The influence of African -American faculty members on African -American student retention and graduation at a predominantly White institution

This study explored the influence of African-American faculty members on the retention and graduation rate of African-American students at a predominantly White institution. Influence is defined as follows: (1) Viewing the person as a role model, i.e., knowing that the professor exists and is present on campus; (2) Brief coordinated interaction with the professor, i.e., being introduced to the individual at a function and having some kind of dialogue, either significant or non-significant to the student; (3) Establishing an ongoing mentoring relationship with the professor; (4) Having the individual as a professor in one of their courses.;The four components of Collins' (1992) theoretical framework, African Feminist Epistemology were used as an analytical framework. Those components are dialogue, caring, experience and accountability.;This is a qualitative study using phenomenological interviews, coding and survey data. Included is a description of the university setting and an academic profile of the students who were selected to serve as interview respondents.;Major findings of the study are: (1) African-American faculty were influential in the retention and graduation of African-American students at "RU." Although they weren't the primary focus of this study, African-American staff were also mentioned in a few cases as being influential; (2) African-American graduates felt the need for predominantly White institutions to hire more African-American faculty to assist in the retention and graduation of African-American students; (3) African-American faculty can assist African-American students in negotiating predominantly white institutions through their peer relationships with White faculty.;Implications for future research include: the influence of African-American faculty on White students at predominantly White institutions; studying the topic from the perspective of African-American faculty and/or staff members; researching innovative strategies to recruit and retain African-American faculty.