Bringing Home the Gold

Georgia Perimeter selected top college in University System

of Georgia by Roger Barnes

sk Georgia Perimeter College President Dr. Anthony Tricoli what he thinks about the

college receiving the states top service award, and hell tell you that its all part of GPCs big
plan. The colleges big plan is to move GPC among the top tier of institutions in the nation,
Tricoli said. Another step in that direction was completed Sept. 15 at the Chancellors Customer
Service Awards ceremony in Atlanta. The University System of Georgia named GPC the
Customer Service Institution of the Year gold medal winner and awarded Tricoli the Customer
Service Leadership silver medal. Tricoli won the leadership gold medal last year.

Dr. Anthony Tricoli, left, Georgia Perimeter president, and Fran Mohr, GPC director of Customer Service, accept
top state award from University System Chancellor Erroll Davis.

I came here today to say that I am proud of you, Gov. Sonny Perdue said at the ceremony.
Think about this vital role you play in changing someones life. What youre doing is saying
come on in, were faster, friendlier and we want to help you reach your goal of earning a
higher education. Customer service is not rocket science; its caring and helping, and thats the
culture were trying to build in our state. In 2006 Perdue established the Governors Office of
Customer Service to improve the quality of essential services in Georgia. The Chancellors
Customer Service Awards were created to honor employees and institutions that go above and
beyond their normal service responsibilities. Tricoli counts service, quality of education and

affordability among the reasons GPC has had record enrollment in each year of his three-year
tenure. GPC is currently the third largest of 35 institutions under the USG banner.
I was humbled by the individual leadership award last year, Tricoli said. However, receiving
the award for the top institution in Georgias higher educational system is most rewarding of all.
This gold award indicates that all of us who work at GPC are being recognized for providing
outstanding service to our students; and since service is a key ingredient needed for the success
of our students, it is our most valuable action every day in the classroom, in our offices and on
our playing fields. There is no greater satisfaction than GPC receiving the USGs top billing for
service to students. Our faculty and our support and professional staff deserve all of the credit for
this outstanding recognition.
The Chancellors gold medal recognized a list of innovative services GPC provides to students,
employees and the community. According to Linda Hansel, customer relations specialist at the
Governors Office of Customer Service, GPC was recognized in part because the college
established a new Customer Service Department and an Office of Civic Engagement and
Service-Learning to provide opportunities for students to apply classroom learning to service to
their community. Both offices are the only ones of their kind on any USG campus. GPCs
Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) agreements also were cited. GPC also instituted crosstraining of admissions staff, resulting in faster application processing and improved financial aid
processing, Hansel said. Web-based services for students and employees were developed and
implemented in-house to provide innovative and improved communication.
In fall 2008, GPC became the first USG entity to participate in the Governors Office of
Customer Service Workplace Satisfaction Index survey. Georgia Perimeter recognitions at the
ceremony also included honorable mention awards to Lisa Fowler, assistant vice president for
Enrollment Management and Student Success, and Frank Nash, director of GPCs Alpharetta
Center, for Customer Service Team; and to faculty member Tamra Ortgies-Young for Customer
Service Individual. GPC Director of Customer Service Fran Mohr was a finalist in the Customer
Service Champion of the Year category. Im impressed by the quality of the winners, but Im
not surprised, said USG Chancellor Erroll Davis. It is the result of a lot of hard work by a lot
of dedicated people.
Source: Fall 2009 Vol.4, No.1
IN THE LOOP