After reading student responses to a survey, Chartwells officials made changes, giving students what they want.
A survey was distributed last semester asking students what new and improved aspects they’d like to see in the Caf and The Market at Alvin’s. Officials took the top requests they received and made changes.
Read more about the changes here
Though changes like this may seem small, a survey of this kind gives students a way to voice their desires directly to the people responsible for making those changes. It’s worth noting how quickly Chartwells took action and began implementing changes that came straight from the students, considering students are their biggest customers. This kind of efficiency is admirable and should be implemented by other on-campus entities.
For example, SGA recently sent out a survey asking for student input regarding their presence on campus this academic year. If student input is taken into consideration as swiftly as it was in the Chartwells survey, then the efficiency and reward will be similarly effective.
The Chartwells and SGA surveys are just two of many surveys that students receive via their university email accounts. Seeing one actually come to fruition is encouraging for students and makes them feel more inclined to fill out surveys in the future, as they should.
Students have an obligation to take these kinds of surveys seriously and be honest in their opinions when taking them. If students desire change, then it’s their responsibility to use their voice to enact that change. Communicating directly with the individuals running these services brings actual progress, whereas complaining to friends or on social media only brings a momentary relief that leads nowhere.
When students take surveys seriously and offer insightful opinions for officials, those officials are more likely to take improvements seriously. At a private university where students can sometimes feel powerless or unheard by university officials, this is one way to make them feel in control.
Students don’t know how to run a university, but they know what they want. When officials honor those desires, it goes a long way. It makes students feel like they attend a university that’s authentically theirs and that cares about their happiness and well-being.
Officials would be wise to continue doing this, and students would be wise to speak up when they do.
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