Tag Archives: feedback

You said, This Happened: Improvements to U1 & U2 Bus Service

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In response to passenger feedback, the following improvements are being introduced to the university bus service from this week:

The U1 Service will run an enhanced term-time service with additional bus services from both campuses.

From the Lansdowne Campus:

  • 8.47am (departing Cranborne House not Dorchester House)
  • 9.43am (departing Dorchester House)
  • 10.43am (departing Dorchester House)

From Talbot Campus:

  • 9.25am (departing Fern Barrow)
  • 10.25am (departing Fern Barrow)

The U2 Service will also operate an enhanced level of service from 3.40pm to 7pm, where the frequency of service will increase to every 30 minutes.

Reece Pope, SUBU’s VP Welfare Officer, said: “The changes made to the bus service is a perfect example of how the voice of students are listened to and acted on here at BU. The University and Morebus have been very happy to listen to your feedback so feel free to contact me if you have any further suggestions on how to improve this service.”

Updated online timetables for the enhanced U1 and U2 services are available here and you can also check timetables and live bus information in our iBU mobile app.

You and your BU experience

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The focus for BU over the next few weeks is firmly on asking all of our undergraduate students about their BU experience.

NESSA-LOW-RESNational Student Survey

If you’re a final year student, your lecturers have probably already told you about the National Student Survey (NSS). This is a great opportunity for you final year student to reflect upon your full experience at BU. It only takes a few minutes to complete and we’ll give you a FREE £5 Amazon voucher to say thanks for your time.

Your feedback given through the survey is used to compile year on year comparative data and results are publicly available to prospective students, their families and advisors to help them make informed choices of where and what to study.

Complete the survey here or by visiting NeSSa the Camel as she tours around the Talbot and Lansdowne Campus.

As well as getting a £5 Amazon voucher, we’ll enter you into a prize draw. We have 5 x £200, 5 x VIP Graduation Packages and 5 x pairs of SUBU Summer Ball Tickets to be won*

*Terms and conditions apply

UK Engagement Survey (UKES)UKES 2015 - dotmailer banner

If you’re in years 1 or 2 (level C & I) of an undergraduate BU course, then you should opt for the UK Engagement Survey.

With this survey you get to reflect on whether you’re making the most of your academic experience, while you still have the time and opportunity to explore options to see how you can engage in other ways.

Your feedback will help us to see what’s working, and what could be improved. As a thank you for completing the survey, you will be entered into a prize draw to win one of five SUBU Summer Ball tickets*.

Both surveys open on Monday 9 February and eligible students will be emailed later today – you can also find out more and access the surveys on iBU.

If you’re a postgraduate student, on a top-up course or an undergrad on placement you can still have your say by completing the Student Opinion Survey (SOS).

*Terms and conditions available upon survey completion.

Enhance your student experience: SUBU’s latest update

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subu_logo_smallNerve Radio recently brought home an impressive four awards from the National Student Radio Awards, sponsored by BBC Radio.

Find out from Chloe Schendel-Wilson what else has been happening in the world of SUBU, including:

  • Sharing responses to your feedback
  • Training SUBU’s new part-time officers
  • Raising And Giving (RAG) expeditions
  • This year’s LEGGIT success
  • New academic clubs and societies
  • What happened most to students in 2013-14

Read the SUBU President’s full report to find out more.

Calling all new international students

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LightbulbsTell us about your experience so far at BU, for a chance to win £1,000*.

If you are an international student on a postgraduate course, or in your first year of an undergraduate course, we’d love to hear from you. The International Student Barometer survey is a way for our international students to tell us what’s working and what isn’t. We’re really interested in your feedback so we can make your experience, as well as the experience of future BU students, one that is memorable and positive.

Complete the survey now so we can act on the feedback you provide and for the chance to win £1,000*.

The survey closes on 5 December 2014.

*A company called igraduate administer the survey and the competition to win £1,000. Terms & conditions apply and are available on the igraduate website.

Speak Week

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speak-weekThis is your chance to find out how to give feedback on academic and wider issues at BU. You can also use this week to share your thoughts, opinions and ideas to make a real difference to your student experience – and that of others.

Organised by SUBUs Education Council, there will activities every day of the week supported by: stalls in the Atrium and BoHo Lounge, Students Reps you can chat to in the Purple Lounge and Studland House café, and events you can be part of. Speak Week events include:

All week: You’re Brilliant awards

Your chance to tell a BU member of staff that you think they’re brilliant, and why

 Wednesday 19 November: VC Talk Out

Post questions on SUBU’s social media to BU’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Vinney, throughout the week and see what he has to say at the end of the week! He’ll be in the Atrium at Poole House, Talbot Campus, joined by Tim McIntyre-Bhatty, Deputy Vice-Chancellor

 Thursday 20 November: Student Shout

Join Reps and your peers to share your thoughts and hear those of others.

Go along, take part, and make a difference.

You Said, This Happened: Improved IT Services website

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Over the past year students from the Media School have been working with BU’s IT Services to create a new website, making information easier to access and navigate.

The IT Services team reviewed student feedback that had been shared at Student Experience Forums, by SUBU Student Reps and via enquiries to the IT Service Desk in the last academic year.

Keys areas for improvement included providing up-to-date information, the ability to view the site on mobile devices as well as making it easier to contact IT Services and receive updates.

Much of that feedback has informed the information and structure for a new website as well as the design and layout. Phil Downes, Web Development Manager at BU, told us:

“We wanted to update our online support so that students can find information easily, quickly, and wherever or whenever they need it.”

It’s now possible for students to sign up for alerts about any outages or planned maintenance, as well as view a ‘live service status’ to monitor major online services (e.g. myBU, timetables) and know if any are experiencing issues.

“We’ve made it easier to find out about the products we offer, access advice for the different types of issues students may experience and log an IT job and track its progress,” Phil continued.

“We also saw this as a great opportunity to have students involved in, not just the user research, but also the website creation. A number of students from The Media School were given the requirements and brand guidelines and were tasked with creating the design. IT Services worked with the students to refine the design and build the new site. User testing was carried out by both staff and students to make sure it was easy to use and navigate.”

Phil added “This joint approach has helped us make sure the site meets students’ needs as well as giving the students experience or working to brand guidelines and as part of a development team.”

Check out the website, and bookmark it!

We encourage all students to share their feedback – one way to do this is through SUBU’s Ideas Forum.

You Said, This Happened: More resources, more desks, more PC’s, more flexible renewals and reservations.

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Throughout 2013-4, Library and Learning Support have been listening to student feedback from SUBU’s Student Opinion Survey and The National Student Survey.

The Library staff have acted on that feedback and made a number of changes which will benefit all BU students.

Neil Ford, Academic Liaison Development Manager in the BU Library team, explains:

“We wanted to understand what the students’ main priorities were for improvements. We reviewed all of the student comments relating to the library from Student Opinion Surveys and National Student Surveys.

“As a result we made some changes which we hope will have a significant impact for all students using the library services”.You-said-Library

We encourage all students to share their feedback – one way to do this is through SUBU’s Ideas Forum.

 

You Said, We Did: More buses!

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The start of term saw big queues and longer waiting times on some of BU’s bus routes. Students shared their frustration with the Students’ Union and BU’s travel planners had a more efficient service running in less than a week.

Reece Pope, VP Welfare at SUBU

“At SUBU we encourage students to send their comments on any issues relating to life at BU. Several students contacted me about the sheer number of people using the buses and how this was increasing journey times and sometimes making them late for lectures.

“Specifically they said the U1 bus was arriving later than advertised and buses were so full that students couldn’t get on further down the route.

“One student told me they arrived at Cemetery Junction for the 09:30 bus, which unfortunately drove past. The student eventually got on another bus but arrived at Talbot Campus half an hour late and felt too embarrassed to walk into the lecture theatre. The student was especially frustrated as they had paid for a yearly bus pass.

“I met with BU’s Travel Plan Coordinator Richard Wintrip and shared this feedback.”

Richard Wintrip, BU’s Travel Plan Co-ordinator

“If people have bought an annual pass they would expect to be able to use the bus service, so it was really important for us to act on this feedback quickly. In this case we were able to act immediately and worked with BU’s contracted bus company to have a solution in place in under a week.

“After speaking to Reece on Tuesday last week, I asked the bus company out to monitor how many people were getting on the buses at different points along the route and how long people were waiting. Much of the congestion was happening at Cranbourne House near the Lansdowne.

“On Thursday we arranged with the bus company to put on an extra bus on the U1 route and upgrade the U4 bus to a double decker to carry more passengers. We put this in place from Monday – less than a week from when we first spoke to SUBU about it.”

A more efficient service

When BU’s contracted bus company monitored the situation at 8:30 on Wednesday last week, there were 40 people waiting at the Cranbourne House bus stop and they had a seven minute wait for the next one. A week on and things look very different.

Richard said: “Today, there no one was left waiting at 08:30 and the buses were leaving on time with some spare capacity available.”

Reece said: “The reply from Richard was so positive and he definitely has the interest of students at the top of his agenda. I feel confident that any issues brought to my attention in relation to buses will be dealt with quickly and efficiently. The students seem happy with the results, if their Facebook response is anything to go by.

We encourage students to share their feedback through SUBU’s Ideas Forum.

Winners of BU National Student Survey prize draw chosen

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Final year BU students who completed the National Student Survey (NSS) have received prizes including £1,000 of holiday vouchers and VIP graduation packages.

Nine winners were chosen at random, for completing the NSS – an independent national survey which gives final year students the chance to feed back on their course and university experience.

BSc (Hons) Psychology student Scott Freemantle won the top prize of £1,000 of holiday vouchers.

He said: “When I first found out I’d won, I was slightly in disbelief. I’m thinking I’ll possibly go to the Caribbean with the vouchers.

“It’s great to know that I can hand in my dissertation, do my final exams and then head off somewhere. It’s a really good end to the year.”

Three students received the prize of a VIP graduation package – which includes overnight accommodation, gown hire and photographs, along with two guest tickets for the ceremony.

The winners were BA (Hons) Events Management student Naomi Kay; BSc (Hons) Computing Framework student David McBeth; and Robyn Gribble, a BSc (Hons) Sports Psychology and Coaching Sciences student.  

“It’s well worth filling out the survey – I’m definitely happy that I did it, as now I’ve got a VIP graduation package,” David said.

“It’s important to give feedback and you might end up with a really great prize! I even got a free smoothie while I was doing it as well!”

Robyn added: “Because I’ve won the graduation package, it’s going to be a really nice end to my university experience, ending it on a high.

“It was definitely worth filling out the survey – if you don’t give feedback and let people know about things, then nothing will ever happen.”

Five students won tickets to this year’s Summer Ball – which is now sold out.

They were:

  • Samuel Whiffen (BSc (Hons) Computing Framework)
  • Jessica Jegathesparan  (BA (Hons) Advertising with Marketing Communications)
  • Dale Scholey, (BA (Hons) English)
  • Yusef Javed  (BA (Hons) Scriptwriting for Film and Television)
  • Kim Doolan (BA (Hons) Leisure Marketing)

Samuel said: “Summer ball is the best night of the year and I’m really looking forward to it. I already had a ticket so I’m going to give it to a friend from back home so they can come too.

“It’s well worth doing the survey – it only takes five minutes and it’s good to give your feedback to the university.”

Yusef added: “I’m really pleased. I didn’t manage to get hold of a ticket, so I wasn’t sure if I was going to go to the Summer Ball, but now it gives me a reason to dye my hair blue as part of the costume idea I’ve got!

“It is definitely worthwhile to get your views heard. I’m a Student Rep as well, and I think this survey is good as it covers the whole university experience, as well as your courses.”

The winners of the BU NSS Prize Draw were chosen at random by Ipsos Mori, the independent market research company who carry out the survey.

They received their prizes from Professor John Fletcher, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at BU.

Why the Student Opinion Survey matters to you

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student_opinionsThe Student Opinion Survey (SOS) is one of the most important tools used by SUBU and the Student Reps to independently and anonymously collect and summarise feedback from students about their learning experience at BU.

Your views and suggestions are fed back to Programme Coordinators and Framework Leaders by your Reps and further influence decisions made by university management.

BU values the opinion of all students and we want as many students as possible to respond to the SOS. Your feedback is vitally important and the more students who respond, the more meaningful and credible the feedback. Your feedback has already helped instigate many changes and identify good practice to be shared, an example being the continued increase in provision of learning spaces for students across the campuses in response to student demand.

The SOS is now open, so please take a few minutes to complete it online.