Separation of duties
I wonder if there is a way to offer an employee training regarding the overall picture of how each department works together without violating the separation of duties. For example, the other day, a prospective student was comparing the curriculum of a state school with our school and expressing how much more affordable the state school's program was. It just happene that I had a demanding parent asking questions about the same program days prior and connected the parent to our career services director who was able to relay, not only our competitive graduation and placement rates, but also explain more about our program and the degree that accompanies it, which other programs are lacking, but is not always obvious to the prospective student. So while they are more enticed by what appears to be just as good but more affordable, they are actually not getting the complete training/certification/ or licensure that we offer, so in the end, they get jipped and will likely have to return to school again. This information would really empower, say, a financial aid officer, and enable them to share very compelling information with a prospective student.
Missy - I think you capture the difference between separation of DUTIES vs. ability to have shared RESPONSIBILITIES. I think many schools embrace the notion that EVERYONE is responsible for retaining students. But, HOW they do that is tied to their scope/functional area vs. a task that requires separate controls. In your example, you are highlighting the impact multiple departments may have on a prospect during the recruitment process. As long as "sensitive" duties are separated, this can be a positive way that multiple departments work in concert to achieve common goals and provide superior service to students and prospects.
I agree with Traci. The separtaion of certain job duties are to provide cross checks and to avoid potential conflicts of interest.
The separation of job duties are imperative for cross checks to avoid conflicts of interest.
Separation of duties is an excellent way to insure that both our students and prospective student have the best possible experience with our school.
