Faculty-student interaction at the community college: A focus on students of color

The present study describes the level of faculty-student interaction on 2-year college campuses, examines student characteristics correlated with faculty contact, and considers how interaction may differ among racial subgroups of students. Using data collected from the Transfer and Retention of Urban Community College Students (TRUCCS) survey, a sample of 2500 students informed this research. The findings reveal generally low levels of interaction, and especially with Asian American/Pacific Islander and Latino students. Having positive perceptions of the college environment and interacting with other members of the institution, from students to academic counselors, glow the strongest positive association with faculty contact among all racial subgroups of students. Prominent among the differences is the negative relationship between perceiving racial difficulties and interacting with faculty for Asian American/Pacific Islander students. The findings provide insight in how to increase and enrich faculty interaction on these campuses to better retain underrepresented students in the educational pipeline.