Sense of community (SoC) positively promotes persistence and graduation rates of college students by helping them to feel cared about by others, accepted as members of the campus community, and that they matter to their peers and other community members (Cheng, 2004; Harris, 2007a; Schlossberg, 1989). The college union is one of the most influential settings in developing SoC (Barrett, 2014; Janisz, 2014; Maxwell, 2016; Smyth, 2016) and improving student persistence (Tierno, 2013). However, scholars and educators lack understanding of the ways in which the physical and organizational environments of college unions contribute to SoC development among students. The purpose of this narrative study (Clandinin, 2013) was to understand the role of the college union in developing SoC among college students. Anchored in a modified version of Strange and Banning's (2015) campus ecology framework, the study explored how physical and organizational environments within a college union influenced the community conditions necessary for supporting the educational purposes of student engagement and learning. To understand the role of the physical and organizational environments of the college union in students' SoC development, this study used photo-elicitation methods and semi-structured interviews with seven participants from one large, public, historically White university with high research activity. Students' stories revealed a College Union Sense of Community (CU-SoC) Actualization Model in which students progressed through developmental stages: feeling overwhelmed initially, connecting with campus sub-communities, building localized community, and deepening connections and strengthening bonds with administrators and peers. By progressing through these stages, students developed a SoC toward the institution. The data also highlighted how the college union's physical and organizational environments advanced the SoC development process by creating a home-like feeling, encouraging and enhancing interactions through design, cultivating lasting memories, and nurturing a student-centered culture. These findings represent a narrative account describing the students' personal experiences in relation to how the college union shaped their SoC. / Ph. D.

My thesis looks at prescriptive beauty messages generated during 1940-1950 by using a case study of Margaret Morrison Carnegie College. I look at formal prescriptive beauty messages (advertisements, beauty manuals) and informal beauty messages (college yearbooks, newspapers, and beauty queen campaigns) to see what types of messages were created and why. I situate changes in these messages in a timeline of national culture, as it existed before, during, and after World War II. I then compare these messages by looking at which prescriptions were adapted by MMCC women as a group. I argue that these young women adopted an adapted version of the two prescriptions by following the advice given on a national level but also shaping their appearances based on what was occurring on campus. I infer that one set of prescriptions cannot exist in a vacuum; there will be a set of overarching goals to strive for, as well as a set based on standards within her immediate environment. The digital component to this project is available at www.consumingbeauty.com. / Master of Arts

Previous research regarding the victimization of college students is primarily geared toward physical or sexual encounters. There is a limited scope of research regarding the online victimization of college students, specifically those involved in Greek life organizations. Furthermore, there is a misinterpretation of the definition of cyberstalking among college students, as many students are unaware that they have been personally victimized (Cass, 2011). This study seeks to examine college students’ perceptions of online victimization and how they may vary. The different student impressions and the prevalence of online victimization were examined using self-reported data from students enrolled in a university located in Eastern Tennessee (n=181). Statistical analyses were conducted and showed that increased activity on social media escalated the potential for victimization, which improved the understanding of cyberstalking among college students.

Pro bono work has always appealed to me. The prospect of being able to help those less fortunate with my knowledge and skillset is uplifting and gratifying. There is something truly rewarding about taking the architectural knowledge and training I have received and finding a solution to a problem for a nonprofit or a group of people that could not easily afford to hire someone. It gives me the opportunity to explore creative solutions with a low budget while still making something beautiful and thoughtful, that not only provides the spaces needed but also adds the detailing and uniqueness that gives the place and its users a sense of pride and pleasure. This thesis seeks to present the programmatic needs, local building materials and resources, a study in efficient building, the local needs and customs, and ways to improve people's lives with an orphanage in Savanette, Haiti. The goal is to explore the fundamental needs of an orphanage and a school in a developing country and develop strategies to address these needs. A successful orphanage needs to provide comfortable housing but also a sense of safety and security, a loving environment where orphans can grow and heal, a self-sustaining community that can care for the facility, and a means to train and educate orphans for adulthood and the working world. Since education is such a central need for an orphanage, and since schools are limited in Haiti, it only made sense to open this up to children in the surrounding area as well. The purpose of this thesis is to develop an architectural language of building components that can be utilized to answer the programmatic needs of the orphanage and school. This system creates the overall structural layout and is intended to be an easily constructible and expandable model while providing good design that is culturally sensitive. / Master of Architecture

This study compares U.S. university counseling center therapy outcomes of Sexual Minority (SM) students who attend religiously-affiliated compared to SM peers who attend non religiously-affiliated institutions. Using archival data from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH), we examined psychotherapy outcomes of 4257 SM student clients.We analyzed pre-treatment symptoms and post-treatment outcomes based on differences in Distress Index (DI) scores. We used the reliable change index (RCI) to separate outcomes into four groups based on the change in distress index level: no change, deteriorating, reliably improved, recovered from pre-treatment to post-treatment. Our participants (n = 4257) attended 34 religiously and non-religiously affiliated institutions (matched by geographical location, size, and percentage of the student body that were SM and sought therapy at the college counseling center). We found that SM students at religiously affiliated institutions had lower pretreatment and posttreatment distress scores than their peers at non-religiously affiliated institutions. Furthermore, gay students across universities consistently presented with lower distress than lesbian, bisexual, questioning, or self-identifying students. However, a larger proportion of SM students at non-religiously affiliated institutions achieved a reliable change status of recovered from their presenting distress levels, while a larger proportion of SM students at religiously affiliated institutions remained in the no change category. We found a significant effect of religious affiliation and Sexual Orientation (SO) on pretreatment distress scores, F(2, 4255) = 18.395, p < .001, and posttreatment distress scores, F(1, 4255)=15.199, p = .035), with moderate effect sizes (d=.137, and .061, respectively). Our findings emphasize the importance of culturally competent and affirming practices, ensuring that interventions resonate with the varied religious and cultural experiences of SM individuals. This is not just a research endeavor; it is a collective responsibility to foster campuses that prioritize the mental health and well-being of every student.

Over the past several decades, the victimization of women on college campuses has not decreased despite an uptick in research and concern surrounding the topic. In this study, I analyzed the victimization prevention messages on the websites of 30 4-year PWIs and 30 4-year HBCUs in the Southeastern United States to investigate how they contextualized such messages. Drawing on a comparative thematic analysis of 132 documents from HBCUs and 138 documents from PWIs, I elaborate on four key themes, with several subthemes: gendered safety messages, rape culture education, racialized safety messages, and collective responsibility. I found that victimization prevention messaging was contextualized by community engagement at HBCUs, and both types of schools engage in victim-centered crime prevention. Additionally, PWIs used language on their webpages that encourages peer-to-peer racialized coveillance. This study contributes to the literature on victimization prevention on college campus, the college-prison nexus, and understandings of sexual assault prevention.

No / All universities have the capacity to embrace, embed or ignore sustainable development. Looking across the sector and reflecting on the past seven years and my own institutional experiences, the key finding is that change for campus and curriculum-based sustainability is clearly possible but unpredictable. For many years my own institution (University of Bradford) struggled to make progress in a number of key aspects of `campus greening¿ including recycling, green build, energy management, green travel, fair trade etc. It employed its first environmental manager as recently as 2003. Up until 2007, education for sustainable development (ESD) was largely found in one small academic department. Now, as this paper describes, it is a central feature of the learning and teaching strategy for the university and an overall institutional objective.

The architect, as a coordinator of complex conditions and different disciplines, has a role in the development of the master plan for the entire site, balancing technical innovation with appreciation for cultural inheritance. This thesis attempts to explore approaches to design decision making, as a response to a project's site, its history, and the larger cultural context. The above issues are investigated through the design of a multipurpose building at the east end of the Drillfield on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. The building will form a "stage" to accommodate the daily life of the campus. In addition, the proposal was conceived to: a. emphasize both axial and radial geometric features of the site; b. redefine the edge of the oval Drillfield; c. create magnetic force between the proposed building and the existing War Memorial Chapel; d. translate the idea into tectonics. / Master of Architecture

Studien undersöker hur Plymouthbrödernas skola representeras i svenska tidningar mellan år 2004 och 2024, vilket också är studiens frågeställning. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur Plymouthbrödernas skola framställs för att belysa hur rapporteringen förändrats över tid. Materialet kommer från tidningar via Retriever Mediearkivet och det primära analysmaterialet är 282 artiklar. För att besvara frågeställningen används en kombination av kvantitativ och kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Det teoretiska ramverket utgår ifrån Stuart. A Wrights redogörelse om hur minoritetsreligioner skildras i media. Resultatet är att rapporteringen i sammanhanget är massiv och att det finns en bredd av teman där artiklar om Skolinspektionens granskningar av skolan är det som är mest framträdande. Det står också klart att det är en övervägande negativ rapportering om skolan där problematik och kontroverser på skolan lätt får fokus. I flera fall är det befogat då det är tydligt att det förekommit problem på skolan, men i andra fall tycks Plymouthbrödernas skola användas som slagträ i den allmänna debatten om religiösa fristående skolor. Det är dessutom ojämnt hur mycket utrymme olika perspektiv får i rapporteringen. Personer som är negativt inställda till skolan, exempelvis tidigare anställda och före detta medlemmar i samfundet uttrycker sin ståndpunkt i flertalet artiklar medan Plymouthbröderna själva svarar på kritiken eller ger sin bild av skolan i endast ett fåtal fall.

Sexual victimization is a pervasive mental and physical health issue with overarching implications for university campuses and victim service providers alike. While a large expanse of research exists on sexual violence and the factors associated with victimization, less is known about the potentially unique experiences faced by Black college women in particular. Utilizing data collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, this study examines the prevalence of college sexual victimization, levels of social support for victims and non-victims, intimate partner sexual victimization (IPSV), and the predictability of self-esteem on sexual victimization. In addition, comparisons are made between Black college women and their White counterparts. After conducting multiple t-tests and logistic regression analyses, results indicated that Black college women were more likely to experience IPSV than White college women, and Black college women received less social support following sexual victimization than Black non-victims. These findings can help in establishing more efficient and accessible assistance for victims.