The purpose of this research is to see if the peer mentors make a difference in the leadership development of students, their feelings about peer mentors, the Leadership Living Learning Community, and their acclimation to Texas A&M University. Leadership is defined as an interaction between members of a group in which individuals, in the name of the group, act as agents of change, persons whose acts affect other people more than other peoples’ actions affect them. The five leadership skills studied were working in groups, positional leadership, communication, decision-making, and understanding self. A post-then methodology was utilized with self-reporting as the process by which data was collected following completion of an academic leadership learning community. The findings from years one and two participants were computed individually and then compared to see if the addition of peer mentors during the second year yielded any significant findings. The major findings for this study were as follows: Year one participants in the learning community indicated improved leadership skills after participation in the learning community for the first semester, as measured by the Leadership Skills Inventory. In addition, year two participants in the learning community indicated a similar increase of leadership skills after the first semester. Year one participants indicated a more statistically significant increase when compared to year two on their leadership skills on the individual questions, while year two participants were found to have more statistically significant findings relating to the five leadership skills or Leadership Skills Inventory scales. Responses by year two participants indicated that the peer mentors who helped them were supportive, gave positive feedback, were good role models, were knowledgeable about Texas A&M University, were easy to communicate with, and did not use peer pressure to persuade them to do anything negative.

A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted to understand the transition and integration experiences of first-year freshmen who participated in an outdoor orientation program at 2 higher education institutions in the Southeastern United States. Student attrition from the first year to the second year and increased time to degree completion are challenges for a number of higher education institutions in the United States (Hamilton & Hamilton, 2006; Pascarella, Terenzini, & Wolfle, 1986; Tinto, 2006). First-year to second-year attrition and lack of persistence to degree completion may be due to an unsuccessful transition to college, the inability to integrate into the campus community, or a lack of student involvement (Braxton & McClendon, 2001; Tinto, 2006). The research setting included 2 public higher education institutions that offer outdoor orientation programs for incoming first-year freshmen. The sample was purposefully selected, using 4 criterion: (1) first-year students who had participated in a university sponsored outdoor based program prior to their first year of college, (2) students who had successfully completed their first semester of college and remained enrolled as a student during the data collection term of the research, (3) students meeting the definition of traditional age (18-21 years old) college freshmen, and (4) students willing to participate in data collection. Traditional age first-year students who participated in outdoor orientation programs at 2 institutions during the summer 2015, and who were enrolled in the spring 2016, were eligible research participants. The sample chosen provided information-rich, illuminative detail on the phenomenon of first-year student transition and integration to college. Data collection included the creation of 3 concept maps followed by a semistructured in-depth interview. The highest number of mentioned areas on the research participant concept maps included friends, family, and organizations/clubs. A comprehensive support system, the right environment, and engagement in fun campus activities were found to be cornerstones of successful transition and integration to college. The study provides higher education leaders with insight on the lived experiences of first-year student transition and integration as well as evidence related to the impact of first-year experience programs that may guide and enhance institutional efforts.