This qualitative study was performed at a liberal arts university in the southeast United States. Thirty-nine undergraduate minority first-generation students were interviewed to acquire knowledge of their satisfaction levels with four student services: tutoring, campus housing, financial aid, and career planning. The purpose of this study was to…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of living in "green" dorms on students' environmentally responsible behaviors (ERBs), in concert with other factors, including individual identity and social context in the form of behavior modeling by peers. Design/methodology/approach: The sample of 243 consists of students…

Intercession into collegiate alcohol misuse by the Department of Resident Life (DRL) in freshmen dormitories at one large Mid-Atlantic, diverse, public university was examined. Freshmen dormitory resident drinkers (n = 357), 71% of whom reported alcohol misuse, were surveyed. Student self-report and DRL documentation, respectively, revealed that…

For this qualitative case study we explored students' perceptions of institutional support and sense of belonging within the college environment. Following 10 low-income, first-generation college students out of a college access program and through their first year of college, we examined institutional support structures that have been reported to…

Residential learning communities in postsecondary education, also known as living-learning programs, aim to improve student learning and success by integrating students' academic and daily living environments. Students participating in these programs live together (usually in a residential dormitory), take certain classes together, and engage in…

This article reports on the peer socialization of gendered Mandarin practices between three American students and their Chinese roommates in a college dorm in China. Gender is often perceived to be a salient identity category among adult L2 learners overseas. Drawing on the language socialization framework (Ochs and Schieffelin 1984), this study…

This article reports on two cycles of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) study on student experiences of the process of establishing social learning spaces in a Johannesburg university student residence. We draw on Wenger's (2009) notion of "social learning spaces" to explore the manner in which students mediate their social and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the demographic and academic variables of students involved in roommate changes to determine which variables predict who will move from a room and who will stay in a room and what alternatives to current housing arrangements are selected by those who initiate the roommate changes. [This article was…

As the number of students with disabilities within residence halls increases, their interactions with other residents can become problematic; in many instances, students without disabilities may not understand the behavior of their peers with disabilities and vice versa. Misunderstandings are compounded by the fact that 84% of students with…

This study explored the relationship between students' residence hall preference and ethnic identity. The study explored differences in ethnic identity development among first-year Chicano/Latino college students who actively requested to live on a culturally themed living learning community and were placed there; Chicano/Latino students who…

The "Talking Stick" is published bimonthly, six times a year in January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December by the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International. Each issue is divided into three sections: Features, Columns, and Departments. These sections contain…

The "Talking Stick" is published bimonthly, six times a year in January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, and November/December by the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International. Each issue is divided into three sections: Features, Columns, and Departments. These sections contain articles…

Residence halls--or dormitories, as they were once called--used to be places where students could sleep, dress, and study while attending college. They were the simplest of spaces, providing each student a bed, a desk, and a place to keep some clothes. And they were usually the least expensive buildings on campus. Things are different now.…

Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) degrees provide opportunities for economic mobility. Yet women, underrepresented minority (URM), and first-generation college students remain disproportionately underrepresented in STEM fields. This study examined the effectiveness of a living-learning community (LLC) for URM and first-generation…

The College of the Holy Cross offers a universal first-year program called Montserrat, in which first-year students participate in a living-learning experience anchored by a yearlong seminar course. The seminar courses are part of a thematic cluster of four to eight courses; students in the cluster live together in a common dormitory and…