Talking Stick - January/February 2011 - 16

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Civics Lesson
By Lisa hickey

Statistics show that purposeful programming can increase the humanitarianism of students.
Diverse Interactions — To what degree have you: To what extent has living in on-campus housing enhanced your ability to: Respect other races/ethnicities
4% 11% 45% 47% 3% 29% 68% 44% 2% 29% 69% 3% 64%

Not at all (Resp 1,2) Moderately (Resp 3,4,5)

Interacted with residents who differ from you (i.e.: race/ethnicity, beliefs, etc..) Apartment Assessment
10% 44% 46% 3%

Benefitted from interactions with residents who differ from you (i.e.: race/ethnicity, beliefs, etc..)
11% 41%

Religious beli

Extremely (Resp 6,7)

32%

Resident Assessment

64%

33%

60%

37%

Source: EBI

ACUh O

011 -I 2
SSUE

CROWDSOUR

Inspired by Neil Buddel, University of Alberta; Michael Kavulic, Syracuse University

Residence life professionals share a mission to promote the personal development of college students on their campuses. Recent events related to social intolerance have heightened institutional commitment to initiate programming that increases student humanitarianism and civic engagement. The dilemma is how to determine the most effective method to positively impact student civility. On several college and university campuses, housing departments have monitored the correlation between student housing and the levels of civic engagement in students. They have accomplished this through implementation of the ACUHO-I/EBI Resident and Apartment Benchmarking Assessments, based on CAS professional standards, which ask students to rate their understanding and appreciation of cultural and human differences. The assessments include survey questions focused on a student’s sense of social and civic responsibility as well as their global perspective. When comparing the results of these assessments, some interesting observations come to light. According to the aggregate data culled

from the 2010 ACUHO-I/EBI Resident and Apartment Assessments, approximately twothirds of students living in residence halls and approximately half of apartment residents recognize a correlation between their living environment and their exposure to diversity. Residential students were asked to rate their diverse interactions on campus and whether or not living on campus has enhanced their ability to respect other races and ethnicities. The 2010 data show that 69 percent of students living in residence halls strongly believe that their living environment improved their capacity to respect those who are different from them. In comparison, 45 percent of students residing in on-campus apartment housing felt the same way. Students living in residence halls also reported higher levels of interactions with residents who are different than did their classmates residing in campus apartments. Armed with the valuable information provided by the ACUHO-I/EBI Assessments, two institutions have established residence hall programs that have statistically shown a positive impact in this important area.

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Talking Stick - January/February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - January/February 2011
