Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College

Peter Felten · Leo M. Lambert

Apr 2021 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Brian Holden

About this audiobook

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.

About the author

Peter Felten is the executive director of the Center for Engaged Learning, the assistant provost for teaching and learning, and a professor of history at Elon University. He is coauthor of Transforming Students: Fulfilling the Promise of Higher Education.

Leo M. Lambert is a professor of education and president emeritus of Elon University, where he served as president from 1999 to 2018. He is coauthor of The Undergraduate Experience: Focusing Institutions on What Matters Most.

Brian Holden grew up in Traverse City, Michigan, went to college in Ann Arbor, and lived in Los Angeles just long enough to forever hate the winters in Chicago. In addition to running his theater company, StarKid Productions, he performs improv comedy.