Common Service Centre
“Common Service Centre” is a subproject under the Service Development project to establish a common centre for services provided by the central administration, both digitally (via the service portal UiBhjelp) and at the physical centre for inquiries by telephone/chat and in person. The aim is for the centre to be a common gateway to all the central administrative services.
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Background
The idea of a common service centre came up as part of the work on developing the administration. In Phase 1 (NG5), one of the recommendations is that the divisions “work together on further developing the concept of a common, physical service centre as a point of contact in the public zone.” The catchphrase “single gateway” was launched.
A common service centre is a central element in the renewal of the administrative services to make them more user-adapted, while allowing us to develop and try out new working methods and forms of contact that can be used in Nygårdsgaten 5 after redevelopment.
Objectives
The goal is that the new common service centre will serve as a coordinated, efficient point of contact between the central administration and the users (who may be individual students, individual members of staff, or academic employees in the departments and faculties). The common service centre will provide users with a single, shared point of contact and will remove any doubt as to where to go to get information or help from the central administration. There should be no need to be sent from one division to another. The common service centre will mediate professional services from the central administration and ensure:
- Uniform service level (response times, follow-up routines, etc.)
- Shorter response and processing times
- Better accessibility, regardless of individuals or varying contact hours
For the employees in the central administration, the centre will be a good starting point for improving information and case management and reaping efficiency gains. Among other things, the centre can contribute to the development of better information, standard answers to frequently asked questions, a higher degree of self-service, automation of certain processes, etc. The common service centre will also promote increased coordination, knowledge sharing and collaboration between the various divisions, making it easier to resolve issues across the University.
The development and use of the service portal (UiBhjelp) will be critical to achieving these objectives. The Service Portal will be the Common Service Centre’s website. The two projects Common Service Centre and Service Portal are working together closely. The project will provide a good decision-making basis for further development of administrative services by the University of Bergen.
Methodology and practical implementation
The idea of a common service centre was developed in a one-week “design sprint” organised by the Service Development project in May 2019 with participants from the IT Division, Financial Services, the Estate and Facilities Management Division, the Division of Student Affairs and the Faculty of Medicine.
The Common Service Centre will be located in premises in Christies gt 18 (the former staff canteen) from October 2019.
A project group has been appointed comprising the following members:
- Magne Bergland, IT Division (project manager)
- Jon Steine, IT Division
- Laura Bangu, Financial Services
- Ivar Stenersen, Financial Services
- Martine Langaard, Division of Student Affairs
- Nina Fox, Division of Student Affairs
- Elin Horntvedt, Estate and Facilities Management Division
- Ørjan Leren, Faculty of Medicine
Representatives from other divisions will be brought in as needed, where it is natural for the centre’s areas of work.
Progress
The Common Service Centre will open on 7 October 2019, on the same date as the University of Bergen starts using TOPdesk as its new service portal.
The centre will expand as the rest of the central administration moves out of Nygårdsgaten 5 in summer 2020. The central administrative services that users must be able to access physically will be represented in the centre.
Planning what features and services to include and how collaboration with the administrative divisions should be organised will be agreed in dialogue with the divisions and user representatives.
