This initial segment of a three-part study (Communication and Student Unrest) is an examination of the various communication channels--informal and formal, vertical and horizontal--which exist for student-administration and student-faculty interaction. Student-administration and student-faculty communication channels are discussed separately, and each section includes a general description of how the varied channels function, an evaluation of selected channels, and recommendations for improving channel effectiveness based on the researcher's evaluations. Section 1 contains functional analyses of the University of New Mexico's "Open Door Policy," secretarial channels, the president's weekly "rap" session in the student union, and KUMN radio's interview show. Section 2 focuses on student-faculty channels and discusses instructional communication in depth. It examines classroom channels such as videotaped instruction, teaching assistants, course and instructor evaluation, faculty office hours, committee meetings, and student curriculum inputs. The author stresses the need for the establishment of an open and permissive interaction climate if effective and efficient communication is to occur. (See related document CS 500 236.) (LG)