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You said/We did

yousaid-wedidAcross DMU, we’re committed to listening to you and acting on what you choose to share with us – be it positive feedback about a lecturer, a wellbeing issue or concern outside your studies, suggested improvements for facilities or services, or something else that’s important to you.

Click on the sections below for genuine examples from each of our faculties and engagement teams of times when you’ve said what you’d like us to change, and we’ve responded by changing it for the better.

  1. Business and Law

    You said

    You tend to feel overwhelmed by all induction events and activities being squeezed into one week at the start of term.

    We did

    As a result, this year we had an extended induction spread over several weeks through timetabled sessions. We also developed an induction tab featuring curated content, some of which was co-created by students for other students; this is designed to be available throughout the first term so that students can keep going back for some of the very useful resources on there. It also works very well for students who have started the term late. This is something we will continue with as it has been a great benefit to students.

    You said

    You weren’t sure how to access key information easily.

    We did

    Ask BAL is a support portal where students can get answers about university processes such as extensions and deferrals. At the start of the academic year, we had a section targeting key issues for new students with links to all central university information, such as ITMS’ guide to accessing systems. 

    Students who have not yet completed registration can also access Ask BAL for support with the process. We have historically had large queues and high demand for support, so this was brought in as a way for students to easily access help and reduce queueing or phone hold times.

    If students are unable to find the answer to a query, we’ve included links to MS forms for each specific area that students can then complete. These forms are monitored by specific teams who can send across quick responses.

    We’ve tried to make access as quick and straightforward as possible by introducing a QR code link to the site, so in many cases students can simply scan the code for immediate access.

    You said

    You wanted improved facilities within BAL.

    We did

    We’ve recently created a bespoke student advice centre complete with student breakout and rest areas, phone charging spots and plug outlets, so that students have more comfortable areas to study and research between tutorials and even just to socialise or eat lunch.  

  2. Computing, Engineering and Media

    You said

    You wanted to see more Women in STEM enhancement in our CEM faculty.

    We did

    We’re working with students to set up the Women in STEM Society and supporting students with suggestions of activities and events.

    You said

    You wanted to see more Women in STEM skills events.

    We did

    We set up a session in November for engineering and technology students with a DMU alumnus who offered industry tips (interviews, applications and employability). You can watch the video here!

    You said

    You wanted to hear more about the career journeys of previous DMU students.

    We did

    We set up a Women in CEM Alumni Panel Discussion on 1 December.

  3. Health and Life Sciences

    You said

    You didn’t understand how to use the feedback given to you in your assessments, or that you sometimes failed to understand academic language.

    We did

    HLS, DSU and LLS have worked collaboratively to develop our Understanding Feedback resource, where you can type in a keyword if you don’t understand a phrase in your feedback. The resource then provides an explanation and directs you to further sources of help. It’s a sort of academic dictionary!

    "The Understanding Feedback Tool is really useful. It’s simple to use and provides students with instant access to information they would otherwise not have." – DSU representative

    You said

    One of our former student reps raised the issue of paying for lockers, when it was a non-refundable cost to students.

    We did

    HLS then changed the scheme to a refundable deposit, as long as you return the key when you are done!

  4. Arts, Design and Humanities

    You said

    You wanted to be listened to, have your voices heard in an open forum, and have a platform from which to ask questions of your Heads of School or Subject Leaders, during lockdown earlier this year.

    We did

    We set up listening sessions allowed staff to feed back there and then on new developments and what we were doing as a School or subject area to support students during lockdown. We could also respond immediately to questions where possible, with any other points taken away and responded to afterwards. We then posted a summary of key points from the meeting on Blackboard for all students in the School to view.

    These were in addition to our other student feedback mechanisms which include Student Voice Committees (which students reps attend), Module level feedback and the ‘Ask the Expert’ sessions which student reps attend.

    The listening sessions were well attended and we have extended them into this academic year.

  5. ITMS

    You said

    You wanted more MS Teams support.

    We did

    We launched MS Teams for Students, including links to students’ online sessions within timetables.

    You said

    You wanted better access to IT labs software when not working on campus.

    We did

    We created Your DMU Labs, giving remote access to the IT Labs software used by many of our students.

    You said

    You wanted clear, helpful IT guidance and step-by-step support.

    We did

    We worked with Library and Learning Services to launch our IT induction site, helping support students to locate and get familiar with various systems and services. 

    You said

    You wanted more MS Teams support.

    We did

    We launched MS Teams for Students, including links to students’ online sessions within timetables.

    You said

    You wanted better access to IT labs software when not working on campus.

    We did

    We created Your DMU Labs, giving remote access to the IT Labs software used by many of our students.

    You said

    You wanted clear, helpful IT guidance and step-by-step support.

    We did

    We worked with Library and Learning Services to launch our IT induction site, helping support students to locate and get familiar with various systems and services. 

  6. DMUsport

    You said

    You wanted more say in sport at DMU.

    We did

    We launched our Student Advisory Group (SAG) for sport at DMU to check, challenge and raise the bar on how we work with our student body across all our programmes.

    You said

    Our DMUsport competition kit needed some work!

    We did

    We took students’ feedback into consideration during the design process for the new kit.

    You said

    You wanted to play more netball, basketball, futsal, cricket and football.

    We did

    We’re about to launch ‘Social Leagues’ on top of our existing representative teams.

  7. Healthy DMU

    You said

    You prefer receiving health and wellbeing information on Instagram.

    We did

    We launched our Healthy DMU Instagram account, @healthydmu, in September – give us a follow!

    You said

    You were struggling to make connections with others as a result of lockdowns.

    We did

    We launched a series of online masterclasses called ‘Positive Mindsets and settling in to university’ and ‘Positive Mindsets and the new year’, where students could learn ways to get involved and connect with others at DMU, even in lockdown. This masterclass was so successful, we are continuing to offer this throughout 2021/22.

    You said

    You would prefer to attend some smaller and quieter events during Welcome week.

    We did

    This year, we ran a number of small-scale events for our new students.

  8. Wellbeing

    You said

    You would like to be seen more quickly for counselling.

    We did

    Funding was agreed for two more Wellbeing Officer posts, which has increased our capacity in both counselling and SPA appointments.

  9. DMU Works

    You said

    You wanted to work with employers who have sustainability as part of their company culture.

    We did

    DMU Works ran a ‘sustainability themed’ careers event that aimed to widen students’ understanding of green employers: ‘Green Careers: Unlocking Sustainability Awareness’.

    You said

    You wanted more feedback when you applied for Unitemps roles but were unsuccessful.

    We did

    DMU Works introduced a new referral service where Unitemps sets up a follow-on careers appointment for students to help improve application or interview skills.

    You said

    More focus was needed for CEM students on developing soft skills for adapting to work environments. You were interested in taking part in networking opportunities, projects with employers and live briefs.

    We did

    DMU Works developed a new business model for embedding final-year employer-led projects into the curriculum. The scheme consists of students working with an employer to resolve a business problem or to develop a growth opportunity – check out this example.

  10. DMU Local

    Shriya, a third year Psychology student, enjoyed helping the local community, from paired reading in a primary school to befriending with Age UK:

    “Hi! My name is Shriya and I am a Psychology student at DMU. I first volunteered with DMU Local in 2020, when I participated in a Paired Reading Project with a local primary school. I really enjoyed my experience, it made me feel like I was able to help the local community and so I decided to engage with DMU Local again.

    “I am currently volunteering with Age UK as part of the Befriending volunteering project. I am really enjoying it and I think that it is a valuable experience. I wanted to get involved because I wanted to make a positive difference in other people's lives. I also gained an amazing opportunity to meet new individuals and develop my interpersonal skills.”

    Imogen, a third year Psychology student, enjoyed working with Learning for the Forth Age (L4A) to support care home residents:

    “I volunteered with DMU Local to gain new experiences, work with others and help increase my confidence and skills, which this opportunity most definitely afforded me.

    “Within small groups of volunteers, we worked in collaboration with Learning for the Forth Age (L4A) to create activity packs for elderly residents of care homes around Leicestershire to complete. We got the chance to be creative and design our own activities for the packs for the residents to enjoy.

    “I feel that I most definitely gained confidence in working with others and within teams as well as developing skills for my employability. Moreover, the experience was extremely enjoyable and helped to develop my creative skills. Gaining feedback from the staff of the care homes and how our activity packs were received was really rewarding, and to know that they were enjoyed by residents especially in light of the pandemic and how loneliness has increased.”

  11. DMU Global

    Overseas travel with DMU Global has been paused since March 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic and the associated travel restrictions. However, the DMU Global office responded by designing and offering hundreds of places for students to instead take part in virtual international experiences. This was an entirely new offer that was put in place from September 2021.

    Recognising that international experiences come in many formats, students were offered remote internships, online courses, virtual summer schools and peer-to-peer learning projects with over 600 students taking part last year. For 2021/22, new virtual experiences have been offered with students continuing to participate. Activities have helped boost student satisfaction, engagement with global issues and the UN SDGs, and contributed to developing a range of key skills.

    • Overall satisfaction remained very high with 95% of students indicating that they were satisfied with their virtual international experience
    • When thinking about the future, 83% of participants indicated that they would be interested in online international experiences even when overseas travel is possible
    • We engaged students from more diverse demographic groups:
      • 49% of students were from BAME backgrounds (an increase of 9% on previous years)
      • 50% of students were international (an increase of 25% on previous years)

    Check out our videos of students who’ve completed virtual internships, as well as student blogs about remote Global programmes from Natalia and Jakub.

    “Having speakers that were passionate about their topic was so important, it encouraged engagement and helped get the message across. The course increased my awareness, empathy and my understanding of the topics covered.”

    Kushbu on her ‘World We Live In – Responding to Global Issues’ Online Course

    “I liked the fact that it was online […] It was an extraordinary experience to learn from and work in teams with students from other universities. The most enjoyable part for me was thinking outside of box and using my presentation skills.”

    Haleema on her Global Citizenship Programme experience

  12. Student Support Meetings for prospective students

    “Really helpful meeting. All my questions were answered and I know my support will be sorted when I start university.”

    “It greatly reassured me about my decision to choose DMU and made me more confident knowing I have the help I need.”

  13. International Support Team

    "I’d like to thank DSU, the Management, Andy and Gill for being great! My past experience with Welcome and International week with my previous university was nothing close to how insanely fun and nice this International Week is! Everyone made me feel welcomed after I was having second thoughts about my decision. Appreciate all of these members for their help!"