Bulletin boards are ubiquitous in residence halls and may not always capture students' attention, but when they do, they have the potential to engage students in meaningful learning experiences. Our study explores how arts-based methodologies can be used in student affairs and higher education research to expand possibilities for practitioners to…

Housing and residence life professionals help students through crises and traumatic events, which may affect their own well-being. Members of higher education student affairs professional organizations, including ACUHO-I, were surveyed to investigate the following relationships: (1) work factors (i.e., job demands, job resources, exposure to…

The recruitment and retention of residence life staff has become increasingly difficult for many colleges and universities throughout the U.S. Back in 2008, a report supported by the ACUHO-I Commissioned Research Program, "Recruitment and Retention of Entry-Level Staff in Housing and Residence Life," indicated that the problem was…

The experience of belonging and inclusion is critical for all college and university students, and for those on the autism spectrum it may be even more so. This phenomenological study explored the specific experiences of undergraduate residential students who identified as having Autism Spectrum Disorder. Findings can lead to a greater…

Housing and residence life has identified the need and priority to recenter the purprose and role of our work in a post-COVID world. Housing and residence life has not, in the same way, identified the need and priority to critically examine how the systems and models of our work are founded within an oppressive system, steeped in whiteness and…

Successful implementation of a Residential Curriculum Model is dependent on the preparedness and investment of professional staff to design the learning experiences taking place in residence halls. Recent literature urges student affairs educators to embrace approaches which contribute to student learning beyond the classroom. This concept has…

Learning community programs, like many other forms of higher education, are at risk from the effects of financial constraints, systemic racism, and pressures from outside constituents that are forcing institutional leaders to face difficult decisions that result in cutting budgets and closing programs. During these tumultuous times, learning…

Institutional policies and student affairs services benefit lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans* and queer (LGBTQ+) students by offering affirming campus spaces and organizational markers that influence student success (Pitcher, Camacho, Renn, & Woodford, 2018). (See Tompkins, 2014 for explanation of the use of the term trans*.) Policies and student…

Students in the autism community are a currently underrepresented, yet growing, population in higher education, which strives to understand student experiences on campus and find ways to better support students with autism. This qualitative research study examined the expectations and experiences of seven students on the autism spectrum in…

Living-learning programs (LLPs), also known as learning communities, offer students a shared academic focus within a residential community; thus, LLPs are considered ideal contexts for student learning. In 1994, Zeller highlighted Washington State University as an example of how learning communities can successfully incorporate faculty, students,…

While sufficient methodological training and effective implementation of assessment approaches are essential for successful evaluation in student affairs, those with an interest and passion for social justice may be conflicted. Many of the assessment approaches employed today are misaligned with social justice agendas, lack theoretical grounding…

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…

Highly intelligent and capable high school students investigate their options for postsecondary education based on the strength of the institution's major courses of study, the size of campus, resources available for social activities, and a host of other criteria. The highly intelligent and capable high school student with a severe physical…

Using data from both qualitative interviews and quantitative questionnaires from 32 undergraduate resident assistants (RAs) at a private, residential university, this study explored RAs' role conflict derived from their simultaneous positions as rule enforcers and friends, vis-a-vis their residents. Most RAs reported that they were friends with…

Education and training for student affairs professionals does not end with a master's degree. Although graduate preparation programs establish the foundation and knowledge base upon which to build, ongoing professional development is required in order to be effective in addressing the needs of today's college and university students. With a…