Transitioning to College During a Pandemic: Examining the Contributions of Activities, Belonging, and Personal Experiences to First-Year Outcomes
Open Access
Author:
Walsh, Shannon
Graduate Program:
School Psychology
Degree:
Doctor of Philosophy
Document Type:
Dissertation
Date of Defense:
May 12, 2022
Committee Members:
James Diperna, Chair & Dissertation Advisor Barbara Schaefer, Major Field Member David Guthrie, Outside Unit & Field Member Shirley Woika, Major Field Member James Diperna, Program Head/Chair
Keywords:
first-year students retention college adjustment pandemic transition
Abstract:
The purpose of the proposed study was to investigate the relationship of personal and contextual variables with the first-year experience of full-time undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing upon Astin’s (1970) input-environment-output model of change, first-year students’ active engagement, sense of belonging, and personal experience with COVID-19 as predictors of staying in school, college adjustment, and flourishing. Data were drawn from the Fall 2020 Student Experience Survey distributed by the Student Affairs Research and Assessment (SARA) office at a public land-grant research university. Full-time first-year students at the flagship campus were included in each analysis sample (N = 152). Multiple hypotheses were tested regarding the effect of environment on college adjustment and flourishing as well as the likelihood of first-year students staying in school during a pandemic. Sense of belonging emerged as a meaningful predictor of college adjustment and flourishing, while active engagement and personal experience with COVID-19 did not. The findings of the current study may guide recruitment and retention efforts for first-year students as well as assist student affairs professionals as they develop and implement future college transition programming.