SVSU establishes phone line to answer student, parent questions about return to classes in fall

Saginaw Valley State University officials continue to add services aimed at strengthening a safe campus environment ahead of students’ return to campus next month. 

 

The university recently opened a telephone information line that will provide students, prospective students and family members with information related to SVSU’s plans for the fall semester scheduled to start in August. 

 

While an SVSU webpage at www.svsu.edu/nestplan can answer many general questions about the fall plans, a phone line provides a valuable resource for a university committed to establishing strong interpersonal relationships between students and the campus community, officials say. 

 

“We have been providing regular notifications to our campus community about our return to the classrooms, but a phone line gives students and their families access to a human element,” said Susan Brasseur, SVSU’s director of continuing education and external project management. 

 

“They have been calling different offices within the university, and we have been helping them, but this gives them a central place where they can call and talk to a person dedicated to answering their questions.” 

 

The SVSU NEST Info Line is available at (989) 964-2110. 

 

The phone line hours span 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays. 

 

NEST is SVSU’s comprehensive program dedicated to returning students to campus after the pandemic led U.S. universities to suspend in-classroom instruction in March. NEST is an acronym for “New Expectations for a Safer Tomorrow.” 

 

Brasseur said the phone lines will be managed by staff from SVSU’s The Conference Center, typically in charge of organizing events on campus including guest speakers and weddings. The staff is particularly equipped to manage the phone line because of their skill in hospitality and their knowledge of the campus and its offerings. 

 

“People are asking about a lot of things, and we want to be there to help answer all their questions and be of assistance in any way possible,” Brasseur said.