A practical guide to building the connections students need to thrive in and after college from the authors of the best-selling Relationship-Rich Education. Decades of research demonstrate how important the relationships with peers and professors are for students academically, personally, and professionally. Yet many students lack the strategies to develop educationally purposeful relationships in college. Connections Are Everything shows students the simple steps they can take to make their own college experience meaningful and transformational. In short, practical chapters, this guide helps readers learn how to build relationships through various strategies, including using "relationship accelerators" like internships and mentorships, undergraduate research, and campus employment. Undergraduate demographics have changed dramatically as students of color and first-generation students become the new majority at colleges and universities across the United States. Connections are particularly significant for these students; the positive—and negative—impacts of peer, faculty, and staff relationships are magnified. Higher education cannot meet students' needs or achieve equity, justice, and inclusion without relationship-rich education. This book empowers students to seek out relationships by demystifying the varied ways they can cultivate significant connections.

A mentor, advisor, or even a friend? Making connections in college makes all the difference. What single factor makes for an excellent college education? As it turns out, it's pretty simple: human relationships. Decades of research demonstrate the transformative potential and the lasting legacies of a relationship-rich college experience. Critics suggest that to build connections with peers, faculty, staff, and other mentors is expensive and only an option at elite institutions where instructors have the luxury of time with students. But in this revelatory book brimming with the voices of students, faculty, and staff from across the country, Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert argue that relationship-rich environments can and should exist for all students at all types of institutions. In Relationship-Rich Education, Felten and Lambert demonstrate that for relationships to be central in undergraduate education, colleges and universities do not require immense resources, privileged students, or specially qualified faculty and staff. All students learn best in an environment characterized by high expectation and high support, and all faculty and staff can learn to teach and work in ways that enable relationship-based education. Emphasizing the centrality of the classroom experience to fostering quality relationships, Felten and Lambert focus on students' influence in shaping the learning environment for their peers, as well as the key difference a single, well-timed conversation can make in a student's life. They also stress that relationship-rich education is particularly important for first-generation college students, who bring significant capacities to college but often face long-standing inequities and barriers to attaining their educational aspirations. Drawing on nearly 400 interviews with students, faculty, and staff at 29 higher education institutions across the country, Relationship-Rich Education provides readers with practical advice on how they can develop and sustain powerful relationship-based learning in their own contexts. Ultimately, the book is an invitation-and a challenge-for faculty, administrators, and student life staff to move relationships from the periphery to the center of undergraduate education.

Ten years after the publication of Transforming a College, Elon University continues to thrive as a school that reinvented itself and its community around the idea of inspiring and guiding students. George Keller's now-classic account has been used as an inspiration and playbook for many other institutions. Available for the first time in paperback, this edition coincides with Elon's 125th anniversary. A new foreword and afterword from Elon president Leo M. Lambert tell the rest of the story of the university's ambitious agenda to position Elon as a top-ranked liberal arts university and a national leader in engaged teaching and learning.

A clear, practical framework for getting higher education back on track The Undergraduate Experience is a guide for significantly improving student learning and institutional performance in the rapidly changing world of higher education. Written by recognized experts in undergraduate education, this book encourages college and university leaders to rethink current practices that fragment the student experience, and to focus on creating powerful, integrated undergraduate learning for all students. Drawing from their own deep experience and the latest research, the authors reveal key principles that enable institutional change and enhance student outcomes in any higher education setting. Coverage includes high-impact practices for engagement, the importance of strategic leadership, the necessity of setting and maintaining high expectations, and insight on fostering excellence through systematic planning. Through its core themes and action principles, this book can be a valuable resource for faculty, staff, administrators, and governing boards at all types of postsecondary institutions. The book provides a practical framework for achieving excellence in undergraduate education by focusing on: * Learning * Relationships * Expectations * Alignment * Improvement * Leadership The value of an undergraduate education is under greater scrutiny than ever before, and campus leaders must be able to convey the value of their institutions to students, boards, donors, and legislators. Is a college or university degree worth the increasing cost? Are today's students academically adrift? What's the difference between a degree and an education? Responding to these questions requires focused action by individuals and institutions. The Undergraduate Experience offers practical guidance for creating and sustaining excellence in the face of disruption and change in higher education.

In no other professional field do senior leaders habitually return to the rank-and-file workforce in the twilight of their careers. Corporate CEOs rarely conclude their working lives by resuming the duties of a mid-level account executive; on the verge of retirement, four-star generals do not return to the infantry. But in academia former senior leaders often conclude their careers by reprising the roles and responsibilities of a professor. Until now, leaders and institutions have been left to navigate these transitions on their own—often learning hard lessons that might have been avoided. Stepping Away moves beyond the well-worn clichés of “stepping down� to examine how senior leadership role changes impact individuals and the institutions they serve. Drawn from empirical research involving more than fifty college presidents, provosts, and deans, this book delivers fresh understanding of the challenges and opportunities leaders face as they assume a new place in the social architecture of their campus. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, Stepping Away translates research into practical strategies that leaders can use to make this change successfully, providing guidance about when to speak up and when to remain quiet, how to develop new relationships, where to office, whether to apply for new jobs, and how to use their knowledge and skills to add value to their campus communities, on-campus and off.

In no other professional field do senior leaders habitually return to the rank-and-file workforce in the twilight of their careers. Corporate CEOs rarely conclude their working lives by resuming the duties of a mid-level account executive; on the verge of retirement, four-star generals do not return to the infantry. But in academia former senior leaders often conclude their careers by reprising the roles and responsibilities of a professor. Until now, leaders and institutions have been left to navigate these transitions on their own—often learning hard lessons that might have been avoided. Stepping Away moves beyond the well-worn clichés of “stepping down� to examine how senior leadership role changes impact individuals and the institutions they serve. Drawn from empirical research involving more than fifty college presidents, provosts, and deans, this book delivers fresh understanding of the challenges and opportunities leaders face as they assume a new place in the social architecture of their campus. Bridging the gap between theory and practice, Stepping Away translates research into practical strategies that leaders can use to make this change successfully, providing guidance about when to speak up and when to remain quiet, how to develop new relationships, where to office, whether to apply for new jobs, and how to use their knowledge and skills to add value to their campus communities, on-campus and off.