While much is known about the role of student involvement in various dimensions of student change and development, considerably
less is known about
how students become involved as they make the transition from work or high school to college. This paper describes the results
of a series of focus-group interviews with 132 diverse, new students entering a community college; a liberal arts college;
an urban, commuter, comprehensive university; and a large research university. The study identifies the people, experiences,
and themes in the processes through which students become (or fail to become) members of the academic and social communities
on their campus.
The research reported here was conducted under the auspices of the National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and
Assessment. NCTLA is funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), under
Grant No. R117G10037. The opinions herein do not necessarily reflect the position or policies of OERI, and no official endorsement
should be inferred.
Presented at the 1993 AIR Forum, Chicago, May 1993.