BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS -- Students at Northern Kentucky University can get a head start on a financial career while getting their degree. NKU and Fidelity Investments announced an agreement Thursday to create a 401(k) Customer Service Phone Center on campus that will employ 180 students.
The center will be in the Lucas Administration Building and is scheduled to open in February.
"The NKU campus call center is the first of its kind at Fidelity," said Paul Smith, Fidelity's Midwest general site manager.
Students hired to work in the center will be trained to provide customer service to incoming callers who have 401(k) plans by Fidelity. Students will work 20 hours a week.
Fidelity spokesman Kevin Canafax said students who work in the call center will be well-positioned for full-time opportunities with Fidelity.
The initial training will focus on handling the most basic type of calls, and students eventually will have the opportunity to handle more complicated services.
Fidelity wants to recruit students interested in working for the company. Students can call NKU's career development center at 572-5680 for more information.
This is the second work force development partnership between Fidelity and the school. In May, both created the financial services curriculum. Students take banking, accounting and other financial courses taught by Fidelity employees and NKU faculty.
The call center is the second such career training center on campus.
In April 1997, Delta Air Lines opened a reservations center in the University Center to answer customer calls.
Delta employs about 200 students who handle basic reservation sales and customer- and service-related activities, such as flight information calls, schedule changes and marketing.
