How one business school redesigned its student feedback loop

Updated Sep 07, 2026

Updated, 7 September 2026: We checked the complete practice account and removed claims that it proves improved trust, candour or survey outcomes. The authors explicitly leave parts of the framework’s impact for further review.

What the authors describe

Alison Gibb, Gail Angus and Karen Clancey report changes at the University of Glasgow’s Adam Smith Business School. Two staff-and-student working groups reviewed course evaluations and Student-Staff Liaison Committees after concerns about participation and feedback visibility.

Course evaluations retained core university questions and added targeted items. Staff were asked to respond in class and through Summary And Response Documents shared with the current and next cohort, including reasons for changes not made.

Committees introduced student chairs supported by professional-services co-chairs, standardised records and action tracking. Advisory panels were piloted with staff attending as listeners. A dashboard supported reporting across course, programme, subject and school levels.

The framework links four stages: asking, analysing, implementing and communicating. The account describes how those stages connect to governance. It does not supply a controlled or quantified outcome evaluation. Staff changes disrupted governance consistency; the conclusion says that impact remained to be fully reviewed and students’ perceptions of the new cycle were a next step.

Questions for reviewing a feedback process

Our suggested starting point is to follow one issue from its first report to the response students received. Who interpreted it, who could make the decision, and what happened if the request could not be implemented? A visible explanation may include a limit or disagreement as well as an action.

Check whether the people responsible have the information and capacity needed at each stage. An action log can describe progress without proving that students trust the process or that the change helped. Ask separately how students experienced the response, including those who did not use the formal channels.

The comment-analysis governance checklist can help plan responsibilities and reporting. These are our local review suggestions. The paper offers a practice example to consider, while effectiveness and transfer to another institution require evidence of their own.

Reference

Gibb, A., Angus, G. and Clancey, K. (2025). Enhancing Student Voice: Developing the Student Feedback Loop, a practice-based case study. Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal, 7(1), 79–87. Open paper.