Impact of a University Recreation Center on Social Belonging and Student Retention

Abstract

While studies have been conducted to determine the social-emotional development and learning outcomes associated with participation in sport clubs, very few similar studies have been done on the recreational sports environment as a whole. It is important to know why college recreation centers are important to student life as well as to understand what overall benefits students receive from the program as a whole. This study revealed that students who used the student recreation center more frequently were more likely to be attend the university, experience place bonding, social belonging to the recreation center and the university, integration into the university and hence retention at the university. From a practical perspective, the findings provide information for the university to better understand how to attract and retain students throughout their academic careers by the presence of a student recreation center.