.
Peters said the program will likely return within the next month, once renovations are complete.
“We’re eager to get our students back in there, particularly now that it’s a new year,” she said.