Browsing by Subject "residence life"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Leadership On Campus: Prosocial Behavior Benefits for Resident Assistants
    (University of Minnesota, 2021) Soria, Krista M.; Roberts, Brayden J.
    The roles and responsibilities of resident assistants are increasingly complex (Taub et al., 2016). Resident assistants are often first responders to student-related crisis or emergency situations, including those of safety, behavioral, and mental health (Boone et al., 2016). Resident assistants receive many levels of training and professional development and develop a wide range of skills from on-the-job experiences (Benjamin & Davis, 2016). Although resident assistants are slated to receive these developmental benefits from training and experience, the research on learning outcomes and developmental benefits associated with serving as a resident assistant is limited. Though the current research suggests resident assistants may develop outcomes such as interpersonal communication, problem-solving, intercultural, and teamwork skills (Benjamin & Davis, 2016), less is known about the development of resident assistants’ prosocial behaviors, such as their engagement in social change, social generativity, and social perspective taking. Resident assistants are predominantly drawn to the position because of their desire to help others (Boone, 2018). Such evidence provides an opportunity for resident assistants to be better primed to further develop greater prosocial behaviors through their training and experiences. The purpose of this study is to examine whether serving as a resident assistant has an effect on undergraduate students’ prosocial behaviors.
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    Living On Campus: Benefits for First-Generation Students from Low-Income Backgrounds
    (University of Minnesota, 2020) Soria, Krista M.; Roberts, Brayden J.
    The results of this research suggest that first-generation students from low-income backgrounds may experience some benefits from living on campus during their first year of enrollment. Specifically, we found that living on campus is positively associated with students’ feelings of belonging on campus and their resilience. We also found that living on campus was associated with a reduction in students’ beliefs that their campus was discriminatory, hostile, or unwelcoming.
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    Residents Assistants’ Leadership Efficacy
    (University of Minnesota, 2020) Soria, Krista M.; Roberts, Brayden J.
    Resident assistants play an indisputably important role in college and university housing as they help to connect residents with campus resources (Servaty-Seib & Taub, 2010), socialize and develop relationships with other students (Manata et al., 2017; Roland & Agosto, 2017), and integrate within the greater college community (Blimling, 2010). Resident assistants also promote greater university outcomes by facilitating students’ engagement and retention through programming (Soria & Taylor, Jr., 2016), imparting university values, and promoting student learning outcomes (Healea, 2006). Yet, while much is known about how resident assistants contribute to their institutions, little is known about the developmental outcomes resident assistants gain through their experiences (Martin & Blechschmidt, 2014). Specifically, even though leadership is often an implicit expectation or explicit requirement in resident assistants’ position descriptions (Benjamin & Davis, 2016), little is known about the potential for resident assistants to develop leadership outcomes from their paraprofessional training, interpersonal interactions or relationships, and leadership experiences. Researchers have left breadcrumbs pointing toward the potential impact of serving as a resident assistant on students’ leadership efficacy; however, there is still a void in terms of understanding whether serving in a resident assistant capacity itself is associated with leadership efficacy. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether resident assistants have a significantly different leadership efficacy compared to their peers who are not resident assistants.