Browsing by Author "Lingren Clark, Beth"

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    Extended Orientations: Enhancing the Sense of Belonging of First-Year Students
    (2012-02-19) Lingren Clark, Beth; Coffin Koch, Laura; Soria, Krista M.
    Held at the 31st Annual Conference on the First Year Experience, this study examined the academic and social benefits of new student orientation (Welcome Week) at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Utilizing the Student Experience in the Research University survey, administered to all first-year students in 2010, this study suggests that students who participated in Welcome Week had a higher sense of belonging, higher fall and spring semester cumulative grade point averages, and higher retention from their first-year to their second year. These benefits persisted when controlling for additional demographic, college experience, and engagement factors.
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    Investigating the academic and social benefits of extended new student orientations for first-year students
    (Journal of College Orientation and Transition, 2013-06-03) Soria, Krista; Lingren Clark, Beth; Coffin Koch, Laura
    In this study, researchers examined the benefits of college students’ participation in an extended new student orientation at a large, public research university. Framed within social identity theory, this study extends a hypothesis that extended new student orientations promote the institutional social identity of first-year students and facilitate their sense of belonging through supportive community development; consequently, the findings suggested that first-year students who participated in an extended new student orientation had a greater sense of belonging, higher academic performance (as measured through students’ fall and spring cumulative grade point averages), and higher retention to their second year. Recommendations for new student orientation practitioners, directors, and administrators are discussed.