Creating opportunities to foster connection and belonging can be extended beyond the classroom to contribute to academic success and overall well-being of our students. For example, office hours are often underutilized by students, but when a single check-in and reflection meeting is made mandatory, students tend to improve their learning outcomes (McGrath, 2014). These findings suggest that personal recognition and engagement have an important augmentative effect above and beyond additional exposure to the material students were tasked with learning—statistics, in this case. See McGrath (2014) for a sample reflection exercise to conduct with students during office hours. In addition to office hours, consider encouraging activities outside of class to build connections between students and faculty, and to help students develop a relationship with the community or university resources (e.g., museums, libraries). These relationships can help cultivate feelings of belonging to help students succeed.
- Provide informal opportunities such as Q&A sessions and study groups for students to discuss course content.
- Invite small groups of students to attend office hours.
- Create informal activities/get-togethers for faculty and students to get to know one another. Examples include:
- Coffee chats
- Cookies, donuts or ice cream with different faculty
- Lunch with students
- Informal weekly meetings to talk with students about their life goals, plans, etc.
- Visit different locations on campus with students. Examples include:
- Avenir Museum of Design and Merchandising
- P. Gillette Museum of Arthropod Diversity
- Gregory Allicar Museum of Art
- CSU Flower Trial Garden
- University Center for the Arts
- Plant Environmental Research Center (PERC)
- The Observatory
- Art at the LSC
- Respond to student emails or other forms of communication in a respectful and timely way.
- Include setting goals for well-being practices in your supervision with teaching assistants.
- Consider holding student forums for programs or departments to allow students to voice things that are going well and concerns.
“Our department had an ice-cream social where administrators gave out ice cream to students and faculty. It gave us a chance to come together as a department and get to know one another on a personal level. Many students told us they enjoyed getting to relax and not having to think about the next exam or lab. It was just about getting to know each other.”
Faculty