December 15, 2006

Student Affairs Leader - December 15, 2006 - Full Issue PDF
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Five Strategies for Improving the Junior and Senior Year Experience
It is unusual to find a university that has not instituted a first year experience program to ease new students’ transitions from high school to college, and sophomore experience programs are becoming increasingly common as ways to continue to address the development of second year students. But can similar programs for juniors and seniors boost the four-year graduation rate for a university?

On-Campus Report Capsules
University approves China's first gay student group; Students turn to administrators first when seeking financial aid advice; Student senate votes against sanction for underage drinking; University asks for mistaken tuition refunds back

Resources
Institute on community college student affairs; Admissions, orientation, and first year experience grant competition; Underage alcohol use among full-time students

Best Practices in Civic Engagement
In 2002, Campus Compact, with help from a Carnegie Corporation of New York grant, began investigating best practices in civic engagement. The three-year project looked at community colleges in the first year and produced a set of resources that community college leaders can use to help improve engagement with the community.

Apply the Measures of Engagement
Clea Andreadis, dean of social sciences and human resources at Middlesex Community College in Massachusetts, is using The Community’s College: Indicators of Engagement at Two-Year Institutions--a monograph that resulted from the Indicators of Engagement Project—to increase involvement in civic engagement at the college.

Who’s Responsible for a Slip and Fall?
To maintain a negligence action against a college or university for a slip and fall, a plaintiff has the burden of proof. The injured party must prove that the school had a duty to protect and breached that duty, and that the breach caused an injury.

Beer Ads in Televised Collegiate Sports
In 2003, national beer brands spent over $52 million on ads during televised college sporting events. Over $21 million was spent just during the three weeks of the NCAA basketball tournament alone.