The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2 - 86

Jesse Kokaua * Tasileta Teevale * Jacques van der Meer * Ala Teu * Stephen Scott * Mele Taumoepeau * Ana Hoseit

For both Pacific and non-Pacific
first-year students, an apparent
beneficial association with first-year
residential college accommodation
is represented by increased
second-year retention and degree
completion rates . However,

to pass all first-year papers .

*	 First-year success: First-year grade point
average (FYGPA, see Appendix A for
definition), the proportion of students
who passed at least half of papers taken
in their first year of study, and a similar
proportion for passing all first-year papers
are used as indicators of academic
success.

tenure of residence lasted only for the first year
of enrollment (Scott, van der Meer, & Clark,
2010). Their findings suggested that the longterm academic benefits for Māori students
extended beyond simply providing a place to
stay for their first year of study. The residential
colleges at Otago provide them with a learning
community, peer support, and pseudo-parental
guidance in their first year away from home.

*	 Retention rate: calculated by the sum
of the number of students enrolled in
a bachelor's degree program in a given
year and the number of students who
have completed their bachelor's degree
all divided by the number of students
enrolled in the initial enrollment year.
Attrition, in a given year, is given by
1 minus the retention rate.

residential accommodation had a
limited effect upon students' ability

The purpose of this study is to investigate
whether these findings extend to Pacific students and to assess whether living in a residential college has a significant positive effect on
the academic success of Pacific students at the
University of Otago.

METHODS
Institutional Data
Student cohort data. Institutional data
on seven cohorts of first-year students from
2007 to 2013 (28,155 students, excluding in86

ternational students, with 761 self-identified
as being members of indigenous Pacific ethnic
groups) were extracted from the University of
Otago administration database and followed
for up to six years to examine first-year pass
rates, retention, and five-year bachelor degree
completion rates. The definitions for indicators of first-year success, subsequent years'
retention (attrition), and completion and progression are as follows (Scott, 2005):

*	 Completion rate: calculated by the
number of students who have completed
their bachelor's degree divided by the
number of students enrolled in the initial
enrollment year.

Socio-economic ratings. These were measured by the New Zealand Ministry of Education school socio-economic ranking which is
based upon the social, demographic, and economic characteristics of the communities that
contribute to each school's roll (Ministry of
Education, 2015).

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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