Unitu – A Self-Help Guide for Students

Purpose of this document

This Self-Help Guide will empower you to confidently engage with your peers, student representatives as well as academic staff on Unitu to enhance the learning and wider experience at Arden.

This document provides insight into:

• What Unitu is

• Why we use it

• Who you can expect to see on the platform

• How to use it effectively through step-by-step guidance for technical usage.

You will also find some top-tips, video training from Unitu and a link for further useful resources within this document.

What is Unitu?

Unitu is an online safe space for you to share your constructive feedback, ask any questions or share bright ideas to improve your student experience. You can also use the platform to spread some positivity and smiles by praising departments, resources or services that enables you to engage in your studies at Arden.

Why do we use it?

We want to have a vibrant and engaged learning community at Arden University and Unitu helps with this. The platform enables students and staff to engage in meaningful and solution-oriented conversations which can lead to positive and student-centred changes.

Who uses it?

Unitu can be used by any student who is actively studying at Arden University as well as your student representatives and elected officers. You will also find your Students’ Association, academics, and wider university services staff on the platform.

Accessing your account:

Account activation and logging in

You will receive an account activation email when you are enrolled at Arden University.

Once your account is activated, simply log in using your Arden University student account via this link: arden.unitu.ac.uk.

You may receive another email reminder if we resend invitation. Click on the link provided in the email invite to access your account.

When you start using Unitu, you will receive notifications from the platform similar to other social media platforms or forums on your student email.

We understand that you may want to tailor the notifications you would like to receive and so, we have included a guidance document for the same below:

Adding a Profile Picture

The document below will give you a step-by-step guide to add a profile picture to your Unitu account should you wish to do so. Although Unitu recommends this, we, your students' association, will leave it at your discretion.

Board Overview

You will have access to discussion boards where you can interact with your peers and staff.

As Blended Learners you have access to:

• Arden University Board – for sharing ideas, questions, and feedback on wider university services.

• Campus Board – for sharing ideas, questions and feedback related to the specific campus that they are enrolled in. This will be location specific, so if you are studying at the Manchester campus, you will be on the Manchester Campus board.

• School/ Department Board – for feedback, ideas and questions related to your course.

• Get Involved with Student Research – We know that through your programme there may be times where you need to conduct research activities to support the completion of your assessments. This could be focus groups, surveys, calls for evidence and more. We have therefore created this board that is accessed by all students so you can promote and participate in student led research.

• Incubator Board – This board is specific to the activities of the Universities Enterprise incubator.

As Distance Learners you have access to:

• Arden University Board – for sharing ideas, questions, and feedback on wider university services.

• Distance Learning Campus – for sharing ideas, questions and feedback related to their distance learning experience.

• School/ Department Board – for feedback, ideas and questions related to your course.

• Get Involved with Student Research – We know that through your programme there may be times where you need to conduct research activities to support the completion of your assessments. This could be focus groups, surveys, calls for evidence and more. We have therefore created this board that is accessed by all students so you can promote and participate in student led research.

• Incubator Board – This board is specific to the activities of the Universities Enterprise incubator.

Posting Feedback on Unitu

Creating a Post

As a student, you can start conversations on Unitu by posting issues, ideas, questions or praise on relevant academic and non-academic topics.

Your peers can vote on the topic or add comments underneath. Your student representatives or someone from the students' association can open relevant posts to the Public Feedback section ensuring that your voice is heard.

Below you will find step-by-step guides to create each type of post.

Reminder:

• If your posts consists information which are of a personal nature or there are concerns raised which isn't affecting the wider student body, your student representatives will guide you to the right people to help resolve your concerns and close your post.

• This means that your post will remain in the private feedback area and once closed would only be found in the private feedback closed tab.

Did you know you can close your own post?

As long as your post is still in the private feedback area, you can close your own posts once you feel that it is resolved.

The guide below will show you how to do so:

Reporting posts and moderation

If a post or comment feels offensive OR does not follow the Unitu Content Policy OR violates the Student Code of Conduct then you can report the content.

This guide will explain how to report a post on Unitu for moderation: https://help.unitu.co.uk/en/article/how-do-i-report-offensive-feedback-posts-or-comments-12bfhq6/

Please note that all posts on Unitu are moderated by your Students' Association team.

Unitu follows a three strike policy on Moderation. If any content is flagged, the following will occur:

1. First Warning: For the first offense, student will receive a warning.

2. Anonymity Disabled: Student will lose their ability to post anonymously.

3. Account Suspension: Student account will be suspended, barring them from accessing the platform

Any reported content concerning the conduct of student on the platform may also be referred to the Universities Student Disciplinary Procedure where relevant.

FAQ

1. How does anonymous feature work on Unitu: https://help.unitu.co.uk/en/article/how-does-the-anonymous-feature-work-16qr6zx/

2. How do I engage with feedback: https://help.unitu.co.uk/en/article/how-do-i-engage-with-feedback-19y8oaa/

3. What is expected response time and what should I do if a Rep or staff goes over it: https://help.unitu.co.uk/en/article/what-is-the-expected-response-time-and-what-should-i-do-if-a-rep-and-staff-goes-over-it-cwscqn/

4. Can I re-open a post that is closed? https://help.unitu.co.uk/en/article/can-i-re-open-a-feedback-post-that-is-closed-19udq7p/

5. What is Together We Changed: https://help.unitu.co.uk/en/article/can-i-re-open-a-feedback-post-that-is-closed-19udq7p/