Promoting Faculty Responsibility: Connecting and Building Relationships With First-Year Students in Higher Education

• In Event: Understanding Faculty Beliefs and Responsibilities Across the Disciplines

Abstract

Quality academic experiences for first-year college students are dependent on positive relationships with faculty. Faculty-student relationships have the potential to impact students’ sense of belonging, level of academic adjustment, and persistence to graduation in the higher education setting. Using Schlossberg’s theory of marginality and mattering, this qualitative study used content analysis methods to explore the question: What do first-year students wish faculty knew about them? Student responses from a first-year social foundations of education course were used in the data analysis. Four themes emerged on that which students want their faculty to know about them: social-emotional well-being, personal and family background, learning styles, and passion for teaching. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Authors

• Jennifer Alayne Tygret, Illinois College

• Patricia A Green, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

• Sylvia L. Mendez, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs

• Hannah Lane, University of Colorado - Colorado Springs