Campus Connections Research Articles

Fostering an Interdisciplinary Campus Community: Faculty Hiring Committee-Work as Successful Interdisciplinary Collaboration

In modern higher education, nurturing successful interdisciplinary collaboration is both an institutional priority and a grand organizational and cultural challenge. Recent scholarship describes the many and varied challenges inherent in the enactment of interdisciplinarity; it also explores how these challenges can be mitigated to spur successful interdisciplinary engagement. While much attention has been focused on interdisciplinary scholarship and pedagogy, might interdisciplinary service collaborations also play a role? This qualitative case study probes a particular type of interdisciplinary collaboration—a cross-disciplinary committee convened to hire interdisciplinary faculty members. Using interview and observational data to uncover the lived experiences of committee members across campus at one U.S.-based R1 institution, this study explores service-work as a potential site of positive experience and successful interdisciplinary collaboration. Illuminated by the Shared Cognitive-Emotional-Interactive (SCEI) platform for interdisciplinary research collaboration by Boix Mansilla et al. (2016), findings reveal myriad positive outcomes tied to faculty’s service participation, probe the multifaceted reasons that faculty choose to participate, and explore how they experience this work. Analysis also uncovers limited cognitive yet significant emotional and interactive markers of and factors that facilitate a successful interdisciplinary collaborative process. Evidence of these markers and factors serves to “reframe” interdisciplinary service as an instance of successful interdisciplinary collaboration, a site of faculty learning and a context that fosters campus connections among faculty. In uncovering these benefits of interdisciplinary collaborative service, this work suggests ways in which it may serve as a missing link to build and strengthen an interdisciplinary campus community.

Campus connections for creative careers: Social capital, gender inequality, and artistic work

Campus connections for creative careers: Social capital, gender inequality, and artistic work

The benefits of participating in a culturally translated youth mentoring program and service-learning experience for Aotearoa New Zealand mentors.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate "mentoring through service-learning" models can be powerful avenues to support the development of emerging adult practitioners, and are scalable to new global contexts when careful attention is paid to the local culture and evidence-based principles for mentoring and service-learning. The study presents outcome findings for mentors who participated in Campus Connections Aotearoa, a culturally translated version of a US-based service-learning experience and therapeutic youth mentoring program implemented in New Zealand, based on a mixed-method, pre-post evaluation survey involving 62ethnically diverse mentors (81% female). A large, significant increase in mentoring self-efficacy and small to moderate significant increases for attunement to others, sociability and leadership, and problem-solving and perspective-taking were found. Open-ended survey responses revealed self-reported changes in both personal and professional growth. The discussion highlights the importance of theory and evidence-driven design decisions and an intensive evidence-informed training curriculum for mentoring-based service-learning programs.

EVOLVING AGE-FRIENDLY UNIVERSITIES: ENHANCING STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES AND PROMOTING SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract Students in higher education face numerous challenges, many of which have been exacerbated by the pandemic. Globally, universities have capitalized on age-friendly programs and practices to respond to rapid changes in age demographics, build more age-inclusive and intergenerational programming, and create new forms of support campus-wide. This symposium features campus leaders representing universities that have drawn on the Age-Friendly University (AFU) principles to generate new and creative forms of support and skill-building for students of all ages. These initiatives represent the diverse ways that AFU-based programs and practices can be utilized to respond to opportunities and challenges in higher education. Graf et al. will discuss how age and age-related bias impact adult learners’ experiences in the classroom, and ways to inform training programs for students, faculty, and staff. Felsted and Eaton will describe a GSA/AARP-funded grant initiative aimed at increasing access, inclusion, and support for older adult learning at the university, resulting in a partnership with Emeritus faculty to pursue the AFU designation. Hancock and Kutcher will describe how service-learning and intergenerational learning opportunities provide a meaningful space for students to develop realistic notions of their own aging experiences. Newsham et al. will discuss a virtual intergenerational mentoring project designed to improve social connectedness and well-being, to improve expectations regarding aging, and to decrease ageism. Terhune et al. will discuss campus-wide data used to assess the prevalence and impact of unpaid caregiving on students and will explore community and campus connections to better support students in caregiving roles.

UNDERSTANDING AND RESPONDING TO THE NEEDS OF STUDENT CAREGIVERS THROUGH THE AGE-FRIENDLY UNIVERSITY LENS

Abstract Caregiving has steadily increased over the years, with approximately 44 million individuals in the U.S. providing over 37 billion hours of unpaid, informal care for adult family members and friends with chronic illnesses or conditions that impact their functionality and daily activities. While much caregiving research has been completed over the years, research on student caregivers is scant, and less is known about the experiences and the needs of students in caregiving roles. This presentation examines data from a campus-wide survey to assess the prevalence and impact of unpaid caregiving on students. Utilizing the Age-Friendly University framework, this study aims to identify sources of unmet caregiving need, as well as community and campus connections to better support students in caregiving roles. Recommendations for assessing student caregiver needs and ways to generate and enhance caregiver support through the AFU lens will be highlighted.

Clinical Change Mechanisms in the Treatment of College Students With ADHD: Trajectories and Associations With Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to evaluate trajectories of response for the three theorized mechanisms of clinical change (knowledge, behavioral strategies, and adaptive thinking) associated with the Accessing Campus Connections and Empowering Student Success (ACCESS) intervention for college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and their association with treatment outcomes. Participants included 250 college students comprehensively diagnosed with ADHD randomly assigned to ACCESS or to a delayed-treatment control who completed ratings at baseline, end of active treatment, and end of the maintenance phase of treatment (after two semesters). Growth mixture models (GMMs) were used to evaluate trajectories. Participants in ACCESS made significant gains in the use of behavioral strategies and trajectories were associated with large effect size improvements in measures of symptoms and functioning. Participants also made improvements in ADHD knowledge. However, only the knowledge trajectory with rapid improvement displayed significantly better outcomes. Only one trajectory group showed improvement in adaptive thinking with most ACCESS participants remaining stable across time. However, adaptive thinking trajectories were strongly related to both symptom and functional outcomes. ACCESS is associated with large gains in two of the three theorized clinical mechanisms of change, behavioral strategies and ADHD knowledge. Rapid improvement in behavioral strategies was associated with robust improvement in symptoms and functioning. Although improvements in the third mechanism, adaptive thinking, were small, they were strongly associated with outcomes demonstrating the importance of a cognitive-behavioral approach in treating college students with ADHD.

Future campus connection: By design or by default

Now more than ever, tertiary educators should be able to answer the question, ‘why are we teaching on campus?’ Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, we, as a group of education design staff in the central learning and teaching unit at Massey University, started questioning the notion of campus as the default space for learning. In doing so, we discovered opportunities to: better support students’ diverse needs and life loads; operationalise transition pedagogies; and harness the specific learning experiences only a campus can provide, while embracing the affordances of modern technology to enhance learning. As our unit is well placed to surface these possibilities and advocate for change, the notion of intentional campus connection is a key theme in various projects with which we engage. Collaborative project work focused on intentional design allows for the learner and the learning task to be put at the centre of the experience. Why are campus attendance decisions made? What knowledge, skills, or values are students expected to experience or demonstrate during these campus sessions? Only when we ask exactly what teachers require students to demonstrate and/or experience can we then determine the space that best accommodates the learner and the task. In some cases, existing research on learning spaces can guide us – for example, self?paced (asynchronous) online learning is a flexible and effective way for students to engage with new core knowledge (Mullen, 2020; Ng, 2015; Petronzi & Petronzi, 2020; Reidsema et al., 2017) – and in others, we can often be guided by ethical considerations. We have observed two responses when the topic of selecting learning spaces is raised in projects. The first, most common, is the decision is made based on traditions and teacher-centered practices that have, in some contexts, a questionable role in contemporary learning environments, especially for mature, distance cohorts. These campus decisions often occur by default, when teaching teams work independently from educational design teams. The second response involves a design decision led by a need for students to engage in or evidence learning on campus as it cannot (easily) be achieved any other way. For example, they may need to access special facilities or resources (e.g., gain confidence and evidence readiness in a simulation lab before work-integrated-learning experiences), or participate in an occasion that cannot be replicated online (e.g., get the opportunity to find a project sponsor at a business networking event). Our collaboration with teaching teams is often the catalyst for robust discussions that, when successful, lead to campus connections that reflect modern, learner-centered, intentional approaches to learning design. Through examples of programme and course level design changes, this poster will explore the phased approaches, systemic and cultural challenges that authentic blended design surfaces, and the future opportunities that our work has uncovered on the path to encouraging intentional connections to campus.

A Toolkit for Advancing Age Inclusivity in Higher Education

The pioneering Age-Friendly University (AFU) initiative, endorsed by GSA’s Academy for Gerontology in Higher Education (AGHE), calls for institutions of higher education to respond to shifting demographics and the needs of our aging populations through more age-friendly programs, practices, and partnerships. Over 70 institutions have joined the AFU global network and adopted the 10 AFU guiding principles. In support of the initiative, a GSA-AGHE-AFU workgroup was organized to develop strategies to help GSA members and their campuses explore how they can be more age-inclusive and create pathways to joining the AFU network. One outcome of the workgroup’s efforts was the creation “Tools for Advancing Age Inclusivity in Higher Education”, designed with support from AARP. In this symposium, workgroup members describe this suite of tools which can be used by faculty, students, administrators, and other campus leaders. Montepare will introduce the symposium with an overview of the AFU network and the workgroup’s goals. Morrow-Howell and Schumacher will discuss tools for “Making the Case” with examples from efforts on their campuses. Porter and Bergman will describe tools for “Getting Started” and how campuses can begin to mobilize age-friendly efforts. Andreoletti and June will share tools for “Gaining Momentum” with tips for creating age-friendly campus connections and collaborations. Silverstein and Gugliucci will describe tools for “Assessing and Tracking Success” that can be used at any stage of the process for exploring a campus’s age-friendliness. Information about joining the AFU network will be provided.

Therapeutic Mentoring for Multiply Marginalized Youth: A Grounded Theory Study of Mentors’ Adaptation During the COVID-19 Crisis

The Campus Connections (CC) therapeutic youth mentoring program provides multiply marginalized youth with access to resources (e.g., highly trained undergraduate student mentors, therapeutic interventions) to thrive. In this study, the researchers investigated the distinctive encounter that mentors and their mentees within the CC program experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The qualitative data collected from the mentors’ weekly written reflections, and semi structured interviews were coded using Grounded Theory Method (GTM). Findings describe an adaptive process with three connecting themes of: Initial stress response of mentors, transition to online programming, and the mentorship process. The findings have important implications for youth mentoring programs using virtual platforms.

An RCT of a CBT Intervention for Emerging Adults with ADHD Attending College: Functional Outcomes

ABSTRACT Objective: The current study reports functional outcomes from a multi-site randomized trial of a cognitive-behavioral treatment program for college students diagnosed with ADHD. Methods: A sample of emerging adults (N = 250; ages 18 to 30) currently attending college were comprehensively evaluated and diagnosed with ADHD (M age = 19.7; 66% female, 6.8% Latino, 66.3% Caucasian). Participants were randomized to either a two-semester intervention (Accessing Campus Connections and Empowering Student Success (ACCESS)) or a delayed treatment condition. Participants were assessed with measures of academic, daily life, and relationship functioning prior to treatment, at the end of the first semester, and after the second semester of treatment. Results: Multi-group latent growth curve models revealed moderate effect size improvements on self-report measures of study skills and strategies, as well as on self-report measures of time management, daily functioning, and overall well-being for participants in ACCESS. Importantly, treatment effects were maintained or increased in some cases from the end of the first semester to the end of the second semester. Improvements in self-reported interpersonal functioning were not significantly different across condition and neither condition demonstrated significant change over time in educational record outcomes (GPA and number of credits earned). Conclusions: ACCESS appears to promote improvements in self-reported general well-being and functioning, time management, and study skills and strategies. However, improvements in interpersonal relationships and objective academic outcomes such as GPA were not observed. Clinical implications and future directions for treating ADHD on university and college campuses are discussed.

A randomized controlled trial examining CBT for college students with ADHD.

College students with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at increased risk for numerous educational and psychosocial difficulties. This study reports findings from a large, multisite randomized controlled trial examining the efficacy of a treatment for this population, known as ACCESS-Accessing Campus Connections and Empowering Student Success. ACCESS is a cognitive-behavioral therapy program delivered via group treatment and individual mentoring across two semesters. A total of 250 students (18-30 years of age, 66% female, 6.8% Latino, 66.3% Caucasian) with rigorously defined ADHD and comorbidity status were recruited from two public universities and randomly assigned to receive ACCESS immediately or on a 1-year delayed basis. Treatment response was assessed on three occasions, addressing primary (i.e., ADHD, executive functioning, depression, anxiety) and secondary (i.e., clinical change mechanisms, service utilization) outcomes. Latent growth curve modeling (LGCM) revealed significantly greater improvements among immediate ACCESS participants in terms of ADHD symptoms, executive functioning, clinical change mechanisms, and use of disability accommodations, representing medium to large effects (Cohen's d, .39-1.21). Across these same outcomes, clinical significance analyses using reliable change indices (RCI; Jacobson & Truax, 1992) revealed significantly higher percentages of ACCESS participants showing improvement. Although treatment-induced improvements in depression and anxiety were not evident from LGCM, RCI analyses indicated that immediate ACCESS participants were less likely to report a worsening in depression/anxiety symptoms. Findings from this RCT provide strong evidence in support of the efficacy and feasibility of ACCESS as a treatment for young adults with ADHD attending college. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Does Organizing Mentor-Mentee Matches into Small Groups Enhance Treatment Effects in a Site-Based Mentoring Program for Adolescents? Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

Formal youth mentoring is an effective intervention strategy for healthy development during adolescence. Modest and varied effects across programs, however, demonstrate a need to identify factors that can reliably improve outcomes for mentored youth. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to test the relative impact of embedding mentee-mentor matches in small groups on youth outcomes and to examine whether this effect was mediated by the quality of the program setting and mentoring relationship quality. Participants included 676 adolescents (Mage = 14.21, range = 11-18; 41.6% female) enrolled in Campus Connections, a site-based youth mentoring program. Most measured outcomes in both conditions (i.e., mentoring groups and a control condition in which pairs were not embedded in a group) were significantly better at post-intervention as compared to pre-intervention. The hypothesis that mentoring groups would have stronger impact, however, was not supported. The results imply that organizing mentor-mentee matches in small groups offer no advantage or disadvantage and that youth may be able to garner benefit from both structures.

Campus Connections: Student and Course Networks in Higher Education

Residential higher education brings thousands of students together for multiple years and offers them an array of shared intellectual experiences and a network of social interactions. Many of these intellectual and social connections are formed during courses. Students are connected to students through courses they take together, and courses are connected to one another by students who take both. These courses and the students who take them form a bipartite network that encodes information about campus structures and student experiences. Because all institutions of higher education collect and maintain precise records of what courses students take, it is possible to assemble a student-course network that quantitatively describes the interactions among students and courses. We provide an example that demonstrates the identification of courses effective at creating unique connections among students and reveals how students and majors can be strongly connected or dispersed. We show how social network analysis can be used to improve our understanding of the learning environment at the University of Michigan, and we hope that this kind of analysis is of interest to persons at other institutions.

Community engagement: mentor beliefs across training and experience

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this quantitative study was to understand how training and the development of the mentoring relationship impacts mentor beliefs across time within a therapeutic mentoring program called Campus Connections, a community engagement program that pairs university undergraduate and graduate students with youth from the local community in a mentoring relationship for an academic semester. Specifically, we studied how mentor beliefs are constructed at the start of the mentoring program, how these beliefs shift after four weeks of training, and how mentor beliefs change after participating in the mentoring process during an academic semester. Results indicated mentors held unhelpful mentoring beliefs prior to training and that training combined with the mentoring relationship created a positive impact on mentoring beliefs. Implications for the mentoring relationship and community engagement programs are discussed based on the trajectory of mentor beliefs within the study.

Mentor's Self-Efficacy Trajectories During a Mentoring Program for At-Risk Adolescents.

The concept of self-efficacy is dynamic and may change over time. Mentors of youth exposed to risk factors are likely to experience shifts in the degree to which they feel confident in their ability to form a positive mentoring bond with their mentee, potentially affecting the quality of the relationship. Based on previous literature, mentors' personality traits, their perceptions of positive mentee behaviors, and youth risk may influence changes in mentor self-efficacy over time. Our study includes 238 adolescents aged 11-18years and their mentors who were recruited for a randomized controlled trial of a mentoring-based intervention for at-risk adolescents, known as Campus Connections. We used latent class growth analysis to identify mentor subgroups with different self-efficacy trajectories. Three subgroups emerged: mentors relatively high in self-efficacy throughout the mentoring relationship, the stable group; those high in self-efficacy at the beginning of the relationship and increasingly so, the increasing group; and those moderately high in self-efficacy and decreasingly so, the decreasing group. Greater mentor conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness were associated with greater likelihood of belonging to the increasing group relative to the decreasing group. Greater mentor emotionality was associated with greater likelihood of belonging to the decreasing relative to the increasing group. Mentors and mentees were also more likely to report having a positive mentoring alliance in the increasing relative to the decreasing group. We found that mentor personality traits play an important role in how mentors perceive their ability to serve as a mentor, which may have implications for mentor recruitment and training in programs designed for at-risk youth.

An old story, a new voice: Tertiary education in the Bay of Plenty region

In this article, I first critique neoliberal effects on the Aotearoa New Zealand tertiary education sector and then provide a close-up look at tertiary education in the Bay of Plenty region. Information is based on aspects of my doctoral research which was located across three tertiary education organisations comprising the Bay of Plenty Tertiary Education Partnership: The University of Waikato, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology and, Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. The findings of this research examine connections across the partnership, delving into relevant aspects of universities, polytechnics and wānanga. I evaluate the historical, geographical, political and socio-cultural context of all three institutions. Lastly, I discuss campus connections between the partnership organisations. The emerging picture reveals an old story of expansion and growth with a new voice of tension between collaboration and competition in the face of a neoliberal education context. This article offers timely implications for contemporary and future University of Waikato campus connections and may appeal to academics, graduate students, policymakers and the general public.

From the playing field to the classroom: The academic challenges for NCAA Division I athletes

ABSTRACTStudent-athlete graduation rates have significantly increased in recent years, with the NCAA believing their retention and graduation rates now outpace the general college student population. Even with these promising changes, student-athletes still face a litany of academic challenges during their higher education experience. The purpose of this study is to overview these academic challenges and provide potential remedies for universities and athletic department to assist student-athletes during their educational journey. The challenges reviewed in this study include: athletic identity, admissions, first-year experience, student-athlete relationship with the athletic department, academic clustering and time constraints, stereotypes of student-athletes, and student-athlete burnout. Recommendations include improving campus connections, both inside and outside the athletic department, establishing an academic advising model for athletic advisors, and implementing a summer bridge program for incoming student-athletes.

Youth Risk and Mentoring Relationship Quality: The Moderating Effect of Program Experiences.

Because program experiences are more amendable than mentor or mentee characteristics, they may be important factors to consider in buffering the negative impact of youth risk on the quality of the mentor-mentee bond. Data from 455 mentees (ages 11-18; 57% male) and their undergraduate student mentors (82.3% female) from the Campus Connections mentoring program were used to assess whether youth risk and mentors' program experiences (i.e., program structure, supportive relationships with staff, opportunities for skill building, support for efficacy and mattering, and opportunities to belong) were associated with mentoring relationship quality and whether mentors' experience within the program moderated the association between youth risk and mentoring relationship quality. Results indicated that environmental, but not individual, risk was negatively associated with relationship quality. Mentors' experiences with the program were positively associated with mentoring relationship quality, and in many cases, above and beyond youth level of risk. Finally, mentors' perception of program structure, supportive relationships, and opportunities for skill building attenuated the negative relationship between environmental, but not individual, risk and relationship quality. Mentors' experiences of program support for efficacy and mattering and opportunities to belong were not significant moderators in any model. Implications for programs and future research directions are presented.

A Qualitative Analysis of Mentee Experiences in a Campus-Based Mentoring Program

Preventing first-time offending youth from repeating delinquent behavior is of interest to society. Empirical evidence indicates that high-quality mentoring can prevent a wide array of negative outcomes for at-risk youth. This study examines the perspectives of 87 first-time offending youth, ages 10 to 18 years (M = 15), who participated in Campus Connections: Therapeutic Mentoring of At-Risk Youth. Through in-depth individual interviews, youth reported that mentoring helped them: (a) improve school experiences and performance, (b) create healthier relationships, (c) feel better about themselves, (d) think more positively about their future, and (e) decrease engagement in delinquency. The mentees attributed program components as well as the relationship with their mentor as important. These program components can be integrated into other mentoring programs.

Parallel lives: Two Penn State campuses launch 3-D printing

Penn State-Hazleton and Penn State- Wilkes-Barre are two of Penn State’s 24 campuses, both located in Northeastern Pennsylvania, offering similar baccalaureate four-year degree programs. There are also several associate degree programs; however, many students take advantage of Penn State’s “2+2 Degree Plan,” in which students spend the first two years of study at one Penn State campus and then transition to the main campus at University Park or another campus for the remaining two years. Because of the mobile student body, students and faculty often have difficulty engaging academically with others outside the classroom. The addition of 3-D printing at both campus libraries has proved to be an excellent way to increase campus connections.