Assessments and surveys are inescapable on a college campus. It’s an environment that prides itself on gathering information to identify how it can continue to improve for students and stay relevant among potential competitors. Residence Life is no exception to this: often there are assessments that are pushed out in fall and spring semesters to see how residents are enjoying the community, provide feedback for their RA, and to share insight for what they would like to see in terms of programming and other engagement opportunities. In the departments I previously worked for, some of these assessments would be well over 100 questions in length and would be a time-consuming commitment to complete. The worst part about this? The lack of follow through from those at the Hall Director level and from the leadership level. Many times the data was initially reviewed and filed away in a cabinet with no actual action. That’s a waste of energy, time, and money for nothing. To be good stewards of resources, here are some ways that you can actually use the data from your satisfaction survey.
Hall Directors
Establish clear ownership and accountability. Let’s be honest: the work that you and your staff do is where the rubber meets the road in terms of actually applying the feedback from students. There are benefits of longitudinal data collection through these surveys but what respondents want to see is how their feedback is being applied to this semester and academic year. Take ownership of the assessment results by crafting a vision for what the remainder of this semester and the next will look like based on the results. You have to identify what story the data tells. Maybe the information validates the effort that you and your team have already been putting into your community so far and it’s the fuel that will keep momentum going. Or it may be sobering data that shows some critical areas to emphasize collectively to the staff. One way to ensure accountability is taken with the survey results is to implement them into staff evaluations. Use the perspective of your students to justify ratings and claims that you are making to identify areas of improvement and to celebrate highlights. Keep the conversation going on the results of your satisfaction survey.
Integrate assessment into strategic planning. I always found that the satisfaction survey results from fall semester helped indicate the direction the staff efforts would take for spring semester. While we had to meet the departmental expectations for programming and other initiatives, such as intentional conversations with residents and RHA/NRHH support, we could use student feedback to meet their needs while also satisfying overarching expectations. If you have residents who are saying that they want to get to know more students from the whole community, not just their floor, incentivize collaborative programming and host more all-hall socials. If residents identify that they wished they were more involved on campus, have staff emphasize taking residents to learning opportunities and other larger university events rather than programming within the hall. And don’t just stop at this semester: help the results of the survey guide your actions at the beginning of next academic year to see what you can do to meet students’ needs from the beginning of their time on campus. Use the data that is collected from the survey in your decision-making for the future.
Communicate survey results transparently. This was a huge opportunity that I missed out on during my time as a Hall Director. We always pushed the survey so hard, promoting incentives for completion and holding competitions between floors. But once it was complete, I never closed the feedback loop: I didn’t communicate the results to residents and how their input would affect the efforts of staff to meet their needs. If I were to do it all over again, I would host a town hall meeting where I would discuss the results of the assessment and what specific initiatives we were going to implement as a result so that residents would feel heard. Sure, this would really only garner a few residents who were interested in the results, but it would be a meaningful way to say, “We heard you, and here’s what we’re doing.” It’s also an opportunity to be transparent about what you can change and what you cannot, addressing challenges where low satisfaction areas may have been prevalent. One of the hot-button topics was the fact our front desk would charge students for lockouts after their third freebie. Students felt that this was an unfair penalty but I shared that it was a departmental policy, not one specifically for the hall. I encouraged them to advocate for change by starting a petition or by taking the issue to RHA, where the movement could get momentum. There are ways that you can address student concerns and the best way to do that is by closing the feedback loop and being present for open questions.
ResLife Leadership
Establish clear ownership and accountability. In many ways, this begins (and ends) with your approach to the satisfaction survey results. It’s important that you review the results of the assessment and create expectations for staff to make their own action plans in response to results. One way that you could do this is by hosting a presentation day during a regularly scheduled staff meeting. Each Hall Director will share the results for their specific community and what their plan is to utilize the results as they consider efforts for the next semester. Beyond that, continue to follow-up with your Hall Directors on the goals that they are working on and the results that they are seeing on the frontlines. Have them set SMART goals or other frameworks for how they intend to continuously address areas of growth. Departments should also make an effort to use follow-up surveys or focus groups to address whether changes have improved satisfaction. If the department is spending a significant amount of time and energy on this assessment, it needs to be properly utilized. Otherwise what is the point?
Develop a culture of continuous improvement. Tying in closely with accountability, this is about how you motivate your other staff members to ensure that they feel the support to achieve their goals. As with the leader of any team, this starts with you. Once you embrace this approach and these behaviors, others will follow suit. One of the best ways to encourage development is to normalize small wins. Emphasize when a staff members’ effort pays off and give recognition to their ideas of innovation. The small wins will snowball into greater change and what fuels that is the ongoing recognition and support of a leader. It also looks like encouraging iterative adjustments. People don’t need to wait until the end of an academic year or a semester to adjust their approach; they can implement changes throughout the year to help alter the course for their community. Encourage staff to implement small changes rather than waiting for “perfect” solutions. You can get there by keeping the conversation open, emphasizing that the implementations from the satisfaction survey will be an ongoing process rather than a one-and-done meeting.
Integrate assessment into strategic planning for the department. Many departments have 5-10 plans in terms of what they’d like to accomplish for student development goals, facilities renovations, and other achievements they are setting their sights on. As much of the typical student satisfaction survey does not change in terms of questions, use the responses and key metrics to analyze year-over-year data to ensure progress and identify areas of improvement. This longitudinal data helps support the action of the department and justifies the use of resources in meeting the needs and desires of the students who choose to live on campus. Comparably to the town halls that Hall Directors can have with their residents, this is an immense opportunity to share your vision of the future with your staff members. It often seems like these plans are highly guarded and rarely communicated, even to entry-level full-time staff members. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to bring them on board and to catch the vision that you have cast for the future.
If we’re not going to take student feedback seriously, can we please stop pushing these assessments, wasting energy and resources to make them happen? I can’t downplay the importance of these surveys but, if we’re not actually going to do anything with the data and ignore student input, it’s a waste of time for everyone. Let’s take some responsibility and create an action plan on how we can best leverage the data and make changes for the future. This shows residents that we are making a good faith effort to meet their needs and desires through visible improvements while continuing to provide a safe and secure learning environment.
