Are students customers? : a study of freshman students' perceptions on customer service

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of customer service in higher education. Student perceptions of customer service were collected and examined through a survey instrument developed for this study. Two-hundred and seven participants completed the survey resulting in a 23% return rate.Freshmen students at Ball State perceive themselves to be customers entitled to a high quality service through both service areas and academic departments of a university. Results from the survey showed that a majority of the students believe they are the most important group of people at a university. In addition, over 90% believe a university's purpose is to serve students. Students reported they have experienced courteous and personalized service in both academic departments and service areas of a university. They also stated that customer service wasequally important in both academic and service areas of a university.When describing positive and negative interactions between faculty and staff, students' responses varied greatly. About half of the respondents reported experiencing positive interactions with both faculty and staff, while the other half, experienced negative interactions with both faculty and staff. When discussing negative interactions with both faculty and staff, some of the common themes included: rudeness, being treated like a child, individuals not knowing their names, and not having time to help them. On the contrary, the common themes with positive interactions included: politeness, being treated with respect, knowing names of the students and helpfulness.Department of Secondary, Higher, and Foundations of EducationThesis (M.A.