Nontraditional students attending NIU will benefit from “Telephone Assistance Service” starting Aug. 1.

Currently, 39 percent of undergraduate and 93 percent of graduate students at NIU are described as “nontraditional students.”

Nontraditional students are those who attend college part-time, commute or take classes off-campus, said NIU Associate Provost Lou Jean Moyer. These students do not have the time to contact various offices at NIU to obtain information they need right away.

The students can now utilize the new telephone assistance service by calling 815/753-8000 for information about NIU. Moyer said the new service is being implemented in response to task force recommendation on ways to make the campus more accessible to nontraditional students.

The information required by these students will either be provided by the service itself or it will be recorded and transmitted to respective offices for replies.

The telephone assistance service is located in the University Resources for Women building and coordinated by Stacy Dolby, a former NIU student housing officer who recently came out of retirement to serve as acting ombudsman. The service is staffed by retired staff and faculty.

Dolby said 25 individuals have already been trained for the new service and more will be added soon.

The new telephone assistance service is available from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.