by Todd Pringle
Senior Staff Writer
The next time someone calls the University of Houston, Kathryn Butcher said she hopes the caller will think "UH OnCALL," not "UH OnHOLD."
Calling for information about anything from curriculum requirements to summer camps can be an eternal struggle at UH, pitting callers against phone operators who "don't know" but can always "transfer you ..."
UH OnCALL promises to be a one-call information source, said Butcher, the supervisor of the service.
Armed with a two-line phone and a computer database, each OnCALL operator should be able to answer any university-related questions, or at least know exactly whom to contact to find the answers.
Once a caller asks a question, an OnCALL operator calls the correct contact, gets the information and then returns it to the caller.
The caller will be left "on hold" during this time, but Butcher promises it will only be for about two to three minutes. A caller won't be transferred to numerous departments.
"When our first calls (in September) came in, it might have taken us 10 to 12 minutes (to help someone), but now it takes two minutes," Butcher said. "We've learned a lot."
Callers can also leave a number and the department promises to return the call.
"Curricula questions are the most common questions we get from students," said Butcher about some of the calls the service has already received.
"It's sometimes hard to access this information along different departmental lines," she said.
Joseph Agan, a UH post-baccalaureate student, said he has never heard of the service, but said it sounds handy if it does what it promises.
"I moved down from Illinois and had a problem knowing who to call. I would get constantly put on hold while making long-distance calls," Agan said.
Most of Agan's questions were about financial aid information and "a bunch of little questions about coming back to school."
Last Thursday the service "went public," Butcher said. UH is hoping that parents wanting to send their kids to UH summer camps will also use the service. They too, often don't know who to call at the university for information on departmental camps. UH OnCALL should be able to help these parents, Butcher said.
The OnCALL department is still in the experimental stage and will be evaluated by the number and volume of calls received, said Susan Rosthal, director of UH Public Affairs, who also oversees the on call project.
This year the department runs entirely on donated money - $165,000 of a Cullen Foundation Grant that pays for the three two-line phones, three computers and three operators' salaries, Rosthal said.
The $4-million Cullen Foundation Grant was presented three years ago to the university to pay for beautification, community development, community outreach and student retention, said George Grainger, director of Foundation Relations in the University Development Department.
If the department proves useful, Rosthal said she will request funds from UH General Funds.
But she added the amount should be lower since the start-up costs have been paid for already.
The phone number, 743-CALL, is listed under "Information" in the UH telephone directory's blue pages and, according to Butcher, it should be "displayed prominently" in the Houston white pages soon.
Operators are available from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. only on weekdays. The service's only bilingual operator will be available from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. because of her personal scheduling constraints.