Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Research Blog #1: Topic Idea
For my research topic idea, I want to look at the direct effects that commuting (living off campus, at home) has on student's academics and also how it affects students' college social experience (which can also have a black lash of indirect effects on the academia as well). I myself am a commuter student so this would be a close-to-home research project for me. I would also like to learn about this topic from an unbiased outside point of view.
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This is a great topic. I wonder if commuting students are at greater danger of dropping out of school, in part due to the danger of social isolation, as suggested by our reading Paying or the Party and by classic research by Vincent Tinto. What can be done to make commuting students feel more at home on campus? How important are commuters to the University's bottom line? And how does the problem of parking on campus become a major obstacle to commuter success? I know, for instance, that the main cause of the "RU Screw" is parking tickets.
ReplyDeleteThere is an older article online that addresses the question of commuting and engagement:
ReplyDeletehttp://nsse.indiana.edu/pdf/commuter.pdf
I am sure you can find more recent material by doing a scholarly article search using the library, as we will be doing in class.
You might also look for ways colleges can help commuters feel more connected. There is a unique program on Douglass that helps non-traditional-age students, both commuters and some residents, feel connected to campus: The Buntin Program. You can find info online:
https://douglass.rutgers.edu/bunting-program-non-traditional-students
I know Rutgers does things for transfer students, but I have not heard of any particular support for commuters. It would be interesting if other schools have worked to help commuters feel more at home.