Establishing rapport is something that we spend a good deal of time talking about in K-12, but it is less frequently discussed in higher education settings.  At the college level, it can be difficult to prioritize building rapport when there is so much content to deliver with few contact hours.  But, as we know, building rapport is critically important. In fact, Young and Shaw (1999) said that students and teachers agree that "empathy with students needs" is one of the important factors which contributes to effective teaching. 

According to the IDEA Report to Faculty Members, the following four items combine to demonstrate what instructors do to build rapport.

# 1. Show students that they have a personal interest in their learning
# 2. Identify steps students can take to help them answer their own questions
# 7. Elaborate on the feedback given to students to explain ideas behind their criticisms of student academic work
#20. Invited interaction with students outside of class (office visits, phone calls, e-mail, etc.)