Fresno State University Courtyard Residential Life is a featured program.
About Us:
University Courtyard is the only on-campus living at Fresno State. We comprise 9 different buildings (three traditional three story red-brick residence halls and six residential suites). We have 1100 bedspaces with nine full time professional staff and over 80 student staff. University Courtyard is a part of the Fresno State Auxiliaries, Inc. at Fresno State.
The Residential Life program at University Courtyard consists of the Assistant Director of Housing and Residential Life and Student Conduct Coordinator working in conjunction with three Graduate Student Resident Directors, five Assistant Resident Directors, a Public Safety Student Coordinator, seventeen Resident Advisors (RAs) and seven Public Safety Assistants (PSAs).
Fresno State is one of 23 campuses in the California State University System. We serve the richly diverse region of Central California. The US Department of Education designates our University as both a Hispanic-Serving Institution and an Asian American and Native Pacific Islander-Serving Institution. With an enrollment of more than 22,000 students, Fresno State offers 59 undergraduate degree programs and 44 master degree programs in the liberal arts and sciences as well as in a variety of professional disciplines emphasizing agriculture, business, engineering and technology, health and human services, and education. A doctorate in educational leadership is also available.
Departmental Outcomes:
- Retention – both for University Courtyard and Fresno State
- Academic Success for our residents
- Student Satisfaction through creating opportunities for interaction
- Opportunities for learning
- Safety – creating a safe place for students on their journeys
- Resident involvement with University Courtyard and Fresno State
Why these areas?
- Need to show the value of living on campus – if students are more likely to be successful academically (both GPA and graduation) by living with us (vs. off campus) their parents will be more comfortable having their son or daughter stay with us
- If we see that students want to return living with us, it is an indication of the success we’ve had
- Research shows that opportunities for interaction are a significant predictor for student satisfaction. We obviously want our students to be satisfied living with us
- Opportunities for learning is important because we see ourselves “more than a dorm” we see ourselves as an educational component of the University. They are learning knowledge, skills, and abilities and we want to provide those opportunities for our residents
- Safety is important given Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. If our students are not feeling safe, we will be unable to engage in the higher functions of growth
- Involvement is important because we know students who get involved in the first six weeks of school will be more successful in the long run. Students make their decision to connect and stay in this time period.
How do we measure our outcomes?
Key focus on Assessment:
- August Check In Survey for Students (40-50% participation rate)
- August Check In Survey for Parents
- Monthly Programming Reports
- December Fall Semester Student Survey (35-45% participation rate)
- Yearly Fall Semester GPA reports & Tracking
- Exit Survey in April for students not returning to live with us (30-40% participation rate)
- Yearly Cohort Tracking for Graduation
- Other smaller assessments throughout the year
Results…
Retention: Our four-year graduation rate for a student living with us for even just a year matches the six-year for the campus at large (around 50%)
Academic Success: For 2013: Average GPA of students living on campus is 3.05 compared to campus average of 2.78. 19% of residents got a 4.0. 38.3% of residents had an “A” average (3.5 or higher). 65.7% of residents had a “B” or better.
- Compared with Fall 2007: 2.81 average GPA, 12.1% had a 4.0, 32.4% had “A” average, 55% had a “B” or higher average
Student Satisfaction through opportunities for interaction:
Programs & Events:
- Last year 370 opportunities to interact (230 social, 138 educational) with over 12,000 in attendance at programs.
- Compared to 310 (210 social, 100 educational) in 2007-2008, only 8365 in attendance
Student Satisfaction: Perceived Value 4.66 (out of 7) in Fall of 2012 compared with 3.99 in Fall of 2007 and Overall satisfaction was 5.32 in Fall 2012 compared with 4.75 in 2007.
- Data from December Fall surveys
Opportunities for learning:
Educational Programs: 138 different active educational programs in 2012-2013 attended by 3500 students compared to 100 programs in 2007-2008 with 1850 in attendance
Safety: Feeling of safety: 5.69 (out of 7) this year compared with 5.47 in 2012. (From December Fall surveys)
Involvement: 53.4% of students report being involved on campus in Fall 2013 (compared with 46.4% in 2009)