Enhancing the student experience through responding to student feedback: distributed leadership approach

How to improve student satisfaction with their learning experience has become a major concern for universities worldwide as the pressure on higher education to move to a more self-funded model has increased. As government financial support is tied to demonstrable measures of excellence in student learning and satisfaction, pressure is applied to universities to improve student feedback, increase student retention and graduation rates and improve graduate employability skills. In most instances the focus for improving student satisfaction is on the individual academic leading the design and delivery of the educational experience for students. This paper presents a different focus in recognising the multi-layered, distributed leadership contribution needed to support the academic in order to enhance the student learning experience as evidenced in their feedback. Arising from the 'lived experience' explained in this paper a framework for a multi-level, distributed leadership approach to improving and responding to student feedback is presented.