A biweekly publication for faculty and staff

Students Benefit From Living on Campus

May 13, 2015

Earlier this spring, 52 percent of UC Merced students who reside in on-campus housing completed a survey about their experiences. 

Key goals of Housing and Residence Life’s staff and programs are to facilitate community and mutual respect among residents, as well as to prepare residents for interactions with a variety of people from diverse backgrounds. Based on data (shown below), the perceptions of survey respondents indicate that housing staff and programs are meeting these goals.

Figure 1 shows that 94 percent of respondents think it is important for residential community members to respect each other, and 84 percent agree that they do. Also, 80 percent believe it is important to have a sense of community in their residential halls, and 71 percent agree it exists. Finally, 85 percent believe it is important to feel accepted by members of their residential communities, and 92 percent agree that they are.

Figure 1 Housing and Residence Life Survey

Institutional Research and Decision Support calculated average respondent agreement ratings across the three survey items in Figure 1 to create a single index of perceived mutual respect, community and acceptance, and then examined whether there were any respondent groups who had low levels of average agreement.

Women were slightly less likely to agree compared to men (67 percent vs. 75 percent); however, the majority of women still agreed. There were no differences based on respondent racial/ethnic group self-identification, first-generation status, supplemental educational services received (i.e., Pell eligibility status), prevalence of spoken English in the home (i.e., whether English only or English and/or another language were primarily spoken in the home), or class level (e.g., freshman, sophomore).

The lack of difference across groups suggests students agreed that they felt respected, accepted and part of the community while living in their residence halls.

Figure 2 shows that while residing on campus, 90 percent of respondents agreed there were opportunities to help them become socially aware, and 87 percent agreed they had developed a deeper understanding of others from diverse backgrounds and cultures.    

Figure 2 Housing and Residence Life Survey

Institutional Research and Decision Support found that opportunities to become more socially aware and to develop an understanding of others from diverse backgrounds and cultures that are facilitated in the residential community were associated with greater perceived mutual respect, sense of community and acceptance in that community.

Specifically, respondents who agreed that they had been introduced to opportunities to help them become more socially aware while residing on campus were also likely to agree that they perceived mutual respect, community and acceptance in their residential communities. The same was true for respondents who agreed that they had developed a deeper understanding of others from different backgrounds and cultures while residing on campus.

In summary, the survey results suggest that being part of UC Merced's residential life community provides students with important opportunities to build kinship and become accepting of others, and also promotes students’ own beliefs that they are respected and accepted members of the community.

If you have questions about Housing and Residence Life programs and services, contact Martin Reed, director of Housing and Residence Life. For questions about the data presented, contact Cinnamon Danube with Institutional Research and Decision Support.