Institutions of higher education, and more specifically residence halls within colleges and universities, pride themselves in offering and embracing a diverse community of students. A growing number of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are attending college and choosing to live on campus. While many are able to do so successfully, some…

Residential communities are a critical component of many students' experience on a college campus, especially during their first year. Residential communities have been associated with a variety of positive outcomes, including persistence, openness to diversity, satisfaction, critical thinking, and personal development (Astin, 1977 & 1993;…

College students who reside in campus dormitories at public universities have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their dorm rooms that is protected by the fourth amendment; and officials cannot search these rooms for law enforcement purposes without a valid warrant. Non-students, however, have no such reasonable expectation of privacy in…

The results of recent cases indicate that residences and dormitories owned by higher education institutions should be considered "dwellings," and thus subject to the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act (1968) as amended requires that the providers of dwellings accommodate assistance animals, which includes not only service animals,…

The role of student affairs educators is to ensure that students not only obtain an educational experience, but also that out-of-classroom experiences contribute to holistic development. In particular, student affairs professionals often coordinate residential living, student activities, and advising programs. These programmatic offerings need to…

This article investigates the relationship between state-level marijuana policies and drug and alcohol violations in on-campus housing. A review of trends in drug usage precedes discussion of a conceptual framework that can help explain how interactions between college and university student housing and state policy impacts student behavior.…

Though lauded as a best practice, gender-inclusive housing has engendered little empirical attention. This study explored the experience of genderinclusive housing from the perspective of trans* students. While they were overwhelmingly positive in their appreciation for the existence of this housing option, issues of access, training, and the…

The experiences of female students in an engineering living-learning program (LLP) are described in this study using a constructivist theoretical perspective. The study aims to fill gaps in the literature using qualitative methods. Data from 13 semi-structured individual interviews serve as the primary data source. After conducting a metaphorical…

A multi-institutional study of five Canadian universities was undertaken to examine the impact of living in residence on students' first-year grade point averages (GPAs), retention to the second year, and graduation. While previous studies have linked living in residence to improved academic outcomes, most of the research has been based on…

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…

Concussions in college students can lead to a number of academic, physical, and emotional consequences. This project involved training college staff--including residence hall advisors--about the signs, symptoms, and risks related to concussions. The importance of training in concussion recognition and management is discussed in relation to campus…

A sense of mattering among college students has been found to have positive outcomes, including lower levels of anxiety and depression as well as increased self-esteem, wellness, happiness, and job satisfaction. However, the feeling of mattering among Resident Assistants (RAs) has received little attention in literature. This quantitative study…

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) student perceptions of their residence hall environments are influenced by interactions with peers, resident assistants, residential life administrators, and campus policies. Using the tradition of storytelling and drawing upon the experience of 11 LGBTQ participants, this article provides a…

Resident Assistants (RAs) are often faced with working and living among residents who are struggling, in distress, and, at times, in crisis. This article provides a primer on identifying residents in crisis as well as the tasks faced when working with students in transition and crisis. A discussion of the prevalence of distress reported by…

The importance of living on campus is well established, but extant research that examines administrator perceptions of what comprises the best educational experience for students living on campus is generally unavailable. This study reports the development of a psychometric instrument designed to uncover underlying paradigms and attitudes of…