A Reflective Learning Journal

Turning Student Feedback Into Action

We like surveys in Higher Education, and we like them a lot! Every August, December, and March, you can expect your student email inbox to ping with a “Tell us how we’re doing!” message. Maybe it’s about your courses, your experience in residence, the cafeteria food, or whether you feel like you belong. You take five minutes, fill in the boxes, click submit—and then?

Silence.

No trumpet sounds. No campus-wide announcement. No wrap-up video on the gram. Just… nothing.

So here’s my question (for myself, for you, for any professional or educator tuning in):
How can we share what we’ve learned from student surveys in a way that invites shared leadership?

Today’s blog post is all about student voice (included in my Student Affairs Framework), and I have been thinking about this for some time. I am part of the Survey Management Committee at my institution and this is a real conversation that many folks are engaged in. What is the best way to share what we learn and call in further action from the participants to better understand the results?

Feedback Isn’t the Finish Line

I do not think that collecting feedback is the grand finale. It’s the opening scene. Student surveys aren’t “homework for university student affairs staff”—they’re real conversations. They’re students trusting us with their experiences, stories, frustrations, and wins.

The problem isn’t that we don’t have the data—the student voice. And, we have typically turned feedback into a one-way interaction. We ask. Students answer. And then we lock it up in a digital vault with an access code known only to some (there are, of course, very good reasons for this—things such as the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act, but that is not what I am reflecting on here).

What if we treated survey results like a campus group project—with students not just giving answers, but shaping the questions, making sense of the results, and designing what comes next?

From Closed Reports to Open Conversations

I know it’s complicated. We worry about student anonymity, over-promising, or not being able to fix everything. Yet, I think that university students aren’t asking for perfection. They’re asking for partnership.

Here’s what I am dreaming about these days:

• The Popcorn Reveal: Picture a student-led Instagram carousel: “What you told us—and what we’re doing about it.”
• Data + Dialogue Dinners: Host casual gatherings (with free pizza, obviously) where students can review key themes from surveys and weigh in on ideas for improvement.
• ‘We Heard You’ Walls: Pop up a visible, ever-changing wall in a high-traffic hallway with quick blurbs: “You said you were struggling with procrastination. We will be in the library for a 10 min procastination buster event at 10 pm!”

Sharing survey results should feel like a campus conversation that’s ongoing, honest, and kind of exciting.

When We Share, We Build Trust

Here’s the secret sauce: when students see that we’ve listened—and better yet, acted—it changes everything. It builds community. It makes students more likely to share again next time. And it reminds everyone that their voice matters, not just in theory, but in practice.

Sharing results isn’t just a performative move. It’s a call to action, a chance to co-create a better campus together. It says:
You matter here. And you’re not just along for the ride—you’re helping drive the bus.

My Move

It’s time for me to plan a small way to show students how their voice has shaped my work.

If you’re a student:
Don’t stop speaking up. Keep asking, “What came of that?” and don’t be afraid to lead the charge.

Because when it comes to feedback, the best thing we can do is simple: close the loop and open the door.

Photo by Pedro Ramos on Unsplash