Student consultation groups

We gather student feedback on topics affecting current University of Waterloo students to help inform your processes, communications, and other initiatives impacting students. We'll help you prepare a set of questions then we'll recruit the students, host, facilitate, and report back to you on the results of the session.

What you need to know

Requesting a student consultation group

Timing

Student participation is highest at the beginning of term, or after mid-terms. We recommend submitting your consultation group request the term before you'd like to receive your student feedback but we can usually accommodate requests with 30 days notice.

Consultation groups are booked on a first-come, first served basis. Although we recommend that you submit your request to us at least one month ahead of time, we do our best to accommodate late requests.

Multiple sessions

Some campus partners request the same group to be held for multiple audiences, or to have a topic divided into sub topics. We can work with you to find the best way to collect feedback from students.

Multiple consultation groups

We can accommodate two consultation requests per term from the same faculty/department. This cap is meant to ensure equal access for this service across campus and help departments strategically think about which projects they would like to receive student feedback on.

What we need from you

There's no cost to you!

We thank participants by adding $15 to their WatCards. These incentives covered by the our team, in addition to the cost of the facilitator and notetaker for each session.

Complete the request form

Complete and submit the Student Consultation Group request form and we will contact you to complete the scheduling process.

The questions

We recommend up to 10 questions as a guideline. We can work with you to ensure that all topics are covered, to select the right questions, and to determine if additional materials are needed.

Advertising and participant registration

Registration is posted in UWaterloo Portal and the sessions are promoted on @UWaterlooLife.

If you have other channels that you would like to advertise through you are welcome to do that as well. Sometimes this is helpful if you are looking for specific groups of students and/or if the session(s) will take pace after the first few weeks of term when registration tends to be lower.

Facilitation and note taking

Facilitators

Student leaders from the Student Leadership Program (SLP) act as our facilitators.

Note taking

A co-op student or staff member serves as the note taker for each session.

Stakeholder participation

Stakeholders are not permitted to be present for the consultation group sessions. This helps us ensure that whatever the topic, students are comfortable to provide honest and candid feedback.

The findings report

The report is written using the session notes and the audio recording for clarification as needed. The report will be provided to you within two weeks following a single session. If you require multiple sessions, the report may take a little more time. Once it is written, it is reviewed by the session facilitator and note taker for accuracy before it is forwarded to the requesting party.

The report contents depends on the topic, the type of questions asked, the number of sessions held, and the number of participants in each session. For example, graphs and statistics cannot be included for a single session where only three students participated).

Participants may request to see a copy of the final report if they wish.