What Matters in College to Students: Critical Incidents in the Undergraduate Experience

Abstract

This article advances that undergraduates are partners to higher education institutions in establishing the educational enterprise. Leaning on student relationship management as a theoretical construct and the critical incident technique as method, the study found 58 undergraduates’ interpersonal interactions with faculty, staff, and peers mattered most to their perceived relationships with their institutions. Implications for student affairs practice are offered.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jörg Vianden

The author acknowledges the assistance of Alyssa Gostonczik and Libby Thorson for their support on the article and Rachel Korb, Chelsey Knoespel, and Opal Stone for assistance with data collection. This study was sponsored by a Faculty Research Grant, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse. Jörg Vianden, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.