The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2 - 24

Kane P. Mach * Sarah R. Gordon * Katie Tearney * Leon McClinton, Jr.

. . . while FIT participants are
required to attend events each
semester that are designed to help
develop professional skills and
explore new career opportunities,
it is clear that simply living in the
same hall as other students with
similar majors and career goals
was in itself an important learning
experience .

to easing the students' transition to college, exposing them to new experiences, and helping
them create bonds with new people. Participants in this study acknowledged that being
part of the LLP helped them be more engaged
and involved on campus and in the community, a finding also underscored in the literature
(Brower & Inkelas, 2010; Zhao & Kuh, 2004).
Finally, participants recognized that the FIT
program provided them with opportunities to
interact with faculty and that they were more
comfortable interacting with faculty in and out
of the classroom as a result of their experiences
in the LLP; this finding is also supported by
previous research on LLPs where faculty were
involved in the program (Armstrong, 1999;
Stier, 2014; Zhao & Kuh, 2004).
This study also revealed some new and interesting findings. First, participants in the LLP
in this study had an overall GPA that was statis-
tically significantly lower (X = 3.01) than those
24

in the comparison group (X = 3.11). However,
it should be noted that while LLP participants'
GPA was lower, it is still an acceptable GPA
and also still falls within the 3.0 GPA requirement of the program. Further, this finding also
may be interpreted with the understanding
that involvement in extracurricular and cocurricular activities requires balance on the part
of the student. In fact, one participant noted,
"I feel like sometimes all the expectations that
we have take away from time that I could be
spending on homework." New college students are learning to manage the demands on
their time, which may help explain some of the
difference in GPA between those who did and
didn't participate in the FIT program. Further,
as colleges and universities continue to focus
on strategies to manage enrollment and retain
students (Purdie & Rosser, 2011), the positive
outcomes associated with student involvement
(such as retention, persistence, and timely
graduation) may outweigh GPA in terms of the
central focus of university resources. More research should be done to explore how involvement in cocurricular programs may influence
GPA, as well as how involvement may impact
student success in ways other than improving
students' GPA.
This study also makes an important contribution to the literature on LLPs with regard
to the influence of LLP participation on career
development. Students in this study reiterated repeatedly that being involved in the LLP
gave them the opportunity to be around and
observe other students with similar academic
and career trajectories. They learned from
those experiences, which resulted in academic
benefits such as study skills, as well as the development of professional skills such as how

T h e J o u r n a l o f C o l l e g e a n d U n i v e r s i t y St u d e n t H o u s i n g

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2

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