These are anonymous notes that the students write me on napkins and post to bulletin boards in the dining halls, and I respond to them twice a week. The notes run the gamut from “I want a new salad dressing” all the way to a request for mood lighting in the dining hall. From serious to funny to complimentary to criticisms, anything can be written on these notes. I get almost 100 a week. I would say six times out of 10 I can make the change or the suggestion that they want. There are times that I can’t because of the budget or the framework of how we operate. But it’s a relationship-builder. I don’t get a ton of interaction with the students on a daily basis, and this is a great way for them to really have a direct link to me and for me to have a direct link to them.
