IUSA is releasing a new Student Voice Survey every other week to gauge student interest in and satisfaction with current or future IUSA initiatives, said Rachel Martinez, IUSA chief of outreach.
“From the survey responses collected, we aggregate and analyze the data to define the wants and needs of the greater student body,” she said.
Earlier this semester, IUSA released Student Voice Surveys gauging student interest in and satisfaction with academic advising and campus life, Martinez said.
More recently, IUSA released Student Voice Surveys gauging student interest in and satisfaction with Counseling and Psychological Services and student safety, two of IUSA’s major focuses this academic year, ?Martinez said.
IUSA received 868 responses to the Counseling and Psychological Services survey, said Kevin Kuo, IUSA chief of policy.
The survey measured student awareness of Counseling and Psychological Services, as well as the effect of student demographics on the awareness of services, Kuo said. It also gauged student interest in current and possible future services.
One of IUSA’s major focuses this academic year is increasing access to the Counseling and Psychological Services, Kuo said.
The Counseling and Psychological Services is currently developing an online video counseling service and an in-center triage service used to prioritize the patient’s treatment based on the severity of the patient’s condition, Kuo said.
“The triage service would work similarly to a triage in (an emergency room),” he said. “Students seeking help at the Counseling and Psychological Services would be guaranteed a same-day, 30-minute appointment, where a practitioner could prioritize cases and direct students to the proper services.”
IUSA is particularly focused on increasing international students’ access to the Counseling and Psychological Services, as the number of international students using the Counseling and Psychological Services is disproportionately low, Kuo said.
“There is little reason to believe that these students are simply less affected by mental health issues, so the underlying issue may be that these students are not as aware of the services the health center provides or the mental health issues themselves,” he said.
IUSA received another 489 responses to the student safety survey, Kuo said.
The survey measured awareness of student safety amenities as well as the effect of demographics on ?awareness of student safety amenities, Kuo said. It also gauged student use of current and possible future student safety amenities.
Increasing student safety is another one of IUSA’s major focuses this academic year, particularly by developing an application that would identify both the safest and riskiest areas of campus and Bloomington and link to emergency numbers and crisis hotlines, Kuo said.
“We are using the feedback to see if a mobile safety app would be a worthwhile implementation on our campus and to see what applications would serve our campus best,” he said.
IUSA is collaborating with the IU Police Department and IU Emergency Management and Continuity to select a third-party vendor to develop the app, Kuo said.
“IUPD will have the final say in the selection of the application, as they will be managing its day-to-day operations,” he said.
