Back to school 2026-27: New initiative aims to turn student feedback into action

Students are taking over, and Petrina Ferreira likes the idea. In fact, as NAIT’s associate vice-president Students and Campus Life, she’s the one who suggested it in the first place.

This September marks the launch of the Student Experience Action Plan, a campus-wide initiative that gives students a direct line to polytechnic leaders responsible for shaping life at NAIT.

Ferreira is used to working to meet student needs. She leads a portfolio that includes support services, athletics and recreation, and other departments focused on academic success in all forms. But, until now, nothing quite so  comprehensive has existed for NAIT’s student-life team to gather input into those services from the community they serve.

“I just found that student voice was missing,” says Ferreira. 

Modelled on an initiative by her colleagues at the University of Alberta, the NAIT plan aims to change that by going straight to the source. 

“We want to hear what [makes] an amazing student experience,” says Ferreira. “What is NAIT doing well? Where do we need to pull up our socks?”

Then she wants to use that feedback to guide changes while continuing to reach out for more, leading to steady, incremental improvements, for students, by students.

Empathy and openness

During her two terms as vice-president academic for the NAIT Students’ Association (NAITSA), Danielle Libunao has heard much from students about what they want on and from campus.

“I felt having an opportunity somewhere to share those concerns would be helpful,” says Libunao (Bachelor of Business Administration – Human Resources Management ’26), now continuing her HR studies as an Open Studies student.

“Once the Student Experience Action Plan was created, I was like, ‘Perfect. This is the place.”

With other NAITSA executives and staff members, Libunao was on the steering committee behind the plan’s creation. In particular, she appreciates the format the student engagement will take, which goes beyond surveying.

Through Nov. 30, Ferreira and members of her team, along with staff and student volunteers, will hold 20 in-person sessions at Main, Patricia and Souch campuses. They hope to hear from students from all seven of NAIT’s schools, whether they’re on site for a term or, like apprentices, a few weeks.

Students can also share feedback online at any time, doubly encouraged by a roving “treat trolley” staffed by students making the rounds between sessions with snacks and swag to promote the plan and direct students to its webpage for more information.

Overall, the approach reminds Libunao of campaigning for her NAITSA position, which not only landed her the job but has informed her contributions as an elected member of executive.

“There’s empathy in that human connection,” she says. “Students want their voices heard.”

Libunao feels that empathy could lead to openness and, ultimately, hard data about how to best serve students. “It’s what current students are actually saying.”

To her, that means being able to effectively act, measure progress, and plan.

“It’s essential for NAIT leadership to have this data,” Libunao says. It represents a meaningful effort to include the student voice. What’s more, she adds, it’s practical.

“It will help the institution recognize what they should be investing in.”

Listening, acting and reporting back

Ferreira considers the Student Experience Action Plan a long-term initiative, if not the introduction of a new way of taking the pulse of campus. And, just as she hopes it touches upon all aspects of student life, she knows the responsibility for taking action will ultimately come to involve any and every department at NAIT.

“I’m sure there’s going to be someone telling me about [limited] power outlets,” she offers as an example, noting the extension cords students have been known to pack. Ferreira can’t address matters of wiring herself, but she can talk to the people who can.

“We won't get everything done in the first year, but we can get some low-hanging fruit,” she says.

Ferreira and her team can also analyze all that new data, and share what they hear. “[In the] second and then third year, we can report to the community.”

Throughout, the openness Libunao noted will be essential. “I don’t think there’s one main thing that students would have a big concern about,” she says. Student life is complicated and ever-changing; those concerns will be many and varied. They can’t be addressed without regular communication.

“I’m not sure what they’re going to need,” says Ferreira of NAIT students of today and tomorrow. “But I’m interested.”