New enhancements at PCC help students enroll for fall

With the start of the fall semester near, registering for classes at Pueblo Community College has never been easier, thanks to the addition of a new one-stop Enrollment Services Center and several volunteer phone operators.

PCC’s fall semester will begin Aug. 27, and the foot traffic is increasing as students begin thinking about education once again. In Pueblo, those students are finding the entire enrollment process much easier and, thus, quicker than what previous students found.

Perhaps the single most important addition is the new enrollment center that has been established in the Dr. Mike Davis Academic Building. Bruce Gifford, Dean of Student Services, noted that in the past, students had to visit several offices in different locations on campus to complete the registration process.

Not anymore. Through the enrollment center, students can now register for the College Opportunity Fund, apply for admission and financial aid, take the basic skills assessment test, meet with an advisor, receive career counseling and arrange to pay tuition and fees all at the same time.

“With this new enrollment center, students can take care of business under one roof – a one-stop shopping center for students,” Gifford pointed out.

Another helpful addition is the beefed-up assistance in personnel manning PCC’s telephones, with newly trained campus personnel able to process calls from potential students requesting specific information. Last summer, the college’s Financial Aid office was unable to handle the inundation of phone requests just prior to the start of the fall semester.

To keep students from experiencing another such situation, the Financial Aid Office recently conducted a training session for employee and work-study students who have volunteered to man phones during registration. During the training, volunteers learned what questions to ask students and where to go to find information pertinent to registration.

Ron Swartwood, director of Financial Aid, conducted the 90-minute session during which he covered the four main questions asked by students: “How do I apply for financial aid?”, “Have I been awarded yet?”, “What have I been awarded?”, and “When will I get my money?”

Volunteers also learned how to respond to students wanting to know how to apply for student loans, what grants and loans are available, when financial aid checks are mailed and how to access the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) website.

These additions will enhance greatly the ability of Financial Aid personnel to move students through the process.

“We’re trying to speed up customer service and processing and make it as efficient for students as possible,” noted Gifford. “This enrollment center is a good way to do that.”
The enrollment center is located in Room 154 of the Dr. Mike Davis Academic Building, which is at the corner of Orman and Arthur avenues. Its current business hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and it will stay open an hour later Monday through Thursday the weeks of Aug. 20 and Aug. 27.

In addition, PCC is opening its Enrollment Services Center doors to enrolling students from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday in August beginning this weekend.

The fall semester will consist of a full term from Aug. 27 to Dec. 15 and two half-term sessions Aug. 27-Oct. 20 and Oct. 22-Dec. 15.

All new students taking six or more credit hours must meet with an advisor that is assigned when applying for admission, and continuing students also are required to see their assigned advisor each semester to monitor educational progress.
The class schedule as well as complete enrollment and registration information are available on the college’s website at www.pueblocc.edu.

For additional information, call PCC at 549-3200.

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