Do you love NIU? Most Huskies like you and I would proudly answer “yes,” but there are still students here at NIU that find it hard to completely immerse themselves in the life of a spirited Huskie. In order to make any environment personable, students should give feedback on what affects them. Without your commentary, establishments like NIU will be unable to make a connection with its students. NIU is openly willing to accept any and all feedback from the way the library is run to the performance of its staff.

Resources on campus, like Founder’s Memorial Library, constantly express the importance of user feedback. They have advertised and held many feedback focus groups that encourage students to give commentary on their service and how they can improve.

“Our primary purpose was to collect feedback and of what people think and what we can do better,” said Leanne VandeCreek, social science reference for Founders Memorial Library and Chair of Strategic Planning Core System. “It is vital for students to get involved. If they are not communicating with us, then we are not communicating with them.”

Allowing students to give their opinion on their services through these focus groups are not the only way of communicating with the library. There are several avenues for students and staff to express their comments, complaints, compliments and more. The Circulation Desk located in the library contains feedback and comment surveys, in addition to their contact information listed on their Web site. Students are also welcome to critique the food they eat in the dining halls. If you do not like the way the “mashed potato volcano” tastes, the dining hall encourages your feedback through the various resources for user feedback located in each dining hall.

“Feedback is beneficial to any business,” said Ralph Chaplin, director of Residential Dining. “Each dining hall has customer comment cards.”

Every now and then, the dining hall will also provide a free sample of a new test product in exchange for feedback. This allows students to shape the prospective menu as well.

These opportunities for your input should not be overlooked, they give students some control in how NIU functions and how the environment of NIU is shaped. Moreover, observations can also potentially help NIU be a better school for others. Feedback through surveys such as the Student Opinion Survey study was created “to better understand the needs of current students while gaining insight related to recent enrollment declines,” according to NIU’s Public Opinion Laboratory. “The final report [of the survey] was disseminated by the Provost’s Office and used to inform decisions that impact students and the NIU community.”

Now, more than ever, it is important for all students to voice their opinions. If there are still some who cannot answer “yes” to the aforementioned question, you should ask yourself, “What am I doing to make my experience here at NIU better?”

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