The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2 - 32

William R. Frazier * Myron A. Eighmy

In a study conducted by the Ofﬁce of Academic Planning & Assessment (2001) at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst, three
sets of variables were used as indicators of
the success of learning communities: quality
of academic experiences in the ﬁrst semester,
ﬁrst-semester grade point average (GPA), and
one-year retention (the number of students
who return to the university their second year).
Participation in a living-learning community
at UMass Amherst had a positive effect on
students' academic experiences and ultimate
success. Students in learning communities
had more informed contact with faculty. Firstyear students had higher grade point averages
after their ﬁrst semesters and were more likely
to return to school their second year than were
students not living in learning communities.
Inkelas and Weisman (2003) compared
students' experiences in three different livinglearning programs at a Midwestern university
and compared that to a control sample from
the same institution. There were seven livinglearning programs at the university that were
clustered together into three themed groups.
The researchers compared the outcomes of

students participating in the living-learning
programs with those not participating and
investigated whether participation in the programs fostered student engagement. They
found that participation in a living-learning
program had a positive impact on students'
overall experience at the institution; these
students were more involved in many of the
activities that are central to a living-learning
program's success.
There are many beneﬁts in creating and
implementing a successful learning community. Students begin to develop a connection
with one another, the faculty and staff, the
university, and the community as a whole. As
they begin to see more success, they are able
to make a connection in other aspects of their
lives and are willing to put forth the extra effort
to succeed and become active participants in
their educational process. "A highly involved
student is one who, for example, devotes
considerable energy to studying, spends a lot
of time on campus, participates actively in
student organizations, and interacts frequently with faculty members and other students"
(Astin, 1985, p. 134).

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
Having student staff at the
same level (or in the same
position) as those participating
in the learning community
allowed for more successful
programs and activities.
32

The wellness learning community was evaluated in 2008 after its ﬁrst year of operation.
Results indicated that student satisfaction with
the wellness learning community was not signiﬁcantly different than it was for the samehall control group and was signiﬁcantly lower
than student satisfaction with two other academic residential learning communities: architecture/engineering and pharmacy (Frazier,
2009). The purpose of the present study was
to determine if the changes that were made to

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 42, No. 2

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