Recent trends in higher education have called for renewed vitality in the connections between the in-class and out-of-class experiences. This movement has sparked increased interest in the interactions students have with each other, with instructional faculty, and with Student Affairs professionals. This article describes how residential learning…

There is this little secret college-bound and first-year college students outwardly deny: They are scared sick about going off to college. In the authors' interviews with 175 college students throughout the United States for "Survival Secrets of College Students" (Barron's, 2007) students talked--sometimes painfully--about what they wished they…

Examined whether self-selected roommates showed higher rapport and fewer midyear roommate changes than did randomly assigned roommates. Results from 147 residential college students seemed to indicate that self-selected incoming freshmen roommate pairs were more likely to stay together than were their randomly assigned counterparts. Such…

Examined whether freshmen living in residence halls achieve higher grades than nonresidence hall students. Compared mean grade point averages (GPA's) earned at the end of freshman year for 1,302 residence hall students and 740 nonresidence hall students. Results showed freshmen in residence halls achieved higher GPA's than nonresidence hall…

Results of this survey showed that most students approved of all-freshman halls. The majority of the faculty and staff disagreed. Groups also differed in views of the maturation process of students, students' ability to make friends, and willingness of upperclassmen to live with freshmen. (Author/NRB)

At most institutions, freshmen are assigned to one of six residence hall types: freshmen-men; freshmen-women; freshmen-coed; freshmen-upperclass-men; freshmen-upperclass-women; and freshmen-upperclass-coed. In an attempt to clarify which of these residence hall arrangements most benefits freshmen, 2,200 freshmen (40 percent) attending 12 colleges…

An analysis of the interaction between social competence and type of environment showed that residents of low-rise dormitories were significantly more satisfied and established more dormitory-based friendships than residents of a high-rise mega-dorm setting. A number of interactions were found between social competence, type of environment, and…

Surveyed 197 freshman residents from eight university residential programs. Respondents lived in either living-learning halls or conventional residential facilities. Results suggest that designing the environment of residence halls to promote academic integration supports other purposes as well. Living-learning programs appeared to have greater…

An environmental assessment of 855 students investigated differences between freshmen and other students in attitudes toward their residence hall environment. Findings suggest that differences may be a function, partially, of institutional policy rather than classification status. (Author/TE)

This monograph contains papers which suggest means of implementing residential programs, services, and facilities that will help to meet the needs of first-year college students. Fourteen papers are presented and are as follows: "Reflections on the First Year Residential Experience" (John N. Gardner); "The Role of Residential Programs in the…

The examination of the functioning of social networks has been used to understand how individual and environmental characteristics can mediate the availability of social support. To examine the relationship between personal attributes, psychosocial environmental attributes, and the interaction between these variables, 92 entering college freshmen…

This booklet provides advice, collected from the experiences of students who have completed their freshman year, on how to prepare for and complete the first year of college. The booklet begins with suggestions on the types of things that the new student should consider packing, such as items for the dorm room, various school supplies,…

This booklet presents questions that can be used by a college or university task force looking at the freshman year experience and/or the broader undergraduate experience. It can also be utilized to aid the process of campus self-study or assessment. The questions are arranged under three major headings: (1) Campus Policies, Processes, and…

Factors contributing to Native students' college success were examined in a study of 50 Native freshmen and 42 non-Native freshmen at the University of Alaska in the 1973-74 academic year. The study compared students in relation to three common explanations of college success: level of academic preparation, goal orientation, ease in the campus…