Previous literature demonstrates the widespread impact of on-campus living for Black college students in terms of a sense of belonging, community building, and campus engagement. In contrast, this study specifically explored within-group differences (e.g., gender identity, sexual orientation, and ability status) in Black undergraduates' housing…

Students in the autism community are a currently underrepresented, yet growing, population in higher education, which strives to understand student experiences on campus and find ways to better support students with autism. This qualitative research study examined the expectations and experiences of seven students on the autism spectrum in…

Institutional policies and student affairs services benefit lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and queer (LGBTQ+) students by offering affirming campus spaces and organizational markers that influence student success (Pitcher, Camacho, Renn, & Woodford, 2018). (See Tompkins, 2014 for explanation of the use of the term trans*.) Policies and student…

The difficulties that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or queer (LGBQ) students face on college campuses often keeps them from feeling safe. This lack of safety hinders them from resolving higher level needs, including a sense of belonging. A specific challenge for LGBQ students which has been linked to negative outcomes is the consistent exposure to…

Students with multiple oppressed identities, such as LGBQ+ students with disabilities, face a multitude of barriers on college campuses due to heterosexism and ableism, sometimes even from those in-group. This large-scale, multi-institution comparative quantitative study of LGBQ+ students with disabilities living on campus examines these students'…

Students of Color Experience predominantly White institutions (PWIs) differently than do White students in terms of belonging, support, connecting, and success. While this topic has been explored broadly, there remain gaps in the literature about experiences of Students of Color in the context of residential communities, which provide the setting…

Academic initiatives have become cornerstones in many residential operations on college and university campuses. Despite efforts to enhance academic outcomes of residential students, existing research on residential GPAs reveals either dated or questionable results. Programmatic functions focused on integrating academics into the college living…

Students from low-income families consistently trail behind their peers in retention and degree attainment. Research on college student experiences suggests that low-income students experience "cultural mismatch" at college--they feel that their backgrounds are at odds with the middle-class values dominant on campus (Armstrong &…

Loneliness is an issue that is ubiquitous across college and university campuses. Studies have shown that students who utilize campus counseling services report loneliness as one of the most common issues for which they seek counseling. Although loneliness has been studied in the social sciences, little attention has been paid to predictors of…

Strengths-based approaches are expanding in higher education; however, little is known about the impacts of these approaches in housing and residence life settings. The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between first-year students' strengths interactions in housing and their engagement and retention. The results suggest that…

Trans* individuals have recently received greater attention in mainstream media. Trans* students and their concerns are also becoming more visible, as evidenced by the recent increase in the number of colleges and universities that are offering trans*-inclusive housing options. However, such increased visibility does not readily equate to…

The term "camouflage" implies obscurity and concealment. Male student veterans who return from the military often employ a social camouflage; though some may reveal and discuss their military experience, their overriding objective is to blend in, have a "normal" college experience, and graduate. This creates challenges for housing professionals…

Young men struggle with privilege and oppression in college and university residence halls just as they do in other educational and social contexts. While discussions and research about adolescent and adult identity development continue, little attention has focused on how a male student's identity development can impact residence life cultures on…

This study sought to explore and understand the perceptions that faculty members have of community development in living-learning communities at a large, private research institution in the Northeast. Boyer's (1990) tenets of community development provided a theoretical lens for the study. The article concludes with implications for practice and…