Students' out of the classroom communication with instructors and campus services: Exploring social integration and academic involvement

•Employed Tinto's Interactionalist Theory.•Investigated college students’ social integration in the classroom and academic preparedness for courses.•Social integration with the instructor is an important influence on students' OCC and institutional support seeking.•Self-regulation and self-management function differently as they related to campus support seeking.

Framed by Tinto's interactionalist theory (1975), this study explored students' academic skills and social integration to illuminate students' communication with faculty and campus services. Participants reported on instructor rapport, self-regulated learning, self-management, out-of-class communication, and support seeking from campus resources. Results revealed that instructor rapport predicted out-of-class communication with instructors and student services, while self-regulated learning and self-management functioned differently to predict interactions with faculty and student services. The results offer insight into factors important to enhancing student academic success and persistence.