April 12, 2007

Provost announces new one-stop electronic resource

'At Your Service' will assist in navigating policies, procedures

The Office of the Provost has initiated a one-stop electronic resource where faculty and staff who support faculty are invited to submit questions regarding University policies, procedures and resources.

The facility, “At Your Service,” can be found at www.northwestern.edu/provost/at_your_service.

Provost Lawrence B. Dumas said, “’At Your Service’ endeavors to assist faculty and staff who support them in discovering and navigating faculty-related resources, policies, and procedures at the University — and, in some cases, in the broader community. Just as a hotel guest might go to the concierge for directions or suggestions, faculty members will be able to use ‘At Your Service’ as a resource for Northwestern information. Just as a hotel concierge might provide a brochure, in some cases we may be able to help simply by pointing the colleague to another Web site.”

Dumas said that faculty members over the years have called for a “concierge” service which would assist faculty members in a variety of ways.

According to Dumas, “At Your Service” is meant to supplement — and not replace — the assistance available from colleagues, department or center offices, school dean’s offices, or other University offices. He added that the facility is not designed to engage in dispute resolution; nor is it meant to replace the Ethics Point Web site at which unethical conduct or conduct which violates University policy can be reported: www.northwestern.edu/ethics/.

“My office will endeavor to provide at least initial responses to all queries within one business day,” he said. “In some cases we will need to seek counsel from other units in the University, and further responses may be a day or two longer in coming.”

Dumas encourages members of the community to avail themselves of the new facility and to share any comments with him.