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...along with suggestions for implementing similar programs.
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Today's undergraduates face a host of challenges that counselors, faculty, and residence life personnel struggle to address (Bishop, Gallagher, & Cohen, 2000). Recent research (e.g., American Association for Higher Education, 1998; Bibace, Dillon, & Dowds, 1999; Tinto, 2000) has indicated that the formation of collaborative partnerships between the staffs of various university departments can help to improve student development and academic success. This article describes a counselor-faculty-residence life partnership program that builds on the aforementioned research as well as on several successful counselor-in-residence programs (e.g., North Dakota State University, University of Hawaii at Manoa, University of Arkansas) and faculty-in-residence programs (e.g., San Diego State University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Duke University) across the United States. I describe the central ideas behind this counseling-focused program, its main components, and some preliminary data on the program's impact on student development and academic success. The direction of future research and suggestions for implementing similar programs are also discussed.
THE CHALLENGES UNDERGRADUATES FACE
The college years can be among the most eventful ones of an individual's life. College presents students with numerous opportunities for personal, social, intellectual, and professional development. Ironically, because of these opportunities, this time can also be very difficult for many students (Bishop et al., 2000). The challenges undergraduates face can be broken down into three basic categories: psychological, social, and academic (Chandler & Gallagher, 1996).
Psychological Challenges
The transition from high school, the lack of social support, academic pressures, the need to define career goals, and financial problems often combine to produce acute levels of psychological distress in college students (Sax, 1997). During their first years of college, undergraduates are likely to experience painful feelings of alienation, loneliness, and depression, often at much higher levels than do individuals of the same age who are not attending college (Sax, Gilmartin, Keup, DiCrisi, & Bryant, 2000).
This situation is further complicated by the fact that college students engage in many health-risk behaviors, such as binge drinking (five or more drinks in a row for men; four or more drinks in a row for women), poor nutrition, and inadequate amounts of sleep (Gallagher, Gill, & Goldstrohm, 1998). Wechsler, Lee, Kuo, and Lee (2000) found that 23% of college students reported that they engaged in binge drinking "frequently" (i.e., bingeing three or more times in a 2-week period); 21% reported bingeing "occasionally" (i.e., one or two times in a 2-week period). Studies have also shown that nutrition for college students is significantly below the U.S. recommended daily allowance (RDA) for caloric, protein, vitamin C, and calcium intake, whereas levels are significantly higher than the RDA for fat and carbohydrate intake (Beerman, 1991; Hertzler & Frary, 1992; Watabe-Dawson & Sasaki, 2000).
Social Challenges
Today's new college students also face a range of social challenges. Students find themselves in an increasingly diverse and multicultural environment on U.S. campuses, reflecting differences in students' ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status (SES), and worldviews. Recent census data have indicated that more than 1 in 4 (27%) U.S. college students is a member of a minority group (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1998). This number represented a 15% increase from just 20 years ago. If population figures continue at their current trend, European Americans will soon become a numerical minority in the United States (Gordon, 1991). Minority groups often have different learning styles and needs that often do not receive adequate attention (Bennett, 1995). Furthermore, increasing the diversity of the college student body often leads to the formation of "racial cliques" and strained relations between diverse cultural groups.
College students have also reported declining levels of interest in events that occur in the world outside the campus gates. Brower and Dettinger (1998) went as far as speaking of a "civic crisis" on U.S. campuses. In a recent survey, only approximately 27% of college students reported wanting to stay abreast of political affairs (Sax et al., 2000). Individuals between 18 and 24 years of age had the lowest voter registration (46%) and the lowest level of voter participation (31%) of any group of eligible voters. This was down from 58% voter registration and 48% participation for 18- to 24-year-olds in 1972 (Federal Election Commission, 1997).
Academic Challenges
College students also face a range of academic challenges. In recent national surveys, students reported that they felt less interested in their courses and spent less time studying when they were compared with students just 15 years ago. For example, the number of college students who reported studying 6 or more hours per week declined from 47% in 1987 to just 36% in 2000; 1 in 3 students admitted not having any time at all to study because of job responsibilities (Sax et al., 2000). Strommer (1999) wrote, "In the majority of our colleges and universities, students are unattached, uninvolved. Fewer live on campus; fewer participate in extracurricular activities. Class absenteeism has reached epidemic proportions in some institutions, particularly in large lecture classes" (p. 41). This statement has chilling resonance for many individuals who work with today's undergraduates.
These psychological, social, and academic challenges combine to make persistence rates at U.S. colleges and universities alarmingly low. A recent national study found that only 39.9% of college students (50.2% for Asian Americans 42.7% for Caucasians, 28.6% for Hispanics, and 22.9% for African Americans) completed a bachelor's degree within 4 years (Higher Education Research Institute, 1996). This represents a net decline of nearly 7% from 20 years ago. The same study showed that even allowing 9 years to finish college, the degree attainment rate was only 46% (57.6% for Asian Americans, 47.3% for Caucasians, 40% for Hispanics, and 34% for African Americans).
COUNSELOR-FACULTY-RESIDENCE LIFE PARTNERSHIPS
Counselors, faculty, residence life, and other university personnel have been struggling valiantly to address these challenges. For example, after World War I, faculty advisers slowly began to be replaced by...
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