Volume 41, Issue 4

The purpose of this research is to gain some understandings of how university professionals who work with marginalized student populations perceive their professional work as situated within a university context. The professionals in this study work in federal TRIO programs that serve first-generation, low-income students who have been traditionally underrepresented in the academy. We hope this research furthers understanding of TRIO programs and their impact on underrepresented students. Specifically, we discuss TRIO professionals’ perspectives on how their institutional context affects their ability to serve students. We focus on the ways institutional participants understand and value these programs, as well as on the ways that institutions could be more supportive of TRIO programs.

The student recreation center (SRC) at many colleges and universities has evolved from being a place to lift weights and take aerobics classes to becoming a high-powered recruitment tool (Colleges use recreation, 2002). The present study included the development of an instrument to assess the use and impact of SRCs. Students (N = 655; users = 537, nonusers = 118) were surveyed about their use of and satisfaction with their university's newly constructed SRC. The overall findings revealed that a majority of SRC users were male (54.9%), felt more at home on campus since the construction of the SRC (61.2%), and felt that the SRC had increased their exercise frequency (79.9%). Forty percent of users adopted regular physical activity after the construction of the SRC. Non-users were primarily female (59.3%), had never visited the SRC (49.6%), and did not participate in any physical extracurricular activities (78.0%). Future SRC research should explore exercise patterns more thoroughly and link facility use to additional social and academic developmental outcomes.

Student affairs administrators representing four types of institutions were interviewed to determine the role that religio-spirituality plays in their professional lives. Results reveal that most desire more freedom to express this aspect of their identity in that it has a salient impact in how they work with students. However, several reasons are given for the reluctance of many to freely express their religio-spirituality with their colleagues.

Throughout most facets of American life, there has been a renewed interest in and expression of spirituality. Religiosity and spirituality have been at the center of recent international events (e.g., September 11th) and political discussions (e.g., continuing debates about school prayer and the role of religion in the political process). As a consequence, campus communities are striving to make sense of spirituality and religious tolerance as well as their roles in helping American students understand themselves as part of a diverse democracy. This phenomenological study addresses these issues by asking eight students representing eight different worldviews (i.e., Agnosticism, Atheism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Muslim, Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism) about what spirituality means to them. Photo elicitation and semistructured interviewing are used as the primary means for collecting data. Results show that common to all eight perspectives is the idea that spirituality is the human attempt to make meaning of the self in connection to and with the external world. Implications for student development practice and future research are discussed.

The role of ethical principles, character traits, and professional values in ethical decision-making is examined and depicted through an integrated and comprehensive model. A case study provides an illustration of improved decisionmaking when using the model.

The importance of connections with peers to student development and retention has been highlighted in Astin's (1984) Theory of Student Involvement and Tinto's (1993) Theory of Student Departure, which are two of the most widely referenced and validated models in student affairs literature. However, recent research has questioned the applicability of these models to African American students who attend predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Although prior research has indicated that the models should be modified to recognize the importance of students’ relationships with their families, research has failed to understand the impact of relationships with friends from home. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the conditions under which friends from home were perceived as assets or liabilities to 99 African American undergraduates who attended a PWI. The results provide a link for broadening the applicability of Astin’s and Tinto's models and offer student affairs practitioners deeper insight into African American students' experiences at PWIs.

Historically, student affairs professionals focused their work almost exclusively on undergraduate students. Doctoral faculty remained focused on the comprehensive needs of doctoral students. However, this situation is changing. Due largely to growth in numbers and diversity of graduate students, student affairs professionals at colleges and universities across the country are increasingly redefining their visions and their roles to include graduate students, including doctoral students. This research study focuses on the roles currently held by faculty in four fields of doctoral study (clinical psychology, nursing, educational administration, and electrical and computer engineering) at 12 universities in order to illuminate the comprehensive nature of the work currently being done by doctoral faculty. Interviews were conducted with 128 doctoral faculty, students, administrators, alumni, and employers. Findings detail the roles and responsibilities of faculty in four thematic areas: (1) scholarly activity and research productivity, (2) advising and mentoring, (3) selection and retention of students, and (4)defining and shaping of program culture. The findings from this study provide information that may be useful to student affairs professionals who plan to include doctoral students in their purview and who seek to better understand the work of doctoral faculty as they move in that direction.

The study examined the effects of ego identity status, matriculation level, and gender on alcohol consumption, alcohol expectancies, and drinking refusal self-efficacy. Male (n = 64) and female (n = 114) undergraduate students at a 4-year college were surveyed and classified into four identity status categories. Data on alcohol expectancies, drinking refusal self-efficacy, and quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption were obtained. Results of the ANOVA for alcohol consumption in males supported research that indicates ego identity status affects consumption levels. Identity foreclosed males consumed greater quantities of alcohol than did males classified in moratorium status. Ego identity status did not significantly affect consumption levels in females. Although the results of the multivariate statistics for the variables of interest did not reveal significant interaction effects, several main effects for gender and matriculation level were noted. These findings are discussed in terms of prevention and education efforts on college campuses. Analyses suggested multifactor interventions designed specifically to enhance drinking refusal self-efficacy, expectancy challenges, and psychosocial maturity will affect consumption levels and behavior patterns in undergraduate students.

To address the ability of the Salter Environment Type Assessment (SETA) to measure different kinds of campus environments, data from three studies of the SETA with the Work Environment Scale, Group Environment Scale, and University Residence Environment Scale were reexamined (n = 534). Relationship dimension scales were very consistent with extraversion and feeling from environmental type theory. System maintenance and systems change scales were associated with judging and perception on the SETA, respectively. Results from the SETA and personal growth dimension scales were mixed. Based on this analysis, the SETA may serve as a general purpose environmental assessment for use with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

This study examined student leaders’ attitudes towards lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) students and compared resident advisors’ (RAs) attitudes to those of other student leaders. Despite careful selection, training, and supervision of RAs, results revealed no differences between RAs’ attitudes and those of other student leaders. The number of LGB family and friends reported by participants was the only factor significantly related to positive attitudes toward LGB individuals. Implications for student affairs professionals are discussed, and suggestions for improving campus climate for LGB students are provided.