Many students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience substantial difficulties with socialization and independence, and college campuses often lack appropriate support services in these areas. Residential advisors (RAs), who are trained to support all students living on campus, could be uniquely prepared to positively contribute to the…

Even though a postsecondary degree can offer economic, social, and civic benefits, many community college students leave without earning a degree--including some who have performed well academically and made substantial progress toward graduation. To better understand the factors contributing to early exit, we surveyed a number of former students…

The authors sought to examine how queer and trans students' residential living relates to perceptions of campus climate. Using Hurtado and colleagues' (2012) Multicontextual Model for Diverse Learning Environments, we utilized structural equation modeling to examine queer and trans students' perceptions of campus climate as mediated by…

This study explored how black housing staff at predominantly white colleges in the Midwest that have their own campus police departments, engage, and interact with police and make sense of their beliefs about police in their work and personal lives. The existing literature on-campus police, student housing staff roles, the role of housing staff…

Using findings from a national study of trans* students' experiences in gender-inclusive housing, we argue student affairs educators must move toward gender-inclusive housing as an intentional--rather than best--practice. We frame this innovation in the practice of gender-inclusive housing through findings related to the need to perform ongoing…

This article seeks to illuminate the deeper and complex dimensions of post-apartheid transformation by examining how University of the Free State (UFS) undergraduate students experienced racial integration within campus residences. Data were drawn from a sample of 17 individual semi-structured in-depth narrative interviews with student…

Tara D. Hudson questions the potential of Duke's new policy of random roommate assignment to be successful in supporting learning about diversity. Hudson notes that with random roommate assignments, the conditions for attitude change are not necessarily met. There can be status differential and/or competition between the roommates as well as a…

Numerous research and literature available on residence life are centered on students' experiences from the United States. Available literature indicates residence life is an important step in building a solid foundation for success in and beyond college. Success in college is a way of building lifelong relationships and finding one's place both…

Using Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model (1979, 1993), we analyzed grounded theory data from 31 student affairs professionals about supporting students with and without disabilities in, and beyond, the university microsystem of housing. Participants described the challenge of simultaneously meeting the needs of students with and without…

Residence Life Training Programs have evolved over the past quarter century, yet few studies have explored how changes in training impact the preparation and retention of staff. Utilizing a mixed-method design of survey and interview data with housing professionals trained since 1993, this study explores trends in residence life training and…

The purpose of this retrospective analysis research study was to create a trend description of rural students' characteristics and outcomes of higher education in one state in the northeastern United States. An additional aim of the study was to determine the distance to campus for rural and non-rural students and the relationships between…

This study examines how inequality manifested during the emergency remote COVID-19 transition in higher education. We use 35 in-depth interviews with college students, conducted virtually, in real-time, during spring 2020 lockdowns, to examine how the transition impacted their lives. Students in the sample from lower-income backgrounds reported…

This article stemmed from discussions related to residence committee members and their role as leaders within their communities. The ideas presented during these conversations gave rise to a research interest for a conceptual exploration of collaborative and progressive social transformative brokering within a complex context. In particular, the…

This qualitative study examined the informal mentoring relationships between faculty and students at two small, faith-based, liberal arts campuses. Perceptions of both faculty and students' views of informal mentoring were studied. The research questions further explored the factors that encouraged or discouraged faculty-student informal mentoring…

Purpose: Faculty-in-Residence (FIR) programs are implemented based on research that shows positive effects on student success when students interact with faculty outside of the classroom. However, most research is limited by cross-sectional studies of only students and does not look at the Faculty-in-Residence programs from a holistic perspective…