Close
How Unitu can help you
10 September 2020
Unitu is a digital Student Voice platform in use in a growing number of academic departments across UCL. Unitu can help you drive changes when you submit feedback to Student Reps and staff on what is going well, and what could be improved.
Students at UCL are partners in shaping their education, and are encouraged to give feedback on their experience in a variety of ways. This feedback is influential in informing decisions and driving changes: you can see numerous examples of changes inspired by student feedback on the You Shaped UCL page.
Students in an increasing number of faculties and departments can now submit feedback via Unitu, an online service that offers timely responses from Student Academic Representatives and members of staff.
How does Unitu work?
On the Unitu platform:
- You can share prompted or spontaneous feedback on your experience at UCL by making a post on your Unitu board. This feedback can be Praise / Issue / Question / Idea.
- You can also choose to “up-vote” feedback from other students that has already been posted on a Unitu board.
- Student Reps review the feedback posts and respond where appropriate.
- Reps can also choose to share the feedback with staff in the department, who will provide a response, such as explaining how a change will be made in response to the students’ feedback.
- Notable changes and improvements in your programme or department will be recorded in the ‘Together We Changed’ section of the Unitu board.
What are the advantages of the Unitu platform for students?
- Anonymity – Many students feel greater reassurance when they can give feedback anonymously. On Unitu, posts are anonymous by default so you can submit praise, issues, questions and ideas with confidence.
- Timeliness – Some students previously felt that their feedback had to wait until a Staff-Student Consultative Committee (SSCC) meeting or student survey came around. Unitu helps students raise issues or ask questions as soon as they arise.
- Accessibility – Some students and Student Reps previously expressed frustration at not being able to attend their SSCC meeting at the scheduled time and date. With more UCL students than ever before learning remotely, Unitu allows students to have their say on the student experience at a time that suits them.
- Visibility of responses – When staff or Student Reps respond to a post, the response will be visible to all students on that Unitu board. This means that answers / solutions are shared more widely than they would be if a student raised the query via email.
My department doesn’t have Unitu yet – what should I do?
UCL has a number of well-established ways for students to raise their voice. Whether through Student Academic Representatives, a ChangeMakers project or the Student Experience Panel, you’ll be able to give feedback in a way that suits you. If your department has a virtual common room, you may wish to submit feedback on there.
You could also consider asking your teaching administration team if your department would benefit from using Unitu. UCL has an institutional licence for the service, so there would be no additional cost for the department.