Input boxes offer opportunity for student feedback

    By JJ Ossola
    IV Leader Staff

    Students may have noticed little wooden boxes placed on the walls and stairwells throughout the campus.
    Input boxes have been put up throughout the Illinois Valley Community College campus in an effort to promote open communication and feedback.
    IVCC Councilor Renee Prine said, "We are always looking for ways to communicate at IVCC. Students, community members, faculty, and staff should have a voice, whether the voice is positive feedback or negative."
    Anyone can leave their input and expect to receive a timely response. Comments are collected by the Student Services division weekly and then distributed to the appropriate faculty or administration person.
    All of the comments are kept confidential. Name and contact information can be added to the form if the person would like to receive a response.
    Prine said that the idea was presented in 2004 at a Continuous Quality Improvement Network Summer Institute that was attended by several of the faculty and administration in a seminar about listening skills and good customer service.
    Sandy Beard, administrative assistant in student services, said "Inputs has slowed down quite a bit since the program started in the fall but I still collect them once a week." Beard estimates that she has been averaging about three per week but noted that 114 had been submitted before January.
    "Anybody can make a comment and we hope that it will help us better understand the needs of our community college." Prine said, "We are striving to make IVCC a place that people enjoy coming to."
    Forms are available on the sides of the boxes or can be entered online at www.ivcc.edu/studentfeedback.