Building Community Out of Diversity: The FIU FYRST Program.

A qualitative study was conducted at Florida International University, a highly diverse urban, public research university, to gain an understanding of what participation in a first year residential learning community means to students 2-3 years after their involvement in the program. Four themes and 15 sub-themes were used to describe the students' experiences. The major themes included: (a) community, (b) involvement, (c) identity, and (d) academics. This article provides a brief summary of the findings. The results of this study showed that the participants valued greatly their involvement in the residential learning community and can articulate how it helped them succeed as students. In describing their experience, they most recall the sense of community that existed, the personal growth they experienced, the academic development process they went through, and their involvement, both with other people and with activities in their community. The very first day...I moved in and my parents left that day...I was all alone. It was quiet. My suitemate hadn't moved in yet, so it was just me. And what I remember was a lot of people passing by my room...and a couple of residents from two doors down came knocking on the door and introduced themselves and basically took me into their group and we went on room by room introducing ourselves to each other. The group got bigger and bigger and as we went to your room, you would come out and we would all go to the next room. By the time we were at the end of the hall, we were like a group of ten. And I think it was a good experience...it was a way of reaching out and just introducing yourself to as many people as you can-so, that was the first day. A lot of emotions. You miss home and you miss your family, especially being international-but at the same sense you realize that this is your chance to have another family, this is where you will be for the next year and it's up to you to make the best of it (Joshua, FIU student, former participant in the FYRST program). The sense of isolation and the desire for connectedness that Joshua describes is typical to many students beginning their college experience. Each year students around the country begin their freshmen year. Increasingly, there is a strong emphasis for institutions of higher education to attend to the needs of first year students, with the goal being to aid in student success and retention. American higher education has been the focus of a national reform initiative for the last couple of decades. An American Imperative (Wingspread Group, 1993), The Student Learning Imperative (American College Personnel Association, 1994) and Powerful Partnerships: A Shared Responsibility for Learning (American Association for Higher Education, American College Personnel Association and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, 1998) highlight the growing concern with the quality of student learning in the undergraduate experience. Challenges to current institutional priorities and practices, as well as shifting societal demands and influences have provided stimuli for this high interest in educational change. Part of this reform has included an increased emphasis on student learning, with particular attention to the development of learning communities. The implementation of first year programs are commonly viewed as a vehicle for developing community in the residence halls, and when intentionally planned, can ease the transition of new students and aid in bridging the students' in-class and out-of-class experiences. Given the time students spend outside of the classroom and the number of students who reside on college campuses, the residence halls are viewed as a logical place for the development of learning communities. Residence halls are viewed as having the potential to challenge and educate students as they connect their learning experiences to their living realities (Schroeder & Mable, 1994). …