Faculty-student relationships not up to par

Relationships between college students and faculty members need to improve, according to a national survey. \nThe 2002 report by the National Survey of Student Engagement says that above half of all undergraduate students have never worked with faculty members on activities other than class work. Also, 41 percent of first-year students and 26 percent of seniors have never discussed coursework with their professors.\nThe study was piloted at IU by NSSE Director and the Chancellor's Professor of Higher Education George Kuh and other colleagues in 1999.\nThe study surveyed 135,000 first-year and senior students at 613 colleges. Its findings represent a need for colleges and universities to find ways of improving their student experience, Kuh said in a press release. \n"The idea came out of the college ranking systems," he said. "The rankings in magazines do not necessarily reflect the whole of student life. For example, just because a university has a huge library does not mean all its students are checking out the books."\nNSSE Assistant Director John Heyek agrees.\n"A school's academic reputation as judged by others says very little about the extent that student-faculty interaction and a supportive environment characterizes a campus," Heyek said.\nAccording to Kuh and Heyek, the most surprising findings dealt with transfer and international students. Transferees were found to be less likely to "engage in educational practices that research has shown to be associated with high levels of student development and learning," while students from foreign countries were found to be more willing to participate than those from the United States. \n"With transfer students it may have to do with the character of the individual. More likely, it just takes them a longer time to get adjusted," Kuh said. "Colleges spend vast amounts of time and money improving the experiences of their first-year students, yet it is all up to the transfers to figure it out on their own."\nThe NSSE report also found that a "worrisome gap" exists between the amount of time students spend preparing for class and what faculty members say is needed. \n"One strand of reasoning is that students have never studied as much as faculty says they should," Kuh said. "One thing we know for sure is that students do not study two hours for every one hour in class like many professors say they should, and most of them still get good grades."\nMany colleges are already using the study to better their faculty and student relationships.\n"Over 300 schools subscribe to the study," Heyek said. "Any improvements that teachers can do as part of a class or outside the class that can increase the level of active learning would be a good thing, and surprisingly, many of these areas can be increased with little to no cost."\nHeyek believes the survey has a clear implication for college students.\n"Those who are more actively involved in their educational experience both in and outside the classroom, tend to get the most out of their college experience," Heyek said. "It is important that students remember this simple message"