Expectations of a college environment held by incoming transfer students were compared with the expectations of incoming college freshmen. The results support previous research which suggests the existence of a transfer myth. Transfer students' expectations were also found to be uninfluenced by the type of institution previously attended. (Author)

The author describes a counseling-focused Learning Community program for 1st-year college students. It is argued that counseling services can be improved if constructive partnerships are formed among counselors, faculty, and residence life staff. Positive initial assessment data are presented along with suggestions for implementing similar…

Examines how the first college year impacted students spiritually and religiously. Overall, students became less religiously active, but were more committed to integrating spirituality into their lives after one year. Further, religiousness and spirituality were highly correlated, although personal characteristics, institutional variables, and…

Describes alternative method for studying first-year students' impressions of first-semester experiences. Undergraduates were asked to take a series of reflexive photographs, then, in writing describe the reasons why they illustrate their experiences. Research revealed a number of primary themes, including perceptions about the university's…

Learning communities, designed primarily to increase student persistence and academic achievement, are a common first-year initiative on university campuses. Assessments of learning communities frequently examine indicators that are easily quantifiable such as student persistence and academic achievement, but also examine factors thought to affect…

Freshmen participants in a student development transcript program demonstrated significant progress on developmental tasks and had highly positive perceptions of the university environment. (Author)

Students were compared on alienation and three of its components: powerlessness, normlessness and social isolation. Among the findings were that the Puerto Ricans were less socially isolated than the white and black groups and that blacks showed more powerlessness and normlessness than whites. Implications for the university were discussed.…

Surveys literature to report on studies which shed light on the campus subculture with which the freshman must contend, and how the anxieties this subculutre produces manifest themselves. (CJ)

Examines the relationship between sense of community as perceived by freshman African American students at predominantly White public institutions and the intent of these students to re-enroll. Findings indicate that students who did not intend to re-enroll had a significantly lower mean College and University Community Inventory score on one…

Examines the attributions college students (N=301) make toward pictures of college campus buildings. Results reveal that students attributed greater likelihood of individual success to pictures depicting modern architecture than they did to those depicting traditional architecture. (Contains 28 references and 3 tables.) (Author/GCP)

The NEAIR 2010 Conference Proceedings is a compilation of papers presented at the Saratoga Springs, New York conference. Papers in this document include: (1) Collaboration Between Student Affairs and Institutional Research: A Model for the Successful Assessment of Students' College Experience (Michael N. Christakis and Joel D. Bloom); (2) Direct…

The American Council on Education in 1966 began a large scale annual survey of entering college freshmen. This report presents the results of the follow-up studies through normative reports and through individual institutional reports furnished to students and administrative representatives at participating colleges and universities. The original…

The American Council on Education has been conducting a longitudinal research study to assess the impact of different college environments on the student's development and to provide a source of current, readily available, descriptive information about the student population. The findings presented in this paper are based on the followup of the…

The research literature is full of studies about attitudes of black students toward white students and vice versa, but more often such studies lack generalizable measures and contain methodological problems. This study was concerned with a standardized measure of university student perceptions and expectations (College and University Environment…

Investigated the relationship between the psychological maturity of freshmen (N=82) entering college and their success in adapting to the challenges of the first semester of college. Results provided some support for Heath model of maturing, particularly for females; females' level of psychological maturity was related to success in adapting to…