Ulster University Student Guide
Ulster University in partnership with Ulster University Student Union will be implementing Unitu across the university this academic year.
Unitu is a Student Voice platform that is purposefully built to support and enhance the student representation system.
This document is a guide for students on the most frequently asked questions. We hope it will help you better understand what Unitu is, how it works and how it will be implemented at Ulster University.
For further information and support:
For technical queries on Unitu, please contact support@unitu.co.uk.
For queries on using Unitu as a student at UU, please contact Laura Neeson, UUSU Academic Rep Coordinator, l.neeson@ulster.ac.uk.
Getting started 🚀
Unitu is a digital Student Voice platform in use in a growing number of universities across the UK. 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 your university 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:
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 your University 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 meetings with staff or until a 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 meet with staff. With more 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.
You will be able to access your Unitu account using Single Sign-On – please login to Unitu with your university credentials at ulster.copy.unitu.co.uk.
You can customise your notifications to tailor it to your preferences. To do this, select the ‘Settings’ button and select ‘Notification Preferences’.
On mobile, the ‘Settings’ button will be at the top of the page, and on the web version of Unitu, it will be in the top left corner.
You will be able to add an alternate email for notifications, as well as edit how you would like to receive them.
After activating your account, you will be able to edit your profile picture, password, email address, notification preferences, language preferences and also sign out of your account.
On the mobile version of Unitu, click on the ‘Settings’ button underneath your name on the top of the screen.
On the web version of Unitu, simply click on the ‘Settings’ button below your name on the top left corner.
Unitu is here to support you throughout your Unitu journey. There are many support channels available to you.
Live chat support:
Unitu Support can be contacted via the blue icon on the bottom right side of the screen. Unitu Support Team is available Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm for all Unitu users – students, reps and staff. If you face any issue or have any questions about Unitu don’t hesitate to contact us. The live chat is the most efficient and quickest way to contact us.
Email:
You can reach us through email at support@unitu.co.uk.
Live Demo/Q&A Session
Still have questions? You can book a live Q&A session with Unitu staff where they will be able to provide you with more information and a live demo.
Creating and engaging with feedback 💬
In brief, on the Unitu platform:
- Students share prompted or spontaneous feedback on their experiences by making a post on their Unitu board. This feedback can be a Praise/Issue/Question/Idea and can be academic or non-academic. The content of the post is not visible to staff at this stage.
- Student Reps review the feedback posts and respond where appropriate.
- Reps can choose to share the feedback with staff in the department, by moving it to the next level ‘Opened’. Here staff can see the content of the feedback and can provide a response, such as explaining how a change will be made in response to the feedback.
- Staff can then move the feedback to the next level ‘In Progress’ or the final level ‘Closed’ dependent on their response.
- Notable changes and improvements in the department / programme are then recorded in the ‘Together We Changed’ section of the Unitu board.
Student reps and student union officers are the first point of contact – if they are unable to respond to your feedback and resolve your post, they will escalate your feedback to the appropriate faculty/department. Feedback can then get assigned to appropriate members of staff.
Updates on your feedback post will be made available to all students on the feedback board as the feedback is being resolved, as well as when the feedback post is closed.
On Unitu you have the ability to post anonymously at all times and remain anonymous on the platform – that means you can publish feedback posts and comments anonymously.
You can post feedback and comment anonymously.
However, if your account is suspended due to violations of Unitu’s Content Policy, getting to the third strike and our you violate the university’s code of conduct, Unitu will then have the right to waive your anonymity. We will do so in a manner that your identity will only be known by Unitu and the appropriate staff in your institution.
You can engage with feedback through commenting or voting on feedback posts. If you have chosen to receive notifications on posts you have engaged with, you will receive either an email or a push notification to inform you when new updates or comments are made.
Similarly with posting feedback, you can also leave comments which are anonymous simply by toggling the anonymous button above the comment box.
The ‘Together We Changed’ page enables you, as students, to view the impact of your feedback and transparent communication. It lets you see how the community of staff and students have collectively created positive change across the University. You can also see your own personal impact through the posts, comments and votes you have made.
This page lets you see not only how feedback was escalated and the timeline of feedback resolution on your feedback boards, but also on all other feedback boards on Unitu in your university. You can access other feedback boards by selecting ‘All Boards’.
We’ve developed a standard for when students can expect a response from staff and course representatives. A response consists of a status update (e.g moving a feedback post from open to progress or adding an update in the discussion thread) – regular comments do not count as a status update.
Expected response times are customisable by your university and you can check to see what the expected response times are under the ‘Guidelines’ tab on your feedback board.
If you find a feedback post offensive and in need of moderation, you can report a piece of feedback by selecting the ‘report’ button and filling in a brief report. You can view Unitu’s Content Policy here.
By reporting this content, you will bring it to the attention of the moderator team. They will decide whether to remove it from Unitu entirely and you will receive an email explaining their decision. If they decide not to remove the content it will remain hidden for you, and you will be able to appeal their decision. If any feedback post is appealed, the Unitu team will assist your university in making a final decision.
Unitu takes a zero tolerance policy towards any inappropriate content. If your content is reported and then subsequently removed three times you will encounter:
- First Warning: As this is the first time content of yours has been reported and removed, we will only issue a warning.
- Anonymity Disabled: Your ability to post content Anonymously will be instantly removed.
- Account Suspension: Your Unitu account will be suspended and you will no longer be able access your account.
Course reps are responsible for moderating content on the private area of your feedback board. Course reps and department staff moderate content on the public feedback board.
If content is deemed to be in breach of Unitu’s Content Policy, moderators will review the content and choose whether to remove the content with or without a strike.
Unitu helps universities to improve the student experience by effectively engaging with the student voice in real time.