The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 1 - 94

Kathleen Buell * Vaughn Love * Christina Yao

Consistency in the student
experience between different LCs
is one common challenge for UNL
learning community staff . Ensuring
a high-quality experience for LC
students depends in large part on
the engagement and dedication of
the faculty and staff sponsors .

to reduce as many barriers as possible in order
to maximize participation. First, cost often
serves as an obstacle for student participation.
As the costs of tuition, room and board, and
miscellaneous fees continue to rise, additional
fees to participate in an LLP can seem insurmountable. At UNL, students pay a $95 fee to
participate in an LC, which is one of the lowest
yearly fees for an LLP among peer institutions.
Excluding specific and narrow circumstances
such as regional educational trips involving
travel, students are not expected to pay outof-pocket for any LC experience. The LC staff
work closely with faculty and staff sponsors
and student mentors to ensure that activities
do not place any additional financial burden
on students. Student and family feedback,
both anecdotally and in assessment, on the low
cost of participating in LCs at UNL has been
positive. Ensuring that cost does not prohibit
student participation, UNL has made strides in
broadening student participation in LCs.
UNL's learning community program
models many best practices in LLPs; however,
94

there are also areas of improvement worth
noting that may affect many other institutions across the country. As indicated by the
literature, participation in LLPs by underrepresented student populations can lead to greater
academic and social success (Inkelas et al.,
2007; Pasque & Murphy, 2005). Recently, UNL
enrolled its most diverse student body in the
fall of 2016, with 13.4% of students identifying
as students of color (University of Nebraska
Office of Institutional Research, Analytics,
and Decision Support, 2016). While the LC
program at UNL is making gains in this area,
its student population does not yet reflect the
university's demographic makeup. In order to
address this gap, greater focus has been placed
on recruitment, particularly by participating in
university recruitment events that have a high
attendance by students of color, as well as other
underrepresented populations on campus. As
the university diversifies, the LC office is challenged to recruit more students of color into
the program and thereby better reflect the
student population on campus.
Consistency in the student experience
between different LCs is one common challenge for UNL learning community staff.
Ensuring a high-quality experience for LC
students depends in large part on the engagement and dedication of the faculty and staff
sponsors. Due to variations in sponsor support
and student engagement, some LCs have different levels of programmatic consistency
than others, especially in terms of frequency
of programming and sponsor interaction. Additionally, although most LCs are centered on
one particular topic, career, or academic interest, such as psychology or music, other LCs
are organized around broader themes, such

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 1

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