Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 2 - 47

the group, as some cohorts at this point have lost a few community members due
to financial or academic reasons. The cocurricular programs represent a distinguishing
characteristic of Cabrini University's LLCs, demonstrating the faculty's commitment
to helping their students make the transition from high school to college while
building a lasting community with them.
THE PINNACLE
To achieve the highest level, the pinnacle of the Best Practices Model, Inkelas and
colleagues (2018) explain that " all of the lower levels of the pyramid must be satisfied "
with " all facets of the LLC . . . emanat[ing] from the LLC goals and objectives " (p. 83).
All BPM blocks must be integrated, and this integration strengthens the individual
building blocks that establish the larger pyramid (Inkelas et al., 2018). The pinnacle of
the BPM pyramid
. . . serves to remind LLC leadership and practitioners that the effective strength of the LLC
lies not in the individual " blocks " in the pyramid but in the extent to which they integrate
to form a comprehensive and cohesive living and learning environment. (Inkelas et al.,
2018, p. 88)
The final aspect of the BPM is the mortar between the bricks, which is representative
of the assessment that is vital to evaluating all facets of the LLC. Assessment plays a
pivotal role in driving the learning, instruction, and program evaluation in higher education
and, in the process, provides a direct look into faculty values and student minds
(Boix Mansilla, 2009). A shared conceptual language that describes the core qualities
of sound academic work is of the utmost importance to shed light on individual student
work (Boix Mansilla, 2005). As faculty shift from viewing their teaching as a private
endeavor to seeing it as a shared experience with LC colleagues, the process of
designing integrative assignments becomes a collaborative experience. Lardner and
Malnarich (2009) explain that ongoing faculty inquiry is critical to creating deep
change and that participation in ongoing assessment is a necessity to give coherence
to the curriculum. At Cabrini University, these guiding principles have driven the
assessment processes to evaluate the LLCs.
Utilizing AAC&U's Integrative Learning VALUE Rubric (2009), each of the LLCs
represented here shares three learning outcomes that are rooted in integrative learning
and closely mirror three distinct variables in this rubric: self-reflection and assessment,
connections to experience, and connections to disciplines and courses. These three
shared learning outcomes drove the development of an annual assessment process that
An academically supportive climate is more likely to stimulate academic
conversations in the residence halls when students return to their living
quarters, which contributes to students collaborating on coursework
in residence, at times yelling down the hall to one another about
LLC courses and assignments.
Volume 48, No. 2 * 2022 47

Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 2