Volume 50, Issue 2

Student perceptions of campus climate environments and intentions to leave college were examined for 391 participants. Differences by race were found for perceptions of the campus climate being cold and uncaring and for expectations to encounter racism in college. Perceptions of campus climate were related to African American students’ intent to leave college, whereas academic behaviors predicted White students’ intentions. Gender moderated the relationship between perceptions of class size and African American students’ intentions. Implications for future policy, practice, and research are discussed.

Using longitudinal data from the Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education, this study measured the impact of first-year seminars on college students’ life-long learning orientations. The findings suggest that first-year seminars enhance students’ life-long learning orientations and that the effect of first-year seminars is mediated through vetted good practices. These findings provide empirical evidence that first-year seminars can positively impact complex learning in ways that were previously untested.

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore how lived experiences affect ethnic identity development of transracial Korean American adoptees raised by White parents with the intent of informing higher education practice. Participants included 12 recently college-graduated transracial Korean American adoptees who were raised in the Midwest, rural south, and on the west coast. A theoretical model that surfaced from data collection is presented, demonstrating the complexity of transracial Korean adoptee identity.

This study examines senior student affairs leadership through the diverse lenses of subordinates, administrative peers, presidents, and senior student affairs officers (SSAOs). Guided by an interpretive paradigm, a qualitative methodology was employed consisting of a six-case comparative analysis and grounded theory approach. The findings provide a comprehensive portrait of the key factors associated with developing and maintaining trust in SSAO leadership.

Recent literature on college men shows they are struggling to engage in activities that promote learning. The current study used data from the National Peer Educator Study to report the effects of participation as peer educators on learning outcomes for 258 college men. Male peer educators show significant growth from their peer educator experience along the cognitive complexity, intrapersonal development, interpersonal development, appreciation and awareness of diversity, and presentation and communication skills learning domains

Do students’ experiences on university campuses cultivate motivation to lead or a sense of readiness to lead that does not necessarily translate to active leadership? To address this question, a study was conducted with 369 undergraduates from Malaysia. Campus experience was more predictive of leadership readiness than motivation. Student leadership opportunities, global leadership perspective development, leadership modeling, quality of staff support, and quality of leadership training programs contributed significantly more to leadership readiness than to motivation to lead.