I overhear and participate in a lot of conversations with faculty who talk about “the good old days” when students seemed to care more about their education, and take more responsibility for it. Have students changed, or have we lost sight of their lives, of the incredible demands on them,

the self- and societal- imposed expectations of success? Do they have pressures that we didn’t face, like drugs, alcohol, competition for jobs, cost of education, etc.? Maybe we don’t connect with students like we used to because we all have such busy lives.

Thinking back on what it was that made some of us think our college or university lives as students were more rewarding than that of today’s students led me to a conclusion. When many of us were in college, there was a written or implied contract or compact between the institution and the student. There were clear expectations from both faculty and students as to what would be done, what was required and when it was due. Such overt or implied expectations probably led to greater student success and much higher four-year graduation rates.

Teaching was viewed as important in the learning process and students expected to behave in such a way that they would get the maximum benefit from the teaching. [Was it all good teaching? No way! I remember a professor who wrote on the board with chalk in his right hand while he was simultaneously erasing with his left hand. Students saw just the last three feet of his thoughts. We had to pay attention or we didn’t get the information at all. And if we didn’t get it, we certainly got together with other students to figure out just what was said and written.]

And we were expected to behave appropriately both on and off campus. Inappropriate behaviors by students were not tolerated at my college.

I think we need to make a deal. But it is not enough to just have students sign an honor pledge on their application forms. That doesn’t seem like much of a compact. Let’s be explicit! What ought our students expect of us if they choose NC State rather that some other institution? Classes that are meaningful, syllabi, office hours, effective advising, a supportive climate? The list could be quite long and specific. And what should we expect of the students we chose to admit? That they come to class prepared to learn the maximum from the encounter, having read the material, gotten enough sleep and done whatever homework is to be handed in that day, that they are open to learning about other cultures, that they treat other human beings with dignity and civility?

What should we expect of each other? If the research literature notes (and it does) that the most important parameter in student success is personal contact with a teacher, then both teachers and students have the responsibility to take part in that interaction. It is not a one-way street.

In the jargon of the day, effective learning is a contact sport. We need to treat each other with civility, respect and concern; to make ethical behavior a cornerstone of this institution; to build a sense of community so that instructors and students feel like they belong; to develop a sense of common purpose; to engage in meaningful and challenging dialog, abhorring some ideas but not people; and in all ways to aim for high standards.

The bottom line? Robert Frost noted in The Mending Wall that good fences make good neighbors. We have some mending to do. Let us establish the boundaries of our behaviors. We need to be good neighbors if we are going to be a real community. We are already living, working and learning beside one other. Let’s put forth our expectations of each other, agree to a set of them, and get on with it, neighbors!