Date of Award

12-2010

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Legacy Department

Educational Leadership

Committee Chair/Advisor

Cawthon, Tony W

Committee Member

Barrett , David E

Committee Member

Satterfield , James W

Committee Member

Williams , Frankie K

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of university housing construction type on psychosocial development of first-year students. Data were collected at a large, four-year, public, research university in the Southeast using the Student Development Task and Lifestyle Assessment. The population considered for this study consisted of first-year, traditionally-aged students living on campus within university housing at the research site for the spring of 2010. The study only considered students within three residential living environments: (a) modified-traditional residence halls, (b) adjoining suite style residence halls, and (c) super-suite style residence halls.
Multivariate analysis of covariance and analysis of covariance were conducted, controlling for race, gender, athletic involvement, extracurricular involvement, and employment. The study found no significant main effect of housing on psychosocial development of first-year students when other variables such as race, gender, athletic involvement, extracurricular involvement, and employment were taken into consideration. The study did identify a significant difference between residential environments for first year students. Race and extracurricular involvement were found to impact the students' psychosocial development. According to the findings, modified traditional construction type was discovered to significantly impact the psychosocial development of first-year students more than super-suite and adjoined suite construction types.
Recommendations for practice, theory, and research were discussed based on the results of the study. This study narrowed previous research, accounted for a variety of control variables, and utilized recently designed construction types to add to future conceptual frameworks and models of the impact of university housing construction type on psychosocial development.

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