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BSU Selland College builds customer care curriculum
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Boise State’s Selland College of Applied Technology has received new donations totaling $70,000 to fund the development of the Customer Care Specialist program.
The donations to the program are earmarked for computer hardware, software, and telephone systems, and cash donations for scholarships and advertising. Some of the donations are in-kind, including the advising and expertise from industry professionals while developing the curriculum.
The Selland College provides job-specific programs designed to educate students in technical careers based on industry demands for training.
Customer Care Specialist is a generic title for the people who tend to customers over the telephone in call centers and are often a customer’s first experience with a business.
According to Selland College Dean Dr. Larry Barnhardt, a Purdue University study indicated that if the trend continues, 75 percent of all customer contacts would come through the telephone or the Internet.
“Just the other day, I was looking for a floormat for my chair,” said Barnhardt, “and I called an 800 number and talked to a Customer Care Specialist.”
Currently, there are 27 call centers in the Treasure Valley employing about 8,000 people. Local call centers include Capitol One Financial Services, DIRECTV, Idaho Power and Sears Regional Credit Center. Barnhardt reports rumors of two new call centers to come, bringing 500 new jobs in the industry.
“It doesn’t matter where the person is who relates to the customer,” said Barnhardt of the number of call centers in the area, “The Treasure Valley is attractive to the industry because of its quality of life and high-tech telecommunications infrastructure.”
The Customer Care industry suffers from a high rate of turnover, largely due to people being unfamiliar with job duties after being lured by relatively high wages. Customer Care Specialists in the Treasure Valley make between $9 and $11 per hour.
This attrition creates an industry need for 200 new jobs every month. The program would expose potential employees to the nature of the job and possibly lower that aspect of the turnover rate.
This is what the industry is counting on by donating to the college. “Our research has revealed that more than $60 million are lost annually by area call centers through turnover,” said Kent Ivanoff, vice president of Capitol One Financial Services in a Boise Metro Economic Development Council news release.
“We believe that students at BSU would make excellent customer service people,” Barnhardt said.
Students are attracted to call center work because of the flexible schedules that the industry offers. Senior citizens who are not looking for full-time employment are also good candidates.
Matt Neznanski