Student Union Kaakko Satisfaction Survey 2025 – How Students Perceive Our Activities!

The Student Union Kaakko conducted a satisfaction survey in 2025, and an impressive 549 students from different campuses participated:

📍 Kotka – 136 respondents
📍 Kouvola – 118 respondents
📍 Mikkeli – 209 respondents
📍 Savonlinna – 86 respondents

The survey aimed to gather students’ experiences, wishes, and suggestions for improvement so that we can provide better support and services to our members.

Student Union Kaakko – Awareness and Membership

📌 88.2% of respondents are members of Kaakko.
📌 96.5% know that Kaakko serves as the student union of South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences.
📌 71.5% of respondents have also joined their respective field’s student association.

Although most respondents are familiar with Kaakko, still 28.5% have not joined a student association, and 11.8% have not joined Kaakko. Based on these results, Kaakko needs to enhance communication and opportunities for student community participation.

Why Haven’t All Students Joined Kaakko or Their Student Association?

Respondents who have not joined provided the following reasons: 💰 Membership fee – Many feel that the membership is too expensive compared to the benefits.
🤷 Lack of awareness – Kaakko’s role and the benefits of membership are not clear to everyone.
📍 Experience of remote and multi-mode students – Many feel that Kaakko’s activities are too focused on campus towns.
🏡 Personal reasons – Factors like family life, work commitments, or age influence the decision not to participate in student association activities.

“I don’t know if I am a member or not. I bought a student card. Is that the same as membership?”
This feedback highlights the need for clearer communication regarding the connection between membership and the student card.

How Do Students Perceive Kaakko’s Activities?

According to the survey, students recognize Kaakko for offering a variety of services: ✔ 88.4% recognize the student card as a service provided by Kaakko.
✔ 83.1% believe that Kaakko organizes events.
✔ 69.1% feel that Kaakko supports tutoring.
✔ 68.4% believe that Kaakko provides discounts for students.

However, 5.9% of respondents do not know what Kaakko does. This indicates a need for improved communication and visibility.

How Should Kaakko Improve?

Survey responses highlighted several development areas, which can be categorized into six main themes:

🎉 1. More Student Events and Community Building

  • Most respondents want more diverse events, such as cultural, sports, and workshop activities.
  • More events in Kotka and Savonlinna.
  • Support for new students to connect with peers right from the beginning.

🫂 2. Better Support for Remote and Multi-Mode Students

  • More online events and newsletters.
  • WhatsApp or Discord groups to provide information on student services.
  • The ability to participate in events virtually.

📢 3. Improved Visibility and Communication

  • Clearer information about membership benefits, e.g., via email upon joining.
  • Better use of social media.
  • More physical presence on campuses and improved information for new students.

💪 4. Student Advocacy and Well-Being

  • More active defense of student rights.
  • Improving student healthcare services (YTHS).
  • Monitoring study quality, including credit transfers and learning environments.
  • Considering sustainability in Kaakko’s activities.

🎓 5. Developing Tutoring

  • Better training and support for tutors.
  • Support for networking among multi-mode students.

🎁 6. Expanding Student Benefits and Membership Perks

  • More discounts in online stores and sports services.
  • Clearer information about membership benefits.

What Will Kaakko Do Based on the Feedback?

We will primarily investigate what concrete changes we can start making based on students’ suggestions. Our key development areas are: ✔ Expanding event offerings on different campuses and better support for remote students.
✔ More effective communication about membership benefits and student-related issues.
✔ Stronger student advocacy to ensure students’ rights are upheld more effectively.
✔ Broader and more diverse student benefits for different locations and online stores.

💙 Thank You to All Respondents! Your feedback is valuable to us, and our work to improve the student community continues! 🚀 We also need more active members in Kaakko’s board and representative council – together, we can achieve even more!