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The current study examines the moderating effect of supportive campus environment on the relationship between cultural diversity and students’ sense of belonging in a university in South Africa.

An online survey was designed and used to gather data from a sample of 2,026 registered undergraduate students. Using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 software, the data gathered were analysed by way of hierarchical regression analysis.

Results of the hierarchical regression analysis revealed that supportive campus environment and cross-cultural interaction serve as strong predictors of students’ sense of belonging. Furthermore, a simple slope analysis showed that supportive campus environment enhance: the positive relationship between cross-cultural interaction and students’ sense of belonging; and the positive relationship between students’ interaction with diverse peers and their sense of belonging.

This study addresses important knowledge and practical gaps in the relationship between supportive campus environment, cultural diversity and students’ sense of belonging in higher education. The results further highlight the significance of institutional structures, policies and practices that aim at enhancing students’ sense of belonging and reducing possible feeling of otherlings that arise due to a lack of supportive campus structures.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between supportive campus measures and student learning outcomes for first-generation students and non-first generation students to determine if variances are present. A lack of social capital of first generation when compare to non-first-generation students is theorized to be a contributing factor driving differences between the two groups.

Research survey design using penalized regression methods to quantify differences between groups. The analysis used 10 years of student engagement data.

Final analysis showed that first-generation student outcomes had little to no significant connection with the administrative focused aspects of the campus environment as compared to non-first-generation that represented highly significant relationships. This results supports the theory that first-generation students may simply be unaware of how to leverage these resources do to social capital disadvantages.

The result suggests that universities should reconsider first-generation programs to ensure that they have the capability to address first-generation students’ lack of social capital. The primary method by which social capital is generated is through networking or peer groups expansion. Consequently, first-generation students might benefit greatly from student mentors that are not first-generation students to help aid in the transition to college as compared to participating in programs that group and isolate first-generation students together.

Very few studies have attempted to use social capital as a theoretical framework to explain differences in how first-generation and non-first-generation student learning outcomes relate to campus engagement variables. Moreover, no studies have used both penalized regression and bootstrap validation in addressing this issue, making the study original in design and analysis.

Following recent calls for partner institutions to address the seeming weaknesses in transnational education (TNE) delivery especially in host institutions, this article was developed to generate new insights into how student engagement could explain perceived gains in TNE in a host university in Ghana.

A quantitative research design was used to gather and analyse data from students (n = 197) who were enrolled in different masters' programmes with three different TNE partners from Europe. We relied on a survey to collect data from participants who were sampled by way of simple random sampling method. Consequently, the data was analysed using structural equation modelling.

Results revealed that the psychological, behavioural and sociocultural perspectives of student engagement have positive effect on students' perceived gains in TNE. Across the findings, student–lecturer engagement, student' assessment, students' sense of belonging and peer engagement demonstrated strong positive effect on students' perceived gains in TNE. The study further revealed that a supportive campus environment and cross-cultural interaction among students enhance students' sense of belonging.

The findings of this article add to an emerging body of literature that suggest that student engagement provides rich information for enhancing the experiences of students who enrol in TNE programmes. Additionally, by integrating supportive campus environment as part of the multidimensional construct which has not been addressed in previous TNE student engagement literature, this shows the significance of institutional structures and commitment to supporting student engagement.

Community college African American male student enrollment and academic success is diminishing. The authors explore the importance and wisdom of mentoring programs for African American males attending community colleges. The chapter considers issues of student persistence and retention and how they relate to effective community college mentoring programs. Specifically, the authors discuss how community college mentoring programs can counteract inherent obstacles for African American students attending commuter style campuses. A description of how some community colleges successfully engage African American male students in order to achieve Kuh's four attributes of a supportive college environment and to overcome the issues of college departure -- being first-generation college students, lacking academic self-concept, no or minimal institutional engagement with students, and no or minimal student involvement student involvement on campus – is provided. The authors highlight successful community college programs which include the national “Students African American Brotherhood” program, Santa Fe College's “My Brother's Keeper,” the North Carolina Community College System, and Hillsborough Community College's Collegiate 100.

Multiple research studies show a positive correlation between library usage and student retention. At the same time, no formal research studies focusing on the effect of library usage on LGBT student persistence and retention exist. The purpose of this paper is to provide information about today’s LGBT undergraduates, their personal and academic needs, and how academic libraries may meet those needs.

The author will challenge the grand narrative perpetuated by LGBT librarians that “libraries save [LGBT] lives” through a review of existing research literature on LGBT undergraduates and their personal and academic needs, where libraries play a role in LGBT undergraduate life, and whether or not academic libraries actually meet those needs.

No formal research studies on how libraries play a role in the retention of LGBT undergraduates exist. While LGBT undergraduates share many similarities with their peers, they seek out resources and spaces that the library may be able to provide independently or through collaborations with other units on campus. The existence of campus LGBT resource centers may impact LGBT undergraduate use of libraries.

The author will provide suggestions for academic libraries to create appropriate resources, services, and spaces for LGBT undergraduates so that they persist at their institutions and graduate.

This is the first research paper to address the role that academic libraries play in LGBT student retention.

Michelle, a first-generation college student from a predominantly Black urban area, was a senior health and recreation major at Midwest University. Although successful in her health and recreation coursework and an engaged campus student leader, Michelle “often talked about her time on campus as ‘painful’” (Winkle-Wagner, 2009, p. 99):You might get the one person who's like, “Well I don't like Black people,” but, then you have a bunch of other people ganging up on him saying, “That is so old, nobody does that anymore.” And I feel like I am more accepted by White people than I am [by] the Black people. Because they're like, well she doesn't dress a certain way, or … “Why are you listening to that type of music?” (Winkle-Wagner, p. 99)

This chapter explores how the intersections of race, gender, and class combine to affect Black undergraduate women and their engagement with high impact practices (HIPs). Specifically, this chapter describes the extent to which Black undergraduate women engaged in HIPs of service-learning, research with faculty, and internships; describes factors that contributed to their engagement (or non-engagement) in the HIPs, while attending a PWI; and explores the role race, gender, and class had on engagement (or non-engagement) with these HIPs. This study used a two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, which consisted of an electronic survey (n = 190) and semi-structured interviews (n = 10). Survey items were taken from the National Survey of Student Engagement, The College Student Report. The study was conceptually grounded by intersectionality, which allowed an exploration of how social inequalities and power relations intersect to potentially influence the college experience of Black women. Findings indicate that Black women are engaging with HIPs. Factors contributing to engagement included positive faculty interactions, desire to make connections on campus and the need to acquire real world work experience. Factors contributing to non-engagement included lack of knowledge regarding HIPs and the impact of the campus climate on students' sense of belonging and occurrences of stereotype threat.

The purpose of this study is to investigate (1) how organizational culture influence student academic behavior at universities in Indonesia; (2) if there is any difference between male and female students in perceiving elements of organizational culture and its effects on student academic behavior; and (3) if there is any difference among students from different university origin in perceiving elements of organizational culture and its effects on student academic behavior.

This study is a part of quantitative research with a prediction design involving survey questionnaire. Participants consist of 800 students as survey respondents that were selected purposively from six government universities of the specified cities in Indonesia. Measures are developed and validated through a confirmatory factor analysis. Data were analyzed using multivariate techniques and path analysis to examine effects of organizational culture types on student academic behavior.

Findings of this study indicate that in general organizational culture significantly influenced the growth of student academic behavior.

The study is limited to public or government universities in Indonesia, that is why and the findings are not intended to generalize all universities in the world.

Leaders of the university organizations or units are suggested to improve their capacities in exploring the trend of organizational cultures, develop and adopt the cultures that contribute to the growth of student academic behavior.

The study provides high valued insights for university organizations especially people involved in the process of university leadership and management on how they deal effectively with organizational situations including types organizational culture, and develop the cultures that contribute to the growth of student academic behavior.

The study adds to the theories of organizational culture and the growth of student academic behavior on campus. It provides broad insights on types of organizational culture used in universities and its effects on academic behaviors performed by students in campus environment.

Student engagement is a multifaceted concept that directly impacts students and their education. The purpose of this paper is to discuss student engagement conceptually by offering a framework to better understand the deliverables of engagement in the form of generic and targeted outcomes.

The design of the study is based on a detailed literature review, to identify different types of engagement which graduates are expected to experience during their higher education studies. These types of engagement(s) are mapped with their outcomes.

The findings of this study would be an analysis of relevant studies to create an outcome-oriented conceptual framework for student engagement.

The practical implications of the study would be to provide a guide for enhancing student engagement through which both generic competencies and higher order competencies of students may be augmented.

The available literature suggests that many students lack focus when learning on campus, especially in meeting targeted outcomes, and do not engage in the community. The current study has incorporated generic and targeted outcomes expected as a result of the different types of engagement. The study has put forward certain propositions, suggesting new dimensions of research in the domain of student engagement.

This chapter explores how participating in campus leadership at HBCUs positively affects African American college student experiences. A review of existing research about the benefits of leadership involvement for African American students is followed by a discussion of student leadership at HBCUs. Next, motivations for being involved as leaders are discussed and described. The chapter concludes with recommendations for bolstering student motivations and involvement outcomes, as well as ways to increase African American student leadership at HBCUs. Specifically, this chapter is informed by empirical data gathered during in-depth focus groups with 13 African American student leaders (7 males, 6 women) who occupied leadership roles at their HBCU institutions. Two emergent themes are discussed: (1) playing the game, which spoke to the development of their leadership competencies; and (2) getting something out of it, which focused on building the leadership capital afforded to them as a result of their leadership. Recommendations for bolstering motivations and involvement outcomes for Black leader collegians are described in detail at the end of the chapter to provide insight about best practices of support for this student demographic.