{"id":160509,"date":"2026-02-11T21:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T21:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/160509\/"},"modified":"2026-02-11T21:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T21:39:08","slug":"student-faculty-relationships-set-tcu-apart-in-campus-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/160509\/","title":{"rendered":"Student-faculty relationships set TCU apart in campus success"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faculty members at TCU said relationships between students and professors remain the university\u2019s strongest asset, according to data discussed during a recent Faculty Senate<\/a> meeting, where survey results showed the highest satisfaction in those connections.<\/p>\n

\"\"Faculty Senate presents student survey competency results. (TCU 360\/Sophia Scialabba)<\/p>\n

These skills were developed through professors providing discussion-based courses and mentorship. The survey recorded a response rate of more than 80%.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents are incredibly happy,\u201d said Angela D. Taylor<\/a>, the founding director of the student affairs office of student life analytics. \u201cTheir feedback is overwhelmingly positive.\u201d<\/p>\n

The emphasis on connection aligns with the university\u2019s smaller class structure.<\/p>\n

According to TCU\u2019s information page<\/a>, the university maintains a 13:1 student-to-faculty ratio and an average undergraduate class size of 27 students. This structure helps support personalized learning.<\/p>\n

Abriana Terrell<\/a>, a social work adjunct professor at TCU, said building relationships with students is central to her role.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love both my job and my students,\u201d Terrell said. \u201cThey are always welcome to come talk to me, and I try to create a space where they feel comfortable speaking their minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Layne Spiekerman, a senior kinesiology movement science major, said he feels comfortable communicating with his chemistry professor, Heidi Conrad, even about personal concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason I picked TCU was because of the smaller class sizes, where I wasn\u2019t just a number but an actual person,\u201d Spiekerman said.<\/p>\n

At larger universities, that level of interaction can be harder to maintain. San Diego State University\u2019s overview page<\/a> reported an undergraduate enrollment of 34,637 students as of fall 2024.<\/p>\n

\"\"Faculty Senate presents student survey data. (TCU 360\/Sophia Scialabba)<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless I make a really intentional effort to go to office hours or talk to the professor after class, they usually won\u2019t know who I am for the entire semester,\u201d said Bella Catullo, a junior double majoring in criminal justice and neuroscience at SDSU. \u201cI wish I ended up transferring to a smaller school because I value close relationships with not only my peers, but also faculty members to contribute to my success in class.\u201d<\/p>\n

TCU faculty members said maintaining personal connection remains essential as the university continues evaluating how students develop the skills needed beyond graduation.<\/p>\n

This priority, they say, is what distinguishes the campus experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Faculty members at TCU said relationships between students and professors remain the university\u2019s strongest asset, according to data…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":{"0":"post-160509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-fort-worth","9":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","10":"tag-fort-worth-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}