Volume 8, Issue 3

In this essay, the author explains how he adapted the Thayer Method, West Point’s classroom model, to inspire achievement in his developmental English classroom. By taking ownership of their writing, demonstrating command of their work at the chalkboard, and speaking with a purpose to a critical audience, struggling writers unlocked the art of composition, gained the confidence of their peers, and developed character that will serve them long after graduation.

Sylvia Hurtado, Professor and Director, Higher Education Research Institute UCLA. Sylvia Hurtado was a featured speaker at the 2007 Institute on College Student Values.

How can colleges and universities, especially public institutions, affirm religious and spiritual pluralism and support expressions of particular faiths within their sacred spaces?

The following is a practitioner’s description of issues involved in managing campus values controversies. This paper is intended to offer a lens through which those who are confronted with issues my gain insight into key dimensions and dynamics of the kinds of incidents that confront campus leaders.

Larry Moneta, Vice President for Student Affairs at Duke University, examines the clash of campus cultures at Duke University and reports on the efforts of a University Task Force on Campus Culture to understand and address the negative influences of student peer culture.

Interview by Jon C. Dalton, Co-Editor. Jon Dalton talks with Elizabeth Kiss about her views on creating a just and civil culture at Agnes Scott College and the role presidents play in promoting concern for moral and spiritual growth in student learning and development.

Column editor, Debora Liddell, University of Iowa. Jayne Donovan is a recent graduate from Hartwick College in Oneanta, New York. She became interested in studying moral judgment through her role as a mentor in a first year seminar ethics course. Peggy Jenkins is a Professor of Nursing at Hartwick College interested in investigating the effect of a variety of pedagogical strategies to promote learning and critical thinking in first year undergraduate students.

This study examined the effects of involvement in campus-based religious organizations on first-year students’ adjustment and development. Longitudinal data derived from the 2001 Your First College Year (YFCY) survey suggest religious organizations attract conservative-leaning students with a history of religious engagement. Further, involvement in religious organizations during the first year of college does not preclude students becoming more culturally aware nor preclude students establishing emotionally beneficial friendship networks. Such involvement is associated with students becoming more spiritually confident and committed. Conversely, involvement in religious organizations bears little relationship to first-year academic success.

Column Editor, Bill McDonald, Presbyterian College. Review by Dave McIntire, Azusa Pacific University. The purpose of this book is to cause the reader to examine the notion of vocation and to discover at a very personal level what God is calling the reader to do.