Reslife

Building and Growing Campus Residential Life and Retention
Dee McLean

Abstract
This paper reviews the literature on the role that campus residential life plays in the life of college students. While some researchers have concluded that living on-campus or off-campus has little effect on student academic achievement (Pascarella et al., 1993) others have expressed that on-campus living produces students with better critical thinking skills (Voyles, 2004). Despite the previously stated literature, modern researchers are now finding that what goes in the halls (Recruitment and Retention, 2005) and how the halls and rooms are set up (Lorenzetti, 2010) may be playing a new role in the retention of residential students. This paper will review the more modern literature on student retention in the halls and what campuses are doing to keep students coming back for more. Residence halls play an important role in the academic success of college students.  

Building and Growing Residential Life and Retention
Residential life plays an important role in the academic support mission of the student affairs profession. There has been much discussion of the exact nature of this impact over the last two decades. Strong evidence shows that student success and persistence can be affected by residential life factors. Trends in residential life have also been affected by the diversification of the student body over the last quarter century. The purpose for conducting this literature review is to examine some of the key trends that have occurred in recent years in resident life that ties into campus retention.
Commuters, non-commuters, and academics
Pascarella, Bohr, Nora, Zusman, Inman, and Desler (1993) hypothesized that on-campus living produced students with better critical thinking skills versus students who commute. They studied a population of 1,000 residents at a 25, 000 student Midwestern university. Despite the researchers thinking, the level of reading... [continues]

Read full essay