Fostering Student-Faculty Relationships in Higher Education

Abstract

This study investigated the overall quality of the interpersonal relationship students have with faculty and staff, that is, relationship quality. In relationship management research, relationship quality is paramount for the creation of bonds with customers, which in turn is necessary for the sustainability of organizations, that is, continuity and growth. In higher education, it is not only recent changes in the funding of education that urge us to further investigate relationship quality, as students having relational bonds with their teachers and faculty/staff is important as well. We expect that these relationships are expected to influence students' college experiences positively. Although educational literature addresses the importance of student-faculty relationships, little is known about students' perceptions of the quality of their relationship with their program. The aim of this study was, therefore, to get a more in-depth understanding of the concept and measurement of relationship quality within a higher education context. To that end, an existing relationship quality scale was used measuring five dimensions: trust in honesty, trust in benevolence, satisfaction, affective commitment, and affective conflict. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on survey responses of 551 students from a Dutch university of applied sciences. Next to the CFA, a small-scale focus group discussion was held to validate the quantitative findings of students' perceptions of relationship quality. The findings confirm that the relationship quality instrument is an adequate instrument to investigate relationship quality in a higher education context. Additional qualitative results also suggest that students acknowledge the relevance of relationship quality and the need for having a good relationship with their faculty and staff.