Meaningful academic relationships between adult master's students and their professors can both deepen students' learning and serve as a regenerating force for professors. This study employed grounded theory methods to explore the question, "What goes on in relational practice between master's students and professors?" I interviewed 10 matched pairs of recent alumni and professors who identified as having "a meaningful academic relationship". Dimensional analysis surfaced two core dimensions: reconstructing and regenerating. In reconstructing, the students' core dimension reveals the student experience of reconstructing, or understanding more deeply, theory or one's self. In the case of regenerating, the professor's core dimension identifies the professors' experience of "giving back" through their teaching and extending their professional reach by training others. These experiences serve to reinvigorate professors over the course of their careers. In addition, findings in this study resonate with sensitizing concepts including relational cultural theory and relational practice. Finally, the analysis surfaced evidence supporting authentic teaching concepts and connected these concepts to faculty and student learning partnerships. education? Can master's students and professors be partners in learning or does the master's program structure reduce the likelihood of meaningful learning relationships? After all, in many fields, a master's degree is tied closely to professional advancement so a student's strongest professional connections may be in the workplace. Moreover, master's programs are typically 18-24 months in duration and thus do not appear to provide the longer-term mentoring opportunities available in doctoral education. Given the strong connection between master's degrees and career, the short length of master's study, and the fact that many adult master's students either venture on campus solely to attend class or study from a distance in online or hybrid programs, one might assume that student-faculty relationships are not evident or valued in master's education.The paucity of research regarding master's students further begs the question, should we study master's education? The lack of scholarly attention focused on master's students is noteworthy given the continuing increases in master's enrollment. As of the middle of the last decade there were twice as many students enrolled in master's programs as there were enrolled in doctoral programs ("Trends in Graduate Enrollment and Degrees", Council of Graduate Schools, 2006). The Institute of Education Sciences projects that between 2005-2006 and 2017-2018, there will be a 28% overall increase in the number of master's degrees earned (Husser & Bailey, 2008), including a 29% increase for men and a 27% increase for women.Clearly, master's education is not a weakening branch of higher education, but rather is growing. More than a decade ago, Rossiter (1999) suggested that the increase in adult learners in both undergraduate and graduate programs called for ...

Whether teaching online or in a campus classroom, a significant part of the teaching life includes interacting with and responding to students. We respond to student comments and questions; their written work, exams, and presentations; their enthusiasm or lack thereof; and sometimes the personal joys and tragedies they share with us. We structure the course, the conversations, and the assignments and within this learning environment, we engage with a range of students who have various levels of motivation, preparation, insight, ability, positivity, negativity, and commitment.As we seek to understand and educate our students, and assess their work, we experience empathy, "a complex cognitive-affective skill that allows us to 'know' (resonate, feel, sense, cognitively grasp) another person' s experience" (Jordan 2010, 103). Empathy is part of the experience of teaching and is often present in our interactions and relationships with students as we (and they) seek to teach and learn the material, understand each other, and move through the course. Teaching and learning involve "a dance of responsiveness" (Jordan 2010, 4) and understanding this phenomenon helps us balance support and standards, role boundaries, and the power of connection in teaching and learning.In this chapter, we challenge tacit ideas about empathy that pervade both our larger culture and the teaching domain, and we suggest a more nuanced consideration of empathy in teaching and learning. We begin with an overview of Relational Cultural Theory (RCT), the theoretical foundation for this chapter and then review relevant teaching literature. Next, we explore the complexities of empathy in the context of teaching and learning. We consider why empathy is important in teaching, why it is sometimes difficult to feel empathy with certain students or in particular situations, and the pull we sometimes feel with students who are in crisis or even those who influence us more than we expect. Finally, we describe relevant stances and strategies for faculty including reflective approaches for use before and after specific interactions and in the midst of engagements with students. NEW DIRECTIONS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING, no. 153, Spring 2018

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The senior student affairs officer who is invested in encouraging and maintaining an involved campus community must support a strong student government.

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