Contributing Factors to On-Campus Student Organization Involvement

Abstract

Well-respected experts of higher education, including those at the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and founding director Dr. Alexander Astin of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, have demonstrated strong correlations between the amount of time and effort students put into “educationally purposeful activities” outside the classroom (e.g., student organizations) and positive outcomes of student success, such as satisfaction, persistence, and academic achievement (Astin, 1984, 1993, 1999; Berger and Milem,1993; Pascarella and Terenzini, 2005). This study evaluates student involvement in on-campus student organizations. What characteristics are most highly correlated with participation? Based on the results of previous studies, we hypothesized that student engagement in on-campus student organizations is positively correlated with proximity to campus and that the closer a student lives to campus, the more apt they are to be involved with on-campus student organizations. Not only will students living closer to campus be more active with on-campus student organizations, but they are also more likely to be involved with on-campus student organizations directly related to their major. We also hypothesized that female students are more apt to be involved in on-campus student organizations related to their major than males. Original survey results and future research ideas are discussed.