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Despite decades of research on student involvement, few studies have examined how co-curricular experiences promote holistic student success outcomes. Fewer still have differentiated the characteristics of co-curricular involvement to determine practices most likely to predict student success. This study investigates the relationship between the quantity and quality of student co-curricular involvement within a structural model of college student thriving. Evidence from undergraduate participants (n = 2,973) at 13 colleges and universities indicates the quality of involvement directly predicts thriving, and quantity of involvement indirectly predicts thriving. Nearly 64% of the variation in thriving was explained by the full model. Findings suggest students would benefit from investing deeply in one or two meaningful co-curricular experiences. Student activities professionals should seek to identify visible pathways for co-curricular engagement on campus that foster student leadership, community building, and individual meaning-making.

Thriving--defined as academic, psychological, and interpersonal wellbeing and engagement (Schreiner, "Thriving: Expanding")--is a recent concept that expands the traditional approach of measuring college student success, which has historically been measured by such cognitive measures as GPA. The main purpose of the present study was to develop a pictorial model of honors student thriving by investigating the pathways that predict a psychological sense of community, campus involvement, spirituality, student-faculty interaction, living on campus, certainty about a major, degree goals, and first choice of institution. This study further aimed to better understand honors students' levels of academic determination, engaged learning, positive perspective, diverse citizenship, and social connectedness. Better understanding how honors students thrive can enable honors administrators, faculty, and staff to engage students in more productive and meaningful ways.

The number of doctoral programs being offered by Christian universities is expanding, bringing new opportunities, needs, and challenges to these postsecondary institutions. Currently, 46 of the 113 governing member institutions of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) offer doctoral-level programs. Of the 185 member, partner, and affiliate institutions connected with the CCCU, 76 (41%) offer doctoral-level education. This article reports on the results of a 2018 survey of 57 North American institutions affiliated with the CCCU regarding their doctoral programs, with particular attention to program design, faculty development and workloads, institutional infrastructure, and student needs. Recommendations are offered for the support of doctoral programs, faculty, and students.

As the qualitative portion of a sequential explanatory mixed-methods study, this study identified the attitudes, behaviors, and teaching strategies of first-year seminar instructors whose students of color exhibited the highest gains in thriving at the end of their first semester. Thriving students are those who are fully engaged psychologically, socially, and academically in the college experience, making the most of their learning. Interviews with 13 faculty of high-thriving students of color revealed four themes: (a) faculty engaged learners where they are, (b) faculty connected with students personally in and out of class, (c) faculty embraced the tapestry of diverse learners, (d) and faculty saw students as individuals. Implications from these findings are explored through pedagogies and practices that may promote thriving in first-year students of color.

The vital role faculty play as learning facilitators, advisors, and mentors is pivotal to sophomore success.

This chapter defines thriving as a holistic definition of student success that forms the desired outcome of the sophomore year, highlighting the pathways that contribute to thriving and how those differ among students of color.

This chapter summarizes the recommendations from this volume and provides suggestions for future research and next steps in improving the sophomore-year experience.

This article presents the results of an analysis of recent survey data collected from CCCU students and alumni to address the research question, "To what extent are CCCU students and alumni significantly different from their counterparts in other types of universities, based on data collected through national surveys?" Survey data from 33,128 CCCU students and alumni were analyzed from the 2016 National Survey of Student Engagement, the 2015 Student Satisfaction Inventory, and the CARDUS Education Survey in 2011 and 2014. Comparisons to benchmark private institutions and to alumni from nonreligious private colleges, Catholic colleges, public universities, and non-CCCU religious colleges were made via independent sample t-tests and regression analyses. The findings were analyzed in light of the individual good, the common good, and the Kingdom good of Christian higher education, concluding that there may be a misalignment between the stated mission of Christian higher education and some of the outcomes observed in students and alumni. The implications of these findings are presented, along with recommendations for leaders and educators within Christian colleges and universities.

Black and Latino men are attending college at higher rates than ever before, yet their increased access has not led to increased success, as Black and Latino men face greater barriers to their success than do White and Asian men. The challenges to timely graduation for these populations are even greater at Christian colleges. The purpose of this study was to determine the campus experiences that contribute to the variation in thriving among Black and Latino men on Christian college campuses, after considering their demographic characteristics. Thriving is defined as students' vital engagement in the college experience intellectually, interpersonally, and psychologically. Using a sample of 369 Black and Latino men from 35 Christian colleges and universities, we conducted a hierarchical multiple regression analysis to determine the variance in thriving mean scores and scale scores contributed by each predictor variable. The final predictive model explained 53.5% of the variation in thriving within Black and Latino men in the aggregate. Because race was a significant predictor of thriving, separate regression equations were conducted on the 133 Black men and 236 Latino men. These models explained 67.1% of the variation in thriving among Black men and 53.5% of the variation among Latino men. The implications of the findings for Christian colleges and universities are outlined, particularly the role of spirituality, sense of community, and perceptions of institutional integrity in supporting Black and Latino men's ability to thrive in this environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author met Jerome when he was a senior in a psychology class taught by the author. He stood out from the rest of the class not only in his academic performance, but also in the ways he approached class--always prepared, asking good questions, going above and beyond in his assignments. He was the dream student--hard working, curious, passionate about his educational goal of earning a PhD in child psychology so he could make a difference in the lives of foster kids. A product of the foster care system himself, Jerome had been orphaned in first grade and had been shuttled in and out of foster homes, yet had always worked hard in each new school, eventually earning a scholarship to college. It is a seductive story reflective of the American Dream: boy overcomes poverty and trauma through sheer effort to become a shining example of success for others. It reassures that all is right in the universe. And yes, it can happen…sometimes. But there is an insidious danger in what Christine Yeh, Chair of the Counseling Psychology Department at the University of San Francisco, calls the "national obsession" with these stories and with the concept of grit itself: It overlooks the role that systemic privilege plays in people's lives. In this article, the author explores the privilege inherent in the concept of grit and questions the wisdom of using it to support student success.

This study explored the predictors of success among 1,536 students of color from 12 Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) member institutions. Student success was measured by examining students' intent to graduate along with the degree to which they were thriving intellectually, socially, and psychologically. The study utilized an instrument that included the Thriving Quotient (Schreiner, 2012), which measures students' psychosocial well-being, along with scales that assessed students' psychological sense of community, perceptions of institutional integrity and commitment to student welfare, spirituality, and satisfaction with student-faculty interaction. The path model explained 35% of the variation in intent to graduate from their chosen CCCU institution among this sample of students of color. In addition to three factors that directly contributed to students' intent to graduate from their institutions--institutional fit, thriving in their role as students, and students' perceptions of the institutions' commitment to their welfare--the model revealed significant indirect contributors to the success of students of color. Recommendations based on these findings include creating campus environments, policies, and practices that consider the unique needs of all students, equipping faculty for inclusive pedagogy, and delivering on the implicit institutional promises made to students of color during the admissions process.

There is a need for an assessment tool for evaluating the effectiveness of active learning strategies such as problem-based learning in promoting deep learning and clinical reasoning skills within the dual environments of didactic and clinical settings in health professions education. The Active Learning in Health Professions Scale (ALPHS) instrument captures three elements of active learning: activities that have elements of novel access to information, observing or participating in experiences focused on learning, and reflective practices about the learning process. In order to assess the criterion-related validity of the ALHPS, a Structural Regression Model was created in which the latent variable of Active Learning was placed as a predictor of graduating seniors' critical thinking. The strong psychometric properties of the ALHPS instrument indicate that it is possible to reliably assess students' perceptions of the frequency with which they experience active learning pedagogy within doctoral health professions education, and that such strategies are predictive directly of academic engagement and indirectly of increases in students' critical thinking skills.

Research on the contribution of psychosocial factors to holistic student success in the context of the distinctive mission of Christian colleges and universities remains limited despite increased attention given to such factors in broader studies of student success. In recent years, the study of thriving has added to the measurement of psychosocial factors that contribute to student success. Thriving is conceptualized as levels of intellectual, interpersonal, and psychological vitality that result in student success. This article presents the results of the qualitative phase of a longitudinal sequential explanatory mixed-methods study of changes in thriving over the course of one semester from interviews with 23 students on five faith-based campuses. The study explored the experiences, programs, and psychological processes that influenced increases and decreases in thriving. Four themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) engaged learning as an outcome of faculty and student commitment, (b) relationships as a context for support, motivation, and a sense of fit, (c) faith as a lens for reframing events, and (d) a sense among students that they are called to make a difference. Faith-based institutions can contribute to the success of their students through use of high-impact teaching and learning practices, creating a sense of community on campus, building realistic optimism through classroom approaches and advising, and promoting the exploration and clarification of purpose and calling. Suggestions for future research include study replication in non--faith-based private and public institutions and longer longitudinal studies of changes in thriving.

This study of nearly 30,000 undergraduates at 61 four-year public and private institutions examines the influence of satisfaction on students' persistence in college. Data were collected using the Student Satisfaction Inventory (Schreiner & Juillerat, 1994) and were analyzed by class level. The hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that satisfaction scores accounted for an additional 35% to 37% of the variation in students' likelihood of choosing the same institution again if given the chance to revisit their college enrollment decision. Binary logistic regression indicated that satisfaction with the college's climate was significantly predictive of actual persistence the following academic year, with odds ratios ranging from 1.15 to 1.67 across the class levels. Clear differences in predictors of satisfaction across class levels indicate the importance of disaggregating data to more clearly understand the drivers of satisfaction at each level and to equip institutions to facilitate positive student experiences throughout the college years.

This chapter describes the phenomenon of thriving as a deep engagement in learning experiences. The author also identifies multiple pathways to the acquisition of thriving and characteristics of communities that support thriving students.

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes and behaviors of faculty and staff that impact the success and persistence of highrisk students. Using an exploratory qualitative approach, 62 successful high-risk students from nine different colleges and universities were interviewed and asked to identify and describe someone on campus who had been most influential in their ability to persist. The 54 campus personnel who were identified by these students were interviewed twice to learn what they do to help students succeed and persist. Seven themes on how college personnel positively influence high-risk student success and persistence were identified.

This study examined the patterns of college experiences and outcomes among 3,501 students attending colleges or universities that belong to the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU). As part of the CCCU-sponsored Comprehensive Assessment Project (CAP), 25 member institutions collected data from their first-year students using the Freshman Survey from UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research Project in 2004 and assessed those same students as seniors in 2008 using the College Senior Survey. The study analyzed the data and compared the findings with a national sample of private colleges during those same years. Although the results generally reflected gains over the four years of college in terms of students' degree aspirations and social awareness, this positive change was more pronounced among the CCCU students compared to their national aggregate counterparts. In contrast, CCCU students appeared to have relatively fewer gains in their interpersonal abilities during college than did the national aggregate. In particular, CCCU students tended to be less engaged with their peers and less involved with diversity-related activities while in college than did the national aggregate. Additionally, while CCCU students had more informal and social interactions with faculty, they reported having lower levels of course- or research-related interaction with faculty than did their peers at other private institutions. A discussion of the association between specific college experiences and three college outcomes--academic self-esteem, interpersonal ability, and social awareness--concludes the article. (Contains 3 tables.)

In the last issue of "About Campus," the author outlined the research studies that she presented with Eric J. McIntosh, Denise Nelson, and Shannon Pothovenin in 2009, which led to the creation of the Thriving Quotient, a reliable and valid 35-item instrument that measures the changeable psychological qualities in students that affect their ability to optimize their college experience. Students' thriving academically, interpersonally, and intrapersonally was described, with a particular emphasis on the "positive perspective" element of thriving that forms a psychological foundation for student success. In this second of a three-part series, the author will focus on academic thriving and the implications of the research for both faculty and student life professionals. (Contains 18 notes.)

The qualitative difference in the "success" of college students raises question of how educators envision student success. Although in "Student Success in College," George Kuh, Jillian Kinzie, John H. Schuh, Elizabeth J. Whitt define student success broadly as "satisfaction, persistence, and high levels of learning and personal development," the reality is that educators tend to measure student success primarily in terms of academic performance and persistence to graduation. Yet most of them who have worked extensively with students know that there is more to a successful college experience than grades and graduation. This article is the first in a three-part series that describes the major findings from a national study of college-student thriving conducted over the past three years with the author's team of doctoral students at Azusa Pacific University. In this first article, the author describes the study itself and how the data were collected and analyzed, along with the major features of their newly developed instrument, the Thriving Quotient. The author shares the findings related to students psychological perspectives and attitudes that are foundational to thriving, along with their implications for future research and practice in higher education. (Contains 12 notes.)

In the previous two issues of "About Campus," the author has described the national study of college-student thriving that she has conducted with her doctoral students at Azusa Pacific University over the past several years. Their validated and reliable 35-item Thriving Quotient has been administered to over 15,000 college students across more than 70 institutions in the United States and Canada. The instrument was developed after exploring the positive psychology literature on human flourishing and the higher education literature on student success, then interviewing scores of students across multiple campuses. Their goal was to measure aspects of a college student's psychological functioning that were amenable to change, so that interventions could be designed to enable a higher percentage of students to get the most out of their college experience. Their research has demonstrated that college student thriving consists of five malleable factors: (1) a positive perspective of oneself and one's future; (2) engagement in the learning process; (3) investment of effort and self-regulation of one's learning behaviors; (4) healthy relationships and connections to others on campus; and (5) openness to diversity and the desire to make a contribution to the lives of others. They have labeled these five factors positive perspective, engaged learning, academic determination, social connectedness, and diverse citizenship. Together, these can explain up to an additional 20 percent of the variation in such student outcomes as GPA, intent to graduate, learning gains, learning satisfaction, and perception of institutional fit, over and above the contribution of students' demographic characteristics and features of the institution they attend. In the first two articles of this three-part series, the author outlined the positive perspective, engaged learning, and academic determination components of thriving in college. In this final article, she highlights the role that interpersonal relationships play, focusing on the social connectedness and diverse citizenship components of thriving.

Using a national sample, student race/ethnicity was disaggregated into seven distinct groups (n = 643 per group) to identify unique effects of student race/ethnicity and first-generation on involvement and learning. First-generation status had a positive effect on student learning, but a negative effect on involvement. Effects by student race/ethnicity were mixed, revealing some dynamics similar to those for first-generation students and some that were unique to student race/ethnicity. Findings suggest specific programming implications based on student race/ethnicity and first-generation status. (Contains 5 tables and 1 figure.)

Strengths-based advising is proposed as a new lens for higher education, one that enables advisors to see diverse groups of students fulfill their potential and achieve excellence. Based on research from social work, positive psychology, and the business world, this approach enables advisors to identify and build on the inherent talents students bring with them into the college and university setting, teaching students to develop and apply their strengths to new and challenging learning tasks. This explicit focus on students' natural talents builds the confidence and motivation necessary for achievement and persistence in college. We contend that this approach to advising represents a much-needed paradigm shift within higher education.

Student engagement with faculty members and its relationship to learning was investigated for students of seven different racial/ethnic groups (N = 4,501), yielding small differences by student race/ethnicity. Relationships with faculty were stronger predictors of learning than student background characteristics for all groups, but strongest for students of color.