On-campus Residence Research Articles

Benefits of Campus Transit Pass: Study of Students' Willingness to Pay for Proposed Mandatory Transit Pass Program

The problem of estimating the expected net benefits of an unlimited-access campus transit pass, which would also fund an increase in critically needed services, is an example of the problem of estimating the value of a public good. Students at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, used a referendum-format contingent valuation survey to measure students' willingness to pay (WTP) for a mandatory transit pass. Responses by 935 students (a 44.7% response rate) were analyzed with censored logistic regression and revealed a mean WTP of $32.08 per academic quarter (corrected for estimated self-selection bias) for the proposed program. The program could actually be provided by contract with the local transit agency for $20.00 per student per quarter. Thus the estimated net benefit per student per quarter is $12.59, or $428, 624 across the campus population. On-campus residents and those who commute via bus or bicycle showed higher WTP. WTP was substantially lower for those who live more than 10...

Availability of Emergency Contraceptive Pills at University and College Student Health Centers

The author used the stages of change model to determine how ready student health centers at surveyed universities and colleges were to make emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) available to students. Of the 358 centers that responded. 52.2% offered ECPs and 47.8% did not. The benefits of offering ECPs were listed as pregnancy prevention, the opportunity to introduce students to traditional contraception methods, and students' appreciation. Barriers to offering ECPs included institutions' religious affiliations, clinic and administrative staff objections, inability to prescribe or dispense medications, fear of liability, concern that ECPs would undermine students' use of traditional contraception methods, and no expressed need. Whether ECPs were available was associated with demographic characteristics of the institutions that responded, including geographic region, type of institution, size of student population, and students' status as commuter or on-campus residents.

Health-Related Variables and Academic Performance Among First-Year College Students: Implications for Sleep and Other Behaviors

The authors analyzed the effect of several health behaviors and health-related variables on grade point averages of a random sample of 200 students living in on-campus residence halls at a large private university. The set of variables included exercise, eating, and sleep habits; mood states; perceived stress; time management; social support; spiritual or religious habits; number of hours worked per week; gender; and age. Of all the variables considered, sleep habits, particularly wake-up times, accounted for the largest amount of variance in grade point averages. Later wake-up times were associated with lower average grades. Variables associated with the 1st-year students' higher grade point averages were strength training and study of spiritually oriented material. The number of paid or volunteer hours worked per week was associated with lower average grades.

Predictors of Vaccination Rates During a Mass Meningococcal Vaccination Program on a College Campus

Factors contributing to students' compliance with mass vaccination programs during meningococcal outbreaks have not been well described. A 1997 mass vaccination campaign at Michigan State University provided an opportunity to study such factors. Of 34 024 students in the target population, 17 538 (51.5%) were vaccinated in 5 days. Vaccination rates were higher for women (47.9%) than for men (43.1 %) and higher for on-campus residents (65.3%) than for off-campus residents (35.6%). For each year of students' age beyond 19, the adjusted odds of vaccination were reduced by 0.82. Adjusted odds ratios for vaccination, with White students as the reference group at 1.0, were 1.33 for Asian American students, 0.97 (not significant) for Hispanic students, 0.82 for African American students, and 0.80 for Native American students. Students from the Colleges of Business, Engineering, Communication, and Natural Science had the highest vaccination rates; those from the College of Arts and Letters had the lowest rates.

Risk of meningococcal infection in college students.

The number of meningococcal outbreaks on college campuses have been increasing in the past few years. However, no published studies have documented the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection in college students or whether the incidence is higher than in the general population of the same age. To compare the incidence of invasive meningococcal infection in Maryland college students with that of the general population of the same age. Retrospective cohort study. Maryland residents with meningococcal infection from 1992-1997 identified from active, laboratory-based, statewide surveillance for invasive meningococcal disease. Incidence of invasive meningococcal infection. Of 228 patients with invasive meningococcal infection, 67 were aged 16 to 30 years; 11 and 3 of these attended Maryland 4- and 2-year colleges, respectively. Of these, 12 (86%) had infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroups included in the current meningococcal vaccine. The average annual incidence was 1.74 per 100000 among students in 4-year schools vs 1.44 per 100000 for the general population of the same age (P=.60). Among students in 4-year schools, the incidence was 3.24 per 100000 in on-campus residents vs 0.96 per 100000 in off-campus residents (relative risk, 3.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-11.6; P=.05). The incidence of meningococcal infection in college students is similar to the incidence in the general population of the same age, but college students residing on campus appear to be at higher risk than those residing off campus.

War and Its Surrogates: Male Combat Sports and Women's Roles

War and the military life have traditionally been perceived in most cultures as a sacrosanct ex-periental world devoted to masculine maturation and bonding. By definition both these traditionally male organizations have until now excluded women, treating them as objects to be despised (if not feared), and also the target of active opposition. Note, for instance, the gleeful celebrations among cadets when Shannon L. Faulkner, the first woman admitted (after court order) to The Citadel, a single-sex military college in Charleston, SC, decided after one week in August 1995 that she could not survive the harassment, hi refusing to admit her the institution had claimed that her presence ‘would undermine a proud and legitimate tradition dedicated to molding the minds, bodies and spirits of young men’. The counter argument was that she was being denied equal opportunity to take part in ‘a unique academic environment that requires on-campus residence and that is being built around a system of hardship, competition and bonding, […and] also a lifetime of countless, less tangible benefits’. Such was also the basis of the US Supreme Court's majority opinion written by Ruth Bader Ginsberg (1996) mandating the admission of women to the Virginia Military Institute. Though now federal government supported service academies admit women, nostalgia still exists in certain quarters for the days when the comment, ‘If the army had wanted you to have a wife, they would have issued you one’ summed up the distinctly peripheral position held by wives, who were, and are still, classified as ‘dependants’. But now women are in the United States Armed Forces, in command positions and certain combat units, as well as in the medical corps. The transition is difficult.

The Effects of On-Campus Residence on First-Time College Students

The authors examine the influence of on-campus residence, as compared with off-campus residence, on academic performance, academic progress, and retention.

Home 11: preparing chronic mental patients for on-campus living.

One of the major challenges the public mental health system faces today is the development of an adequate continuum of supportive residences for chronic mentally ill patients. The relatively large step from inpatient ward to traditional community residence represents a crucial gap in this continuum. One New York State facility, South Beach Psychiatric Center (3,4), has narrowed the gap with a series of on-campus residences that provide almost as much structure as open inpatient wards. Home 11 , the training site for a developing campus residence system at Rockland Psychiatric Center, closes this gap from the inpatient side, providing a protected inpatient environment that offers almost as much freedom as a community residence. On-campus residences provide the potential for more effective discharge planning for chronic mental patients. Patients can move back into the community in an orderly manner with the on-campus housing available as backup. For more fragile or difficult patients, long-term supportive r...

Independent Study Degree Programs At Syracuse University

What do a grandmother from Connecticut, a lobster restaurant owner from Maine, and an assistant foodservice director of a 500-bed hospital from New York City have in common ? They are all pursuing their Bachelor of Science Degrees in Food systems Management at Syracuse University taking advantage of an innova tive approach to education called the Independent Study Degree Program (ISDP). The ISDP format combines two elements: an intensive one-week, on-campus residence, and a variety of individual learning activities that the working professional completes at home. This approach allows the working professionals to continue their full-time management positions, while still pursuing the B.S. degrees. The only alternative for completing the bachelor's degree would be taking one or two night courses each semester for the next ten years. One of the keygoals of the program is for the participants to gain a clearerinsight into the elements necessary for success in hospitality management. This is accomplished through course work with faculty in the Food Management Program as well as seniorfacultyfrom the distinguished School of Management. Throughout the semester the students andfaculty are in contact via telephone, letters, electronic mail, and even videos. The primary benefit of this innovative approach to education is that the working manager can immediately apply the new knowledge to the job. Since many of the students have an associate's degree it is realistic for them as working professionals to complete their bachelor's degree in two to three years. Syracuse University has had an active Independent Study Degree since 1966 and all ISDP programs are fully accredited by Middle States and the prestigious Association ofAmerican Universities. At the present time, Food Systems Manage ment ISDP students join seven other studies of program including those working professionals pursuing M.B.A. degrees. The total number of students enrolled in ISDP is over 2, 000 with students coming from most states in the country and from over 20 foreign countries. For more information about this innovative approach to education contact: Robert Colley, Director, ISDP-Syracuse University, 301 Reid Hall, 610 E. Fayette Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13244-6020; phone: (315) 443-3269; FAX: (315) 443-1928.

Density, Expectation, and Extended Task Performance

The effects of density and expectation on academic performance and ratings of spatial and social satisfaction were investigated. Ss were all volunteers who resided in on-campus residence halls in one of two arrangements: high density,' three students sharing a dormitory room, and low density, the conventional two students per dormitory room. Subjects' responses to a questionnaire determined their placement in either the confirmed or disconfirmed expectation category. Grade point averages and satisfaction measures compiled during the academic quarter were significantly negatively affected by exposure to density. A second study replicated the results, demonstrating that density led to both greater dissatisfaction and more frequent avoidance responses.