By Melissa Weisman
Staff Writer 
The Campus Concierge, formerly known as the Hillwood Information Desk, has been transformed with a new look and new student- friendly services. The Concierge had its opening day on Monday, March 17.
“The desk was redesigned to improve the campus life experience for all students. Our new tag line is—‘making campus life easier, more affordable, and fun.’ It really sums up the entire project. The Hillwood Information Desk has provided great amenities to the LIU Post community for many years, but the Campus Concierge is about providing students with access to more services and programs,” said Michael Berthel, the associate director of the Office of Student Life & Leadership Development.
The redesign of the desk includes a repainted back wall, a new computerized point of sale system that will be used to conduct all sales and transactions, a new photo wrap above the desk, as well as Campus Concierge signage. The changes are meant to provide a more professional and welcoming face to the Hillwood Commons lobby.
“The concierge focuses on four main categories for services and programs,” Berthel said. “Complimentary items will be provided to students who need them, including pens, highlighters, ice scrapers, and feminine personal care products,” he added..
“There will also be a new ‘Take a Faculty Member to Lunch’ program for students who want to collaborate with faculty. Interested students can come to the Campus Concierge and get up to three free lunch vouchers that can be redeemed in the Winnick Student Center or the Hillwood Café,” he added. “Ticket sales will incorporate any on-campus student events and off-campus trips. This includes Broadway shows in Manhattan, campus sporting events, senior week events, and so on. One of the most exciting sales is our discounted movie tickets. Students can purchase tickets for any AMC, Loews, or Multiplex Theatre for $8, that’s $4 cheaper than buying them at the actual theater. There are no restrictions and the tickets do not expire,” Berthel said. This is a partnership with the corporate offices for each movie theatre. The University purchases the tickets in bulk and sells them at cost to students.
Students can borrow or rent umbrellas and scientific calculators and return them within 48 hours. Additional services will be added throughout the semester. “Soon we will introduce laundry and dry cleaning services for students, faculty and staff with a two-day turnaround. The prices for this service will be competitive,” Berthel said. All dry cleaning and laundry would be done by an off-campus vendor and delivered back to the Campus Concierge.
All of the old features of the Hillwood Information Desk are still part of the Campus Concierge, including the game room equipment lending, student locker rentals, lost and found, and general campus information. The hours will be the same under the new Campus Concierge, every day 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., including weekends. “While walking through Hillwood, I was pleasantly surprised by the new design of the Information Desk.
The Campus Concierge looks so much more appealing. Everyone is in Hillwood at some point or another, so it was a great idea to improve its appearance. And now that I know about the services, if it ever starts to rain and I don’t have an umbrella, no big deal! I can borrow one from the Concierge!” said Courtney Simone, a sophomore Math Education major.
“Calling it a concierge is meant to highlight the higher quality of customer service that students will come to expect from it,” Berthel explained.
The Campus Concierge will staff student employees; however, the position names have changed from ‘Hillwood receptionists’ to ‘Concierge Assistants.’ The job responsibilities have been adjusted to reflect the new services and programs. All student concierge assistants are supervised and trained in customer service by the Office of Student Life and Leadership Development. The concierge is staffed with around 25 student employees.
Josh Deshommes, a sophomore Physical Education major, said, “I never really used to stop by the Hillwood Desk in the past. Now that I know about the new services, if I need an extra pen or need to borrow a calculator or umbrella, I know where to go. The concierge has so much to offer, [and] students should take advantage.”
The Concierge is equipped to keep track of the amount of visitors seen every day. This information will help identify what services are most popular, and also determine how to staff the concierge in the future. The new point of sale system automatically keeps data on what products are selling and how many people utilize the services. Berthel said,“Now that we are open, we will begin to identify our most popular services.”
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