Boise State University’s Strategic Enrollment and Retention Plan (SERP), launched in 2022, is aimed at decreasing institutional equity gaps in both access and retention and graduation. It is both a plan (a document with strategies in it) and an ongoing process. As Boise State implements the strategies in the plan, continues to examine student outcomes, and responds to changing context and the evolving needs of students, it is necessary to ask new questions about what the institution can do to better serve students. “Connections,” “Student Journeys,” and “Engagement” were identified as the overarching goals for this work as the plan was constructed. (Read more about each of these goals in the SERP document on the SERP website)
Last fall, in support of the “Connections” goal, Boise State hosted Dr. Peter Felten (Elon University), an expert on the importance of relationships for student success. In his sessions with academic leaders and faculty he made several important points that are worth exploring in the Boise State context:
Equity: If engaging students in relationship-rich environments doesn’t happen in academics/courses, then it doesn’t happen for all students.
- Relationships are crucial for learning, well-being, belonging, and success; we need them to happen for every student, especially those served the least well
- Fostering relationship-rich environments doesn’t have to be about doing more. Classrooms are useful settings for fostering connections, as they are already gathering places for students and faculty.
Scale: The most meaningful or important relationships might be ones that students form with peers and faculty can create opportunities to foster those connections.
- To achieve relationship-richness at scale, student-student relationships play a valuable role in addition to faculty-student relationships. (This means faculty don’t have to build a relationship with every student)
- Faculty and staff can look for opportunities to be “mentors of the moment”
- Research suggests that the sweet spot is for students to have 7-10 meaningful relationships. However, the biggest impact is the difference between having zero and 1! (and first generation students and students of color are more likely to report having no meaningful relationships)
- To achieve this one connection, aim for every student to make a connection in every class.
Culture: What matters most for student success is not a specific program or special funding but a culture where students perceive that faculty and staff are here to help students thrive. (Felten, Gardner, Lambert, Schroeder, & Barefoot, 2016)
- Take responsibility to create environments (not just programs) that are relationship-rich and create “Inescapable opportunities to connect”
As the spring semester rolls out, celebrate opportunities to contribute to a relationship-rich environment. Find ways to talk with colleagues about what you’re already doing and what else can be done to build a relationship-rich culture. And if you have a story to tell about how that plays out in your world, reach out to Vice Provost Susan Shadle (sshadle@boisestate.edu) to share your story.