Academic focus zones for 2025
News 11 DecemberThe 2025 Academic Timeline interactions and focus zones are now available to help prioritise the planning and delivery of learning and teaching. Sync the focus zones to your Outlook calendar now.
23 September 2020
Share
Service Central has helped ACU staff adjust to the immediate and longer-term challenges of COVID-19, and gain rapid support by accessing many of ACU’s professional services for staff.
Director of Corporate Services Sharone Ciancio said the sheer scale of change in responding to COVID-19 impacts has put all ACU staff to the test.
“Many staff had to transition from the office to working from home and back again,” she said. “They needed increased support from different service areas, not just with setting up their work environment in their home, but also with different ways of working such as using Microsoft Teams and Zoom, as well as updating web information, accessing advice on health and safety, and arranging extra cleaning and signage.There were many different things for staff to cope with, causing increased service queries and requests as the pandemic developed.”
View the Service Central infographic in Workplace to see how staff accessed support during the pandemic.
Service Central was fully introduced in June 2019 as a single service point for ACU staff to access a range of information and professional services, and its features have enabled ACU to be supported rapidly during major changes and disruption – such as a pandemic
Sharone said the benefits of automating and standardising service delivery through one platform have become particularly clear during the pandemic, when requests for information and assistance rapidly increased.
“In a world before Service Central, seeking services and information was often an uncertain and time-wasting exercise for staff. The pandemic would have exacerbated this experience due to an overwhelming demand for services – causing high levels of stress and dissatisfaction for staff seeking information and support, and also services struggling to manage the demand and efficiently respond.
“The pandemic has shown how crucial having a scalable, efficient service enquiry and request system is in helping ACU respond rapidly to major disruption and change, both for the service user and the service deliverer. Between March and August, the data shows that there was a significant increase in staff accessing information and self-service channels, which reduced the need of staff to contact Service Central to assist them.In addition, Service Central has been able to resolve 30 per cent of queries at first contact, compared to 18 per cent at the same time last year.This has helped lighten the load on service areas.
“Before Service Central existed, there were almost no digital forms for these services for staff. Now we have 225 automated forms which go directly to the right team to resolve it, saving time for the requester and the service. These forms have reduced processes and approvals from weeks to days or hours.”
“We also have an extensive online library of 1,300 knowledge articles that save time searching for information or calling services. Service areas have worked hard to keep these regularly updated with accurate and consistent information in a rapidly changing environment.”
With the arrival of the pandemic, knowledge articles were viewed 18,000 times in March alone, Sharone said, an increase of 300 per cent on the previous month.
“The amount of people accessing knowledge shows the flood of enquiries that would have been made, if staff were not able to locate the information they needed quickly.”
The Service Central portal provides access to a wide range of information and services including IT, Properties and Facilities, HR, Student Administration, Finance, Marketing and External Relations, Office of General Counsel,Governance, Office of Planning and Strategic Management, and other services.
Service Central Officers are also available during business hours via phone (07) 3623 7272 or online chat to help staff with queries about any of these services.
The 2025 Academic Timeline interactions and focus zones are now available to help prioritise the planning and delivery of learning and teaching. Sync the focus zones to your Outlook calendar now.
It has been a big year, and we understand that the festive season can be a different experience for each of us. Access a new resource from our employee assistance program, designed to help you prepare...
ACU's Co-Lab proudly announces Kyla Tucker as the winner of the $1,000 ACU Co-Lab Business Idea Pitch Award 2024, following careful evaluation by a panel of ACU judges.
ACU will move to the new EBSCOhost user interface on 4 February 2025. Find out what you need to do to prepare.
Please note the digests from Academic Board meetings 06/2024 held on 14 November 2024 and via circular resolution from 15-19 November 2024.
The 2024 Showcase of Teaching and Learning brought staff and students together to share innovations and collaborations from across the university. An online edition will be hosted in early 2025.
Limited services will be available via Service Central on 12 and 13 December, while the Service Central team attend a staff conference. The Service Central phone line and live chat will not be availab...
A message from Vice President Fr Anthony Casamento csma: Ok, let’s not kid ourselves. If you are like me, December can feel like chaos. Yet, amid this chaos, the Church gives us the Season of Advent -...
Associate Professor Grant Duthie from the SPRINT Research Centre and Professor Jo Ingold from the Peter Faber Business School have won a prestigious government grant that will see them work with the b...
Let’s reflect on our inclusive practices during International Day of People with Disability.
ACU’s Peter Faber Business School has earned accreditation from AACSB, the US-based organisation that accredits business schools worldwide.
A message from the Provost, Professor Julie Cogin: As we approach the end of the year it’s fitting to look back and reflect on everything we’ve achieved over the past 12 months.
Find out the end-of-year deadlines and operating hours for a range of staff and student services within Corporate Services including Service Central, People & Capability and Student Administration.
The popular medicines database MIMS Online is upgrading to a new platform and changing its name to eMIMSelite.
16 Days is a global campaign observed annually from November 25 to December 10 and serves as a critical reminder of the pervasive and often invisible violence that affects millions of people. Watch a ...
Include an additional survey item in the Student Evaluation of Learning and Teaching (SELT) survey for units that are offered in ACU Online Term 4 (202476).
With the end of the year approaching, it's time to ensure a smooth closure of the university’s 2024 accounting books and financial year-end work. Check the finance end-of-year deadlines for 2024.
ACU’s Graduation and Protocol team has been recognized at the 2024 Association for Tertiary Education Management (ATEM) Awards for Excellence for their innovative Reader Module project.
A message from the Executive Dean of Health Sciences Professor Suzanne Chambers: The Faculty of Health Sciences research space has seen colleagues come together in a spirit of shared learning and conn...
Role of Chair training is now available through the ACU Staff Learning Hub.
Visit Service Central to access Corporate Services.