SEAHO Report - Winter 2023 - 40

and professionally.
Overall, " universities are recognizing that students
are also customers and the need to provide an
excellent customer experience across the student
lifecycle " (Guilbault, 2018, p. 296). The student
experience is important to university success
(How similar is Student Experience to Customer
Experience, 2019). When providing strong customer
service experiences to students, the students feel
they have been treated well and with respect;
therefore, the students have increased satisfaction
and loyalty to the institution.
Boyd, R. L. (2012, June 18). The Pennsylvania State
University Division of Undergraduate Studies.
Retrieved from https://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2012/06/
customer-service-in-higher-education
Eagle, L. & Brennan, R. (2007) Are students
customers? TQM and marketing perspectives. Quality
Assurance in Education, 15 (1), 44-60.
Finney, T. G., & Finney, R. Z. (2010). Are students
their universities' customers? An exploratory study.
Education + Training. 52(4), 276-291. https://doi.
org/10.1108/00400911011050954
After multiple conversations with colleagues on this
topic and researching it further myself, I believe
that the idea of providing educational moments
versus customer service to students, specifically as
it relates to housing assignments, is something that
is dependent on the situation as each situation is
unique. Personally, I would love to provide every
person with the best customer service possible to
keep them happy since happy customers speak
highly of your organization and often come back;
however, I am realistic in knowing we are bound by
constraints in housing assignments as there are only
a specific number of rooms available. Because of this,
I look back at my time working at Walt Disney World
and try to put into practice the idea of providing
options to students when able. This allows students
the opportunity to learn that they may not always
get everything they want but that options are out
there. It also provides student affairs professionals an
opportunity to speak with them about the situation.
So, based on this additional research, what do you
think is the best approach for your department and
students? It may differ between institutions so it is
important to do what is best for your organization,
students and the situation(s).
REFERENCES
Amole, D. (2009). Residential satisfaction in students'
housing. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29(1),
76-85.
40
Guilbault, M. (2018). Students as customers in higher
education: The (controversial) debate needs to end.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 40, 295298.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1016
Goudas, A. M. (2017, February). Students or
Customers? It makes a Big Difference. Retrieved from
http://communitycollegedata.com/articles/studentsor-customers/
How
similar is Student Experience to Customer
Experience. (2019, May 03). Retrieved from https://
cloudcherry.com/blog/similar-student-experiencecustomer-experience/
Hwang,
Y., & Choi, Y.C. (2019). Higher education
service quality and student satisfaction, institutional
image, and behavioral intention. Social Behavior and
Personality: An international journal, 47(2), e7622.
https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.7622
Koris, R., & Nokelaine, P. (2015). The
student-customer orientation questionnaire
(SCOQ). International Journal of Educational
Management. 29(1), 115-138. https://doi.
org/10.1108/IJEM-102013-0152
Moore, H. P., Carswell, A. T., Worthy, S., & Nielsen,
R. (2019). Residential Satisfaction among College
Students: Examining High-End Amenity Student
Housing. Family and Consumer Sciences Research
Journal, 47(3), 260-275. https://doi.org/10.1111/
fcsr.12298

https://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2012/06/customer-service-in-higher-education https://dus.psu.edu/mentor/2012/06/customer-service-in-higher-education https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911011050954 https://doi.org/10.1108/00400911011050954 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016 http://communitycollegedata.com/articles/students-or-customers/ http://communitycollegedata.com/articles/students-or-customers/ https://cloudcherry.com/blog/similar-student-experiencecustomer-experience/ https://cloudcherry.com/blog/similar-student-experience-customer-experience/ https://cloudcherry.com/blog/similar-student-experiencecustomer-experience/ https://www.doi.org/10.2224/sbp.7622 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-102013-0152 https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-102013-0152 https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12298 https://doi.org/10.1111/fcsr.12298

SEAHO Report - Winter 2023

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