Action Plan IMPACT: Creating the foundation to fuel student engagement
Action 1 under Goal 3 (Improve UPEI’s campus culture) in the UPEI Action Plan is to “Create a culture of listening at UPEI.” It’s an all-encompassing objective that aims to create a healthy and safe workplace culture for faculty and staff and to improve the student experience through engagement and seeking feedback.
Extensive research shows that engaged students are more likely to continue their studies, use campus resources, and have a stronger affinity for their institution. Recent studies also provide evidence on how the university community plays a key role in driving positive outcomes such as academic success, retention, and career readiness.
Action Plan implementation activity (3.1.1.2) is to “increase the institutional capacity for student-focused data collection and analysis of resulting data on student experiences, inform initiatives that address student issues, and help assess outcomes.” We recognize that we need data to make evidence-based decisions about student engagement.
The first step was to create and hire a manager for the new Office of Student Culture and Community Standards. Jonathan Hewitt joined UPEI as Manager early in 2024 after over 15 years with the Canadian Mental Health Association. He then hired Student Engagement Officer Inara Bhalesha, a UPEI alumni and former Student Affairs student employee. Susie Zavala, also a UPEI alumni and former Experiential Education employee, rounded out the team, joining as Student Experience Coordinator in 2025.
One of Susie’s areas of focus is to seek meaningful feedback from students about their experience through questions on topics such as inclusive and intercultural learning, perceptions of institutional values and commitment to EDI, and diversity-related programming. She has partnered with Yuqin Gong, UPEI’s Manager of Institutional Research, on incorporating these questions in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) that will be issued in March 2026 to first- and fourth-year students. (NSSE collects information at hundreds of four-year colleges and universities about students' participation in programs and activities that institutions provide for their learning and personal development.) Susie is also working with Dr. Tess Miller, Faculty of Education, to develop a UPEI-student-only survey for second-year students that will be issued in February.
Inara has been leading the Welcome Week and the Campus Life teams, which develop programming and stages events for students, as well as chairing meetings of the new Student Engagement Committee, an initiative to coordinate student engagement and foster collaboration across several departments and offices including the International Student Office, Student Affairs, Experiential Education, Athletics and Recreation, Mawi’omi Indigenous Student Centre, Graduate Studies, Registrar’s Office, Residence Life, Marketing and Communications, and the UPEI Student Union. We are sad to announce that Inara is pursuing an opportunity off-Island in 2026, but we thank her for her contributions and wish her well in her future endeavours.
Already, the Office of Student Culture and Community Standards has been making great strides, staging an enhanced Welcome Week for incoming and returning students, developing more Campus Life opportunities, and connecting the various groups that offer supports and experiences to students.
There is still much to be learned and to do, but UPEI is committed to engaging with and empowering students—we know it will lead them to channel that energy back into their learning in safe and healthy ways.
We will be telling the stories of important progress on the UPEI Action Plan on a regular basis, under the “Action Plan IMPACT” banner. Articles will share how the Action Plan implementation activities are being operationalized, becoming entrenched in our culture and living on long past the plan—making real IMPACT. To submit your own Action Plan IMPACT story, contact communications@upei.ca.
