Why you NEED to get student feedback this Fall
Understanding the needs and wants of the younger generation is imperative when trying to keep up with their rapidly evolving preferences. What today’s 18 year old is looking for from a university can be completely different from what an 18-year-old five years ago preferred. Especially with the major differences between what life looks like today versus what it looked like 18 months ago, keeping up with student feedback is crucial.
One little detail can be the deciding factor between your institution and another. You cannot afford to guess what they want, especially with the continuous decline in university enrollment.
Students returning to on-campus learning this fall is an opportunity that can’t be missed. Life has changed since the pandemic and students are eager to return to campus. But how have the last 18 months changed their preferences when it comes to the services you provide? You can’t afford to guess when undergraduate enrollments continue to decline.
Attracting and retaining your students is more important than ever so keeping a pulse on their wants, likes, dislikes, and preferences are non-negotiable.
Here’s why you need to get student feedback this fall and how to do it.
Why You Need to Make Student Feedback a Priority this Fall
We can sum up the reason you need to make student feedback a priority this fall in one word: enrollment.
Enrollment this term was hit with a 2.9% decrease across all institutions compared with last spring, according to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. The decrease in enrollment was seen in all ethnic and racial groups, although those belonging to minority groups dropped even lower. Native American undergraduate enrollment decreased by 12.5%, while community college Latina enrollment dropped by 10% and Latino enrollment dropped by more than 18%. These percentages are said to reflect the struggles of more disadvantaged groups during the Pandemic and the immediate need for income, with college only providing a long-term solution for most.
This fall, the students who did enroll will begin returning to on-campus learning, and it is an opportunity you cannot afford to ignore. You must optimize your engagement with students and find out exactly what has evolved in the last 18 months. This will be critical to bring the enrollment numbers back up by evolving with the times and providing what the students want now.
Best Ways to Get Student Feedback
There are several ways to get feedback from students that allow colleges and universities to measure and understand the feedback on the student experience and how well their operations are performing in fulfilling student needs and wants. These tried and true methods provide the insights and analytics you need to make sure you are optimizing the way you provide students with your services.
Gauge In-the-Moment Feedback
There are in-the-moment as well as in-depth monitoring of student feedback for food, retail, and other auxiliary services. The use of secret shoppers, surveys, problem reporting, audits to ensure proper health and safety, and overall staff evaluation and delegation are all beneficial to gauge and appropriately respond to student feedback.
In the moment feedback is an easy and fast way to gather student comments and questions while an experience is fresh on their mind. In the moment feedback is beneficial due to the ability to know what your students are thinking immediately. It then allows your department to act fast to make a negative situation more positive for the student.
Use Secret Shoppers
Another way to collect fast and accurate feedback is by using a secret shopper. Using secret shoppers allows you to not only measure compliance and performance of the operation itself but also measure the customer experience. It is simple as there is a survey form quickly sent to secret shoppers that they are able to complete on the spot in real-time to get an accurate depiction of the shopper’s experience. Using secret shoppers is a great way to stay up to date on operations and any issues that may be leaving a bad taste in your customers’ mouths.
Where You Go from Here
Each business has specific needs and the methods that would be beneficial differ from service to service. Discovering which method works best for receiving beneficial feedback for your department may take time, but it will be worth it in the long run.
Feedback can help you understand why your service may be doing better or worse amongst today’s students and what alterations you may need to make to ensure the success of your services. With a 4.5 decrease in undergraduate enrollment this spring versus last, there is no time to waste when it comes to keeping students happy and engaged with their total university experience.
