6 Ways to get your students’ feedback on everything
Your students’ feedback is your only clear indicator of how well (or not) you’re performing, and you can never have too much of it.
In a perfect world, you’d be able to hear the thoughts and suggestions from every student you serve. However, if you can settle for getting as much feedback as possible, the following six ways can give you plenty of food for thought:
Send an Emailed or SMS Survey After Significant Transactions
Students don’t want a survey emailed or texted to them after every transaction they make on campus, but they may welcome a survey after a significant transaction like securing their on-campus housing or buying a meal plan. These large purchases, which are also significant revenue generating services for colleges and universities, should be a positive experience for students to encourage repeat business and reduce attrition rates.
When students are given an opportunity to share their thoughts on their buying experience, you have the opportunity to capitalize on what’s working well in other areas of campus and quickly remedy what can use improvement.
Add a Daily Poll to Your University’s Website or Install Feedback Kiosks on Campus
Do you want to know how students liked your last big school event? Do they want a better selection of healthy foods in the dining halls? Are they happy with their RAs?
Whatever you want to know, you can ask it in the form of a poll on your website or by strategically setting up feedback kiosks on campus. You can easily update the question(s) you ask so that you can always attain timely and relevant feedback from students.
Add a Feedback Feature to Your Website
In addition to a daily poll, you can leave an open-ended feedback form on your website where students can share their thoughts on anything they want at any time. You might consider adding a menu of departments so that you can easily sort the results. This one will take some regular monitoring; however, making feedback collection easy for students will encourage regular feedback.
Enforce Student Surveys Each Semester
Before each class closes for the semester, distribute a questionnaire for each class that details student sentiments regarding their education. For instance, you might ask about the quality of the course, the difficulty of material, professionalism of the teacher, and other crucial data that can be used to improve future experiences.
Highlight Your Social Media Presence
Your university can benefit from social media just like any other business, especially when it comes to reviews. At the very least, you can promote your Facebook page as a place where students can leave their feedback and engage with the university. Because of its high public visibility, there’s increased benefit of providing timely, positive responses, which can go a long way in helping remedy any alleged issues.
Or, you can have individual Facebook pages for the auxiliary services you provide on campus (ie bookstores, dining halls, or departments) where students can have direct access to these services online.
Let Students Send You a Text
Texting doesn’t cost anything for most people, and it’s a great way to capture micro feedback on an ongoing basis. You can also incentivize the SMS program by offering prizes to those who complete a certain number of surveys each semester.
From your dining halls to bookstores, to parking facilities and self-service options around campus, make it easy for your students to tell you what they think. Just by giving people the option to share their thoughts on their terms can help produce more meaningful feedback your institution can act upon accordingly.
In Closing
Remember that no amount of feedback will help you improve unless you’re prepared to act on it. Once you do, let students know how their feedback is helping to shape your campus into one that’s student-focused. They’ll appreciate you for it. Visit us at www.Touchwork.com to learn more ways you can incorporate an easy, yet comprehensive feedback program on your campus.
