An author's commentary on his experience living among Rutgers University students in a dormitory, focusing on the issues in student life, is reviewed. The author finds that student life is both better (more genuine, purposeful, and intellectual) and worse (hedonistic, racist, and sexist) than other scholars have argued. (Author/MSE)

Colleges can create conditions to maximize the learning that occurs in an environment with a diverse student population. Studies indicate that students who interact with diverse peers demonstrate more complex thinking linked to both cognitive and to social development. Research literature provides strong support for institutional commitment to…

Data from several national research and evaluation projects involving 32 diverse institutions offer insights into what motivates college-faculty involvement in public service and outreach efforts, what faculty find to be obstacles to involvement, and what institutions can do to facilitate involvement. One salient policy supporting faculty…

Compares responses on self-report inventories of coping resources and self-esteem between samples of students attending a small private college and a large state university. Differences were found in physical and spiritual/philosophical types of coping resources as well as social self-esteem. Includes suggestions for further research in this area…

Describes psychosocial factors that predicted college adjustment of first-year undergraduate students on the basis of studies conducted in two universities of differing size, focus, and geographic location. Academic self-confidence, positive attitudes toward the university, and faculty and peer support significantly predicted more successful…

Study identifies factors that influence African American students' decisions to apply to and attend doctoral programs in higher education administration. Results indicate that respondents are influenced by academic quality, academic infrastructure, institutional sensitivity to students of color, and positive interaction with faculty. Offers…

Examines similarities and differences in graduate school experiences of male and female doctoral students in programs containing predominantly male or gender-balanced faculty. Results indicate that women in male-dominated programs expressed lower academic self-concept, less sensitivity in their departments to family issues, and lower career…

Discusses the importance of out-of-class activities on positive student outcomes, focusing on ways to improve the involvement of students with disabilities with campus life activities, experiential learning, study abroad, and sports and recreation. Maintains that it is the responsibility of student affairs professionals to ensure that students…

Study explores how institutional context affects the development of self-concept in a sample of 273 African American college students. Findings suggest that students attending church affiliated historically Black colleges develop significantly higher self-ratings in three domains of self-concept-psychosocial wellness, academic, and achievement…

Collaboration between student affairs professional and Asian American studies faculty may be mutually beneficial by contributing to holistic student development and creating supportive environments for Asian American students. (Contains 29 references.) (Author)

Author describes four significant themes that highlight adult students' descriptions of how they experience learning on campus. Three themes address the negative side of the experience (sense of impostorship, exclusion from the cultures that have previously defined them, and notion that college will turn their life around). The hopeful theme that…

A case study of a state college illustrating a framework to diagnose culture in collegiate institutions is presented. Organizational culture as a concept for understanding management and performance in higher education is explained, previous attempts to define culture in higher education are outlined, and essential elements of academic culture are…

This book offers a select sampling of concepts and models organized around a distinctive framework and reflective of themes critical to the successful functioning of higher education institutions. It is organized into two parts. Part One, "Type and Impacts of Campus Environments," offers an overview of models and concepts of human…

Examines several components of effective preparation for the planning and implementation of long-term, integrated student services programs. Preassessment issues cluster around: (1) the assessment of student needs; (2) the identification of available staff and institutional resources; and (3) some initial diagnosis of campus political climates.…

Considers gay student organizations' rights at state-supported public institutions, discusses the First Amendment and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Offers advice on the major principles and issues that should be taken into account in writing a campus policy regarding the rights of gay student organizations. (Author/RJM)