Talking Stick - January/February 2014 - 50

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NOW STARRING: SOPHOMORES

continuing students.
Tyler Crisman, who directs the
residential colleges at NYU, explains
that "the residential college program
allows students to develop relationships
in their first year, but continue them
through the second year and beyond in
a supportive residential setting." The
residential colleges house first-year
students with some common courses,
shared academic advising opportunities,
and engagement with live-in faculty.
The residential college permits students
in good standing based on student
involvement to directly matriculate to
the upper-division residential college
program which houses multiple
faculty-in-residence families and faculty
affiliates associated with the program,
provides multiple service-learning
opportunities, and cultivates a greater
sense of self-governance by students.
"The residential college challenges
students to own their experience, but in
a way that makes a large university and
city more intimate, creating a liberal arts
college within an enterprise university,"
Crisman says. NYU also gives secondyear students priority in room selection
so the sophomore cohort has an
opportunity to live in similar residence
halls during their second year. NYU
supports students with programming
and increased interactions with facultyin-residence and theme communities in
the second and upper-division years.

UNIVERSITY OF
SAN DIEGO
The University of San Diego (USD) in
California also champions second-year
students through partnerships including
residential life, special interest theme
communities, academic counterparts,
and study abroad opportunities. USD
is an independent Roman Catholic
institution in the Pacific Southwest,
and most of the second-year students
live in the Alcalá Vistas Apartments,
where they are introduced to varied
specific sophomore year programs;
challenged to participate in the Alcalá
Vistas House Cup Competition, which
creates incentive for programmatic
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TALKING STICK

participation; and housed in interest
areas organized around sustainability,
faith, and the university's honors
program with campus partner support.
The Second-Year Experience Abroad
program at USD is a very popular
experience for second-year students that
is coordinated through the offices of
international education, student affairs,
and academic affairs. Approximately
150-200 second-year students travel
abroad with faculty and university
administrators each January in order to
complete a three-credit course housed
within the core curriculum. Courses
offered in SYE Abroad address language,
culture, and theology. Destinations
include Florence, Italy; Seville,
Spain; and Hong Kong, China. Many
opportunities are created for students
to connect both before the study
abroad experience and after (through
International Education Week and
social reunions). SYE Abroad may also
provide USD students with the chance
to pursue longer periods of time abroad
after the SYE intersession course. USD
is currently ranked third nationally by
the Institute of International Education
for the percentage of students studying
abroad - more than 86 percent annually.
Professional staff and faculty at USD
cooperate in order to support secondyear students in regard to persistence.
Merrick Marino, assistant dean for
the Center for Student Success, says
that retention is an institutional goal
addressed through multiple efforts and
programs, including the SYE Abroad
program and staple programs involving
residential life at USD. The Center for
Student Success also collaborated with
residential life, athletics, and academic
units in following up on midterm
deficiencies, under-enrollment by
credits, registration concerns, and other
academic challenges. Retention of
students persisting from the first year
through the third has made substantive
gains every year since 2005.

THE COLLEGE
OF NEW JERSEY
Support for second-year students provides

housing perks on some campuses. The
College of New Jersey (TCNJ) in Ewing
Township houses students by cohort
and guarantees housing for first- and
second-year students. According to Tina
Tomey, assistant director of residential
education, "The residential experience in
the first two years is paramount at TCNJ
and forms the residential experience at
the college." TCNJ is a highly selective
state-supported institution serving
undergraduate students largely from
the Mid-Atlantic region. The college's
cohort model allows residential education
to train professional and student staff
accordingly (first-year experience,
sophomore year, and upper-division).
Cohort groups can determine structured,
intentional conversations between RAs
and residents based on developmental
needs.

THE VALUE OF
COMMUNICATION AND
COLLABORATION
Addressing the needs of sophomoreyear students requires specific and
targeted communication, and unique
communication with second-year
students is well received. USC Columbia
and USD begin with sending students
a hard copy newsletter in the summer
between their first and second year. Each
institution uses electronic means to
address the cohort once they arrive on
campus. In addition, TCNJ uses Twitter
and Facebook to communicate about
sophomore-specific programs, tips, and
reminders.
Second-year student success is
collaborative at many ACUHO-I
member institutions across the country.
Collaboration between varying units,
divisions, and programs helps to better
meet students' needs, and aligning
sophomore-specific programs with
institutional goals and practices not only
creates partnerships across campus but
also helps the experience feel more fluid
and intentional for students. TS

Luke LaCroix

is the associate director of
residential life at the University
of San Diego in California.
Talking Stick - January/February 2014

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