UGA Center for Teaching & Learning’s Relentless Welcome is about creating an intentional environment where students feel “seen, heard, supported, and cared for” not just during orientation and their first few weeks of school, but consistently throughout every semester. Research shows that when students feel like they are a part of the community, they are more likely to persist and thrive at their institution.

As a follow-up to a national speaker event with Dr. Peter Felten, author of Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College, the University of Georgia’s Center for Teaching & Learning created a Relentless Welcome program, inviting professors to commit to a few simple acts to help ensure that students feel they are a welcomed member of the campus community. Commitments faculty could choose from included:

• Learn and use the names of at least two students a week for three weeks.
• Ask one student how their day is going; stop to really listen, and ask a follow-up question.
• Change the name of “office hours” to “student drop-in hours”; tell students about the change and invite them to drop in.

While these may seem like small things, research shows that they can have a big impact on students and their well-being and success in college. Felten (along with co-author Leo Lambert) interviewed nearly 400 students, faculty, and staff at 29 institutions across the country and discovered four principles that should guide undergraduate education. The first of which is highlighted in this program:

• Every student must experience genuine welcome and deep care.

From this beginning, the other principles emerge:

• Every student must be inspired to learn.
• Every student must develop a web of significant relationships.
• Every student must explore questions of meaning and purpose.

The CTL found that after committing to a few, professors often came back and committed to more actions as the semester progressed. Faculty reported they were grateful to have the opportunity “to be intentional about their choices to engage and connect with students.” Faculty committed to over 550 “acts of welcome” during the first semester of the program. UGA will continue the program this fall, beginning with New Faculty Orientation.