c/o Noa Yassky, Contributing Photographer
Over the summer, several campus services consolidated to form the Office of Auxiliary Services, which is housed in the Usdan University Center. These services include the Usdan University Center Administration & Operations, University Dining, Reservations and Conferences, Retail Services (including the Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore and Cardinal Tech), the WesCard Program, and WesStation.
Director of Auxiliary Services Michelle Myers-Brown explained in an email to The Argus that the consolidation allows the departments that now fall under Auxiliary Services to better support each other as a cohesive team with more shared responsibilities.
“There were several departments that were already working closely together although all parts of different administrative divisions, and we realized that as one department we would have more resources to support each other,” Myers-Brown wrote.
Myers-Brown emphasized that this change will benefit the full campus community and make the various offices within Auxiliary Services more efficient.
“Once we have the full transition in place we can back each other up so that we are able to provide, for example, longer service hours for some departments,” Myers-Brown wrote. “We can streamline many of our processes so that we are working smarter which will translate into better customer service for the university community at large.”
Additionally, the change will benefit individual department staff members, including WesCard Program Manager Cathy-Lee Rizza.
“At some point in time I will be moving from North College to the Usdan Office area,” Rizza wrote in an email to The Argus. “Once that is completed I will be able to train others who work in Auxiliary Services how to be my back up which will free me up to be able to take a break every now and then. I am working with great coworkers.”
Associate Director of Retail Services Sam Burr agreed that Auxiliary Services will make her day-to-day work easier.
“In all, before this change, I was stretched very thin in my day-to-day work,” Burr wrote in an email to The Argus. “Now that retail services falls under Auxiliary Services, each team member is able to perform within their strength wheelhouse, causing a significant jump in productivity as we collapse similar tasks into common silos and work together on large-vision projects.”
Burr added that she expects a productivity boost among the consolidated departments as resources will be more readily available.
“Prior to this umbrella, there were separate service entities working alone on campus, competing for resources,” Burr wrote. “Now, we are all working together as a cohesive unit, sharing resources and enjoying increased productivity! These changes have been positive for retail services specifically, and I expect more exciting changes in the coming months/years.”
Rizza hopes that this change will lead to a greater awareness of what the offices in Auxiliary Services do and how they contribute to the University’s overall functioning.
“We are a work in progress,” Rizza wrote. “Each day will be a learning experience for us all. We are striving to make Wesleyan a better campus by educating everyone that Wesleyan wouldn’t run without Auxiliary Services.”
Sulan Bailey can be reached at sabailey@wesleyan.edu.
Rachel Wachman can be reached at rwachman@wesleyan.edu.