(2009). Review of 'Student engagement in higher education: Theoretical perspectives and practical approaches for diverse populations' NASPA Journal: Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 716-722.
The vast majority of college students gamble, with some doing so problematically. This article discusses gambling and problem gambling among college students, framing it as an emerging health issue on college campuses nationwide. Given that 4 out of 5 college students admit to gambling, and that approximately 8% gamble problematically, it is imperative that student affairs professionals be familiar with the literature and be prepared to address, and ideally help prevent, gambling-related issues and their attendant problems on college campuses. This article summarizes briefly what is known about college student gambling and problem gambling, discusses the range of gambling problems that exist, and, in the end, offers seven recommendations for addressing this important, yet largely overlooked student health issue. It also offers a few recommendations for future research
A Guide for Campus Leaders Adrianna Kezar and Jaime Lester provide a comprehensive approach to collaboration within the higher education context.Research on this subject matter has traditionally been focused primarily on the challenges of implementing collaboration.With this book the authors choose to take an innovative path from their predecessors and present a case for why collaboration can and should exist within higher education institutions, describing what leaders and change agents should focus on, and fi nally
This paper reviews the literature on the changing mental health needs of today’s college students and the challenges posed by both the growing number of students with serious psychological problems on campus and the increase in the number of students seeking counseling. The implications of student mental health problems for students, faculty, staff, and the institution are discussed, as well as some strategies for responding to the surge in mental health needs on college campuses.
The Student Leadership Challenge is about how student leaders mobilize others to want to get extraordinary things done in organizations. It’s about the practices they use to transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards. It’s about leadership that creates the climate in which challenging opportunities are transformed into remarkable successes. (p.1)
This study examined the relationships among first-year students’ employment, engagement, and academic achievement using data from the 2004 National Survey of Student Engagement. A statistically significant negative relationship was found between working more than 20 hours per week and grades, even after controlling for students’ characteristics and levels of engagement. An examination of the indirect relationships between work and grades revealed that working 20 hours or less on campus was significantly and positively related to grades, acting through student engagement.
(2009). Review of 'The gender gap in college: Maximizing the developmental potential of women and men' NASPA Journal: Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 359-363.
This study examined college students' capacities for socially responsible leadership using theoretical measures grounded in the social change model of leadership development (HERI, 1996). Findings represent responses from 50,378 participants enrolled at 52 colleges and universities across the United States. Students scored highest on the leadership construct of commitment and lowest on the construct of change. Specific attention was paid to the unique influences of race, gender, and sexual orientation. Women college students scored significantly higher than men on seven out of eight leadership measures. Complex findings associated with race reflect highest scores among African American and Black college students and lowest scores among Asian Pacific American college students. No significant differences emerged related to students' reported sexual orientations. Results are interpreted in the context of higher education and student affairs practice along with suggestions for future research.
Previous research published in this journal found broad-based negative effects of Greek affiliation on standardized measures of cognitive development after 1 year of college. Following the same sample, and employing essentially the same research design and analytic model, the present study found that the negative effects of Greek affiliation were much less pronounced during the second or third years of college.
This study supports the contention that certain features of acquaintance rape prevention programs are more effective than others in changing the attitudes of first year college men about the sexual assault of women.
The purpose of this study was to explore students' technology use and its relationship with their psychosocial development. Previous research explored students' computer use in conjunction with their cognitive development. This study examined the effects of computer use and other technologies, such as instant messaging, handheld gaming devices, and MP3 players, and the impact they have on students' peer relationships, academic involvement, and healthy lifestyles. Results show both positive and negative effects on all three constructs of psychosocial development, including differences based on gender and race.
This study presents self-reported prevalence and incidence data about student academic dishonesty generated from an anonymous survey conducted at a major Southeastern public university, evaluating the perceived effectiveness of a variety of cheating countermeasures by specifically comparing those students who admitted involvement with those who did not. The authors discuss various policy implications suggested by these findings.
This study examined the relationship of student use of campus recreation facilities (CRFs) with retention and graduation rates at a large, public, Midwestern Carnegie doctoral-extensive university. Tinto’s interactionalist theory of student departure provided the conceptual framework. An extensive review of the literature on the relationship between academic performance and recreation facility use identified a set of critical explanatory predictors. Although anecdotal evidence and studies of student perceptions support the contention that use of CRFs promotes social integration, thereby increasing the likelihood of persistence, few studies have employed both actual CRF visit counts to quantify use and advanced statistical methods to analyze the data. The linking of visitation data to individual student records is a unique component of this preliminary study. Maximum likelihood estimated models were used to identify which factors were related to retention and graduation. Results show positive associations between CRF usage and both first-year retention and 5-year graduation.
High-risk alcohol, tobacco, and other drug (ATOD) use has been a persistent problem on college campuses despite decades of prevention programming. However, some universities may begin to experience a lower prevalence of high-risk behaviors, not because of education efforts, but because of generational changes in the incoming student population. This study examined the ATOD use of incoming students (n = 5,964) at a large, southeastern, public university over a 5-year period. The data demonstrated an overall decrease in incoming students' ATOD use, which may be connected to the defining characteristics of the Millennial generation-a need for structure, respect for authority, a tendency to follow rules and institutional policies, and an appreciation for the institution's increasing focus on academic rigor-as well as increased ethnic diversity of the generation. As increasing numbers of Millennials enter college, these results become critically important for prevention work and policy development.
