Running Head: Sophomore Year Expereince Housing 1

Running head: SOPHOMORE YEAR EXPEREINCE HOUSING 1
Sophomore Year Experience Housing: Evaluating the impact on student’s experiences
EDLD 621: Research Design and Analysis
Dr. Eleni Roulis
University of St. Thomas
December 21st, 2016

SOPHOMORE YEAR EXPERIENCE HOUSING 2
Sophomore Year Experience Housing: Evaluating the impact on student’s experiences
Sophomore Year Experience (SYE) housing provides a community specifically created
for second year students, who continue to live on campus. With an intentional focus on
programming and community development, SYE housing focuses around how to best serve the
sophomore residents of the community. SYE programs throughout university institutions have
similar and different aspects depending on the university institution’s overall mission and
purpose. Across university institutions, SYE programs can be a retention tool to help keep
second year students connected to campus and wanting to return for the junior years. SYE
programming impacts how students interact with the campus now as sophomores, having a year
experience at the institution, but still needing an impactful program to help them navigate their
future at the institution and in the community.
Statement of Problem
At the University of St. Thomas, the department of residence life staffs and programs for
two apartment buildings specifically for second year students and labels them SYE housing.
Since about 2007, residence life reclaimed the apartments to provide specific services and
resources to their sophomore students (Personal Communication, October 27th, 2016). A need
arises to understand what services this program provides, but also what sophomore students need
during their second year to persist through higher education and considering what the future of
SYE housing could look like to best support sophomores in these needs.
Significance of SYE housing
The importance of SYE programs comes from the growing concern and need for
retention on college campuses. Gaining a basic understanding of the need for SYE and
evaluating to continuously improve SYE, will make programming and communities more
impactful and relevant to second years, and hopefully impact retention rates. Professionals in
higher education continue to seek out new initiatives, while also evaluating current initiatives
allowing for continued growth and understanding, as individuals but also as departments and
universities. Through examination of one university’s SYE program, this study expands
knowledge of the creation of SYE programs, and looking at an evaluation of where
improvements can be made for the university.
The significance of this study develops from the examination of the importance of SYE
programs and providing professionals a deeper understanding of how to best implement a SYE
program. Through this examination of SYE history and implementation, an examination of the
importance of the transition year that happens in the sophomore year of a college student occurs.
This study allows for many levels of analysis of SYE programs, through first providing an
overview of the background to SYE programs and then looking specifically at a SYE program at
a private, Catholic, liberal arts institution and the program’s implementation in their housing
communities. In the end, this study answers the research question of what the purpose behind
SYE is and how to implement and determine a SYE programming success.
Purpose of Research
The purpose of this study is to gain an understanding of where SYE has been and what
the potential growth a SYE program can have at the University of St. Thomas. SYE provides a
bridge between the first year of college, where students are involved and excited about their
college experience, to their junior and senior year, where students prepare for graduation and
steps for after graduation. Also, SYE continues to develop students and help in the retention
efforts of an institution. These aspects of SYE housing provides guidance to the goals of the
program. Part of the study provides insight into the phenomenon of retention efforts, but also
focus on how the development of sophomores may differ from other class rankings. This study
provides viewpoints from sophomores currently living in the SYE housing communities and the
reasons they chose to live in the apartments, and the benefits they perceive receiving from living
in these communities. Overall the purpose of this study is to provide a holistic view of the SYE
housing program at the University of St. Thomas, with viewpoints from staff and students.
Research Question
This study focuses on how SYE currently operates at the University of St. Thomas and
what are areas of improvement to provide students with better support and experiences. A
thorough examination of the current program and student experiences allows the study to answer
where the program may be falling short and where the program’s successes lay. Overall the
study will research what the SYE program looks like at the University of St. Thomas and how
successful the program is with serving the students.
Researcher’s Passion and Interest
Researching SYE housing at the University of St. Thomas is interesting to me, the
researcher, because working with sophomore communities and being a future student affairs
professional, I want to have a better understanding of the unique population I work directly with
and the programs I supervise. Being my fifth year working in residence life, but my first at the
University of St. Thomas, I came into a new community with a basic understanding of residence
life duties, but the ability to work with a different program than I had worked with in the past. I
soon became interested in the how I could better serve these communities and better
understanding of the sophomore student needs. Thus, I chose to talk to not only the students
themselves, but also the staff that developed and worked with the program in the past, in hopes
to gain a more holistic understanding of the SYE housing at the University of St. Thomas.
Ethics of the Research
While the limitations of this study include only focusing on one SYE program, this study
provides more insight into what sophomores are looking for in the second year of college.
Another limitation of this study is only talking to two students on an individual basis; however,
multiple students provided feedback through a survey, so more than two student perspectives
were considered. While the research only studied one university program, the research provides a
look at what one program has done and can do, which provides other universities options for
programming efforts they can try. As the research went on, I made sure to keep an open mind to
the responses of the interviews and survey and take every answer into account when analyzing
the successes and areas of improvement for the SYE housing at the University of St. Thomas.
Literature Review
The sophomore year during college often represents a year of lack of support and a time
of uncertainty for many students. Through understanding sophomores; unique academic and
social needs relating to feeling a sense of belonging and connection, building relationships and
connections, interacting with faculty, having support in decisions with major and career choices,
and matching expectations with the reality, professionals working in higher education must
understand these concepts on a deeper level. The review of literature to follow provides an
overview of these concepts for professionals to consider working specifically with sophomores.
Academic and Social Needs
The sophomore year of college requires unique needs (Foote, Hinkle, and Kranzow,
2015) and sophomores experience various reasons for staying or leaving an institution
(VanValkenburg, 2013), affected by their unique needs. Growing diversity in demographics,
external communities providing support, assessment of the impact of size of school on introverts
versus extroverts, missed stimulation opportunities and redefining and/or reestablishing
communities factor into the different needs for sophomores (VanValkenburg, 2013). Karp and
Logue (2003) discover individual attention and social support around campus are some of the
important needs of sophomores in their study. Professionals in higher education must be aware
of these different needs and address them accordingly, to assist in keeping sophomores on
campus.
VanValkenburg (2013) mentions the influence intellectual and social integration has on a
sophomore’s decision to continue at an institution or leave. Karp and Logue (2003) expand
stating social and academic engagement and integration affects persistence in higher education.
Also in their study, Wang and Kennedy-Phillips (2013) support the importance of confidence
and satisfaction with the institution and the impact both can have on social and academic
engagement.
Addressing the concerns, Tobolowsky (2008) states the “importance of advising cannot
be overstated.” (p. 65) Besides focusing on advising, Wang and Kennedy-Phillips (2013) discuss
the importance for sophomores to take advantage of resources and support, while being provided
the assistance to see the bigger picture of the world and understand their identity and leadership
better. VanValkenburg (2013) also mentions the importance of drawing students together and
providing sophomores with events relevant to them to attend. While sophomores’ needs are
different than their other years, their needs remain important for understanding how to best serve
and keep sophomores at higher education institutions.
Feeling of Belonging and Being in the “Right” Place Effects on Retention
The forgotten year or the sophomore slump describe views of the sophomore year in
higher education, which also is the year students felt most disconnected (VanValkenburg, 2013).
However, VanValkenburg (2013) in her study talks with sophomores who mention how they
recognize their needs are not as significant as the first year, but they still strive for the sense of
belonging to the campus community. VanValkenburg’s (2013) study discusses how a student’s
sense of community is stronger when they feel the sense of belonging and connections to the
campus. Tobolowsky (2008) supports focusing on a sense of community by discussing the need
for self-assessment with sophomores to help them question their identity and their sense of
meaning and purpose. Through this self-assessment, Tobolowsky (2008) mentions how this will
help sophomores establish a sense of community on campus. Foote et al’s (2015) review of
research restates the idea of finding a sense of purpose, as they mention how the sophomore year
is a growing time in which students tend to find their sense of purpose.
Having a sense of belonging influences students in many ways, especially sophomores
who are in the year of unknown. Wang and Kennedy-Phillips (2013) discuss how feeling like
they belong encourages students when it comes to academic engagement. VanValkenburg
(2013) discusses the increase in sophomores’ likeliness to return when they find that sense of
belonging and niche in the campus community. Tobolowsky (2008) and Karp and Logue (2003)
provide support in both of their studies by mentioning the dropping rate of second year retention,
placing more importance on creating a sense of belonging for sophomores.
Knowing the importance of the sense of belonging has on retention, studies have made
suggestions for strategies higher education professionals can use to help sophomores gain that
feeling of belonging and connection. VanValkenburg (2013) discusses the necessity to give
them a voice and feel invested in the community, while also mentioning how living on campus
contributes to a stronger sense of community. Foote et al (2015) emphasizes the importance of
creating an environment of warmth and acceptance to help foster a sense of belonging for
sophomores. Overall, Karp and Logue (2003) summarize efforts necessary by discussing how
higher education must focus on sophomore’s perception of their value and work towards
increasing that perception.
Connections and Relationships on Campus
Part of feeling like sophomores belong to the campus community comes from the
connections and relationships sophomores create on campus. VanValkenburg (2013) discusses
the integration process students go through when adapting to campus climate that creates more
support for them. This support comes from building connections through interactions in many
different areas like housing and interactions with faculty and staff (VanValkenburg, 2013).
Tobolowsky (2008) expands on the importance of connections and relationships, by discussing
how sophomores go through a questioning process of relationships from their first year, resulting
in room for new relationships and connections to form.
As mentioned, relationships and connections occur in different ways including
relationship with RAs, faculty, staff, open door policies in residence halls, making friends in hall
communities and many more (VanValkenburg, 2013). In their study VanValkenburg (2013)
discusses how these connections and relationships may stay with the student majority of their
lives. Tobolowsky (2008) introduces another key aspect of creating connections and
relationships, specifically within the sophomore class, through building a unique class identity.
With having a unique class identity and many connections and relationships, sophomores learn
how to function as a larger community and understand their role in a larger community on a
larger scale (Kennedy-Phillips & Uhrig, 2013). Supporting a better understanding of functioning
as a larger community and developing relationships and connections, professionals in higher
education create a stronger support for sophomores in their campus community.

Faculty Integration and Engagement
Some of the connections and relationships sophomores build are with faculty, specifically
relationships outside of the classroom. Foote et al (2015) mentions how faculty interaction
fosters engagement and success, and sophomores can seek intentional support from these
relationships. Engaging informally with faculty, outside of the classroom, allows sophomores to
perceive support from their faculty in ways outside of the teaching role (Foote et al, 2015). Karp
and Logue (2003) provide support through discussing the amount and quality of faculty
interaction and engagement affects a student’s persistence at the institution, which could be
beneficial to both the institution and the student.
There are many benefits for sophomores from frequently engaging in faculty interactions
outside of the classroom. Foote et al (2015) discusses how these interactions facilitate transition
and success, explicitly when incorporated into housing. Continuing in their review, Foote et al
(2015) discusses higher GPAs, greater involvement, stronger feeling of connections, and better
study habits, sophomores experience as benefits from faculty interaction. Kennedy-Phillips and
Uhrig (2013) also mentions the variety of areas this experience can have for sophomores,
including mentoring, advising and research opportunities. Faculty interaction for sophomores
provides benefits in many areas of their campus experience, and will continue to be beneficial
through a student’s development.
Career and Major Decision Support
Sophomores utilize the relationships and connections they make on campus, especially
with faculty and staff, when it comes to deciding on a major and a career plan. During their
second year, students begin to wonder if their major or career choices are right for them and need
support through this time of uncertainty (VanValkenburg, 2013). Foote et al (2015) mentions
this lack of confidence as well during the sophomore year. Sophomores become more self-aware
in terms of their career choice (Kennedy-Phillips and Uhrig, 2013) and navigate this time with
less support, when they need to feel supported the most about the decisions they are making
(Foote et al, 2015).
Decision making during the sophomore year brings about confusion and helps define the
sophomore slump (Tobolowsky, 2008). Tobolowsky (2008) discusses the support, during these
decision-making processes, poses potentially the most critical issue for the sophomore year and
programs around the sophomore year. Sophomores require help when selecting a major and in
turn selecting a career path, but also in understanding the transferable skills to take with them
into their careers (Karp and Logue, 2003). Karp and Logue (2003) stress the importance of
integrating and advertising career advising for sophomores. VanValkenburg (2013) expands by
emphasizing the need for a strong sense of direction with professional goals. There is a lot of
uncertainty with these decisions and sophomores need the support while going through the
process.
Expectation versus Reality
Overall, a college experience, specifically the sophomore year, comes down to whether the
student’s expectations match reality. VanValkenburg (2013) addresses sophomores expecting the
college experience to be better than the reality that faces them once on campus. Sophomores need
to take initiative and try things they normally would not have done (VanValkenburg, 2013). Foote
et al (2015) supports this idea by discussing how sophomores fail to see opportunities for growth,
learning and guidance, all of which can benefit their experience. However, institutions are not
completely innocent in this expectation versus reality, as Wang and Kennedy-Phillips (2013)
discusses how the less support provided by the institutions leads to the discrepancies in
expectations. Both institutions and students need to work towards helping expectations and reality
meet, especially as Karp and Logue (2003) discuss how the match of the two affects persistence.
In the end, it all comes down to what factors effect a sophomore staying at an institution and what
to do to help positively affect those factors and a student’s persistence.
Literature Review Conclusion
When assessing the programs serving sophomore students in higher education
institutions, professionals need to start by understanding the unique needs sophomores require in
their transition year. As discusses in throughout this review of literature, feeling connected and
belonging to the community, making connections and relationships, faculty interaction, career
and major decision support, and matching expectation with reality represent key factors that
influence the sophomore year experience. Continuous evaluation of sophomore year experience
programs must take place to ensure professionals are meeting sophomores where they are at and
providing services and events that are relevant to their experiences. The qualitative study to
follow analyzes a sophomore year experience housing program at a four-year, private, liberal
arts, Catholic institution and whether the program meets sophomores’ needs t in the specific
community.
Methodology and Methods
This qualitative research is a case study of the University of St. Thomas’ SYE housing
program. The University of St. Thomas provides the specific population being studied, and even
more specific considering one program on campus within the residence life department. Using
this specific case, will not create a generalization of SYE programs across institutions; however,
the study provides an example to build on the understanding and impact of SYE at university
institutions.
Participants of the research include two different groups of people, who both play a
crucial role in SYE programs. Sophomores living in the SYE communities, at the University of
St. Thomas, presents one focus of the research. Through a survey and two interviews the study
gains information on what students need as sophomores and their experience of being in a SYE
communities. A total of 20 student living in the SYE housing took a survey (Appendix A)
through a link sent to them in an email. From that survey, students had the opportunity to
indicate the interest and agreement to set up an interview time with me to further discuss their
responses from the survey. One male and one female indicated and agreed to set up an interview
and met with me for about a ten-minute interview each (Appendix B). The survey responses and
the interviews (Appendix E and F) provided the student perspective of the benefits and reasons
for living in the SYE housing.
The other perspective included was the Director of Residence Life at the University of St.
Thomas. Through an interview (Appendix C), the director provided a history overview of the
SYE housing program, the changes it faced, and an understanding of the intentionality behind the
SYE housing (Appendix D). Interviewing a professional staff member involved with the SYE
housing program since it was developed and has seen the changes overtime, allows the research
to gain more of a background and basic understanding of the intentionality behind the program.
This perspective along with the perspectives of the students considers the holistic view to help
better evaluate the SYE housing program and improvements for the future.
Results
To begin gathering information about the Sophomore Year Experience (SYE) program, I
interviewed the Director of Residence Life at the University of St. Thomas. The interview lasted
about an hour and provided insight on the history of how SYE came to be at this institution, the
reasons why SYE housing relates to the efforts by Residence Life at this institution, the benefits
of continuing to maintain SYE housing and future implementations of the program moving
forward.
History of SYE Housing Program
Through the interview, the director detailed the history of how the two apartment
complexes resulted in SYE housing programs. They started by mentioning auxiliary services
previously managing the apartments. Then the university wanted to reclaim those apartments and
gain more control over the two apartment complexes and the finances associated with the
apartments. Once the university reclaimed the apartments, the director discussed how they
purposefully made them into sophomore housing only to provide more opportunities for on
campus housing to sophomores, while also providing specific programming for sophomores.
The director also explained how SYE used to be in both the apartments, but also on specific
floors in some of the traditional housing styles on campus. The idea was all SYE communities
and staff working in the communities would collaborate on specific programming efforts for
sophomores. However, one year there was an influx of first-year students, who then took over
the SYE spots in the traditional housing, leaving SYE in the apartment complexes only, the
current SYE housing areas at the institution. The history of SYE housing at this institution came
from the need for more housing for sophomores and intentional programming for the sophomore
students, which plays into the reasons why SYE relates to Residence Life’s efforts (Personal
Communication, October 27th, 2016).
Reasons for SYE Housing
As discussed in the history of SYE, the reasons for SYE to remain result from the
sophomores being a unique class to program and resource for. From the Residence Life
perspective, the SYE housing provided and still provides the opportunity for Residence Life at
the University of St. Thomas to test out programming for sophomores and start out ahead of the
game to get an understanding of what the sophomore year experience looks like. The director
discussed how sophomores still have needs and since first-years took over the traditional spaces,
the apartment complexes, which make up SYE housing, provides the opportunity to still focus on
the needs of sophomores. While it is difficult sometimes to program in these spaces, the director
acknowledged it still builds a sophomore community and provides support to sophomores. The
director discussed how these reasons relate to why they choose to still staff the apartments the
way they do and support the idea behind SYE housing, in hopes to expand the programming,
especially if the implement a two-year residency requirement in the coming years (Personal
Communication, October 27th, 2016).
Sophomore’s Perspective
Two forms of data collection allowed for the sophomores living in these communities to
provide insight into their perspectives of SYE housing. The survey responses (Appendix G)
shows how 20 students living in these communities responded when asked about the support and
resources they need as sophomores and how SYE may or may not influence their experience at
the University of St. Thomas. From the survey results, it is clear that most sophomores chose to
live in SYE housing mainly for the apartment style living (90%), but also finances (40%) and
resources (35%).. When asked about areas of support they need, career exploration (40%),
connection to faculty (35%), academic and study skills (35%), time management (30%) and
major declaration (30%) were the top four areas identified by the sophomores. However, when
asked what areas provide support through living in SYE housing, secure living environment
(65%) and socialization (40%) were the top two responses.

To follow up on the survey, two sophomore students met with me to provide more
content behind the answers from the survey. During the interviews (Appendences E&F) , both
sophomores mentioned location, community, being in the same transition period as those around
them and the accommodations of the apartments being positive aspects of their SYE housing
experience. Also at some point during the interviews, both students mentioned the staff member
who lives in the apartment building with them and helps create community. The students
discussed how just having someone to encourage the community helps them connect better, but
also they can relate to the staff member and others around, because they are all going through the
same transition time, but also can learn about different experiences. The students offered more
details about what the actual experience and perspective is of the students living in these
communities. (Personal Communication, December 8th, 2016 & Personal Communication,
December 13th, 2016)
Results Conclusion
The interviews and survey responses allowed for a more holistic view of the University
of St. Thomas’ SYE housing program. I collected perspectives from both sides, which each side
revealed new information about the background or the perception of the program. A holistic
understanding now allows the understanding of the intentionality from the Residence Life side
and the community aspect from the student side. With this holistic understanding, we can now
move towards comprehending what SYE housing’s full potential is and how to potentially get
there.
Implications
The SYE housing program at the University of St. Thomas has the intentionality to still
serve second-year students during this transition year. While the program experienced some
changes, the residence life staff still recognizes the unique and varying needs of the second-year
in higher education. Currently by just staffing the buildings, residence life intentionally provides
one connection to campus, and the students realize the importance of this connection, as noted in
the interviews. The staffing of these two buildings gives the residents someone who is a student
like they are to be able to relate to the support they may need, which is still important in the
transition of the second-year. Also this connections provides connections to more people who
live around them in the same building. Staffing communities for sophomores should remain an
importance for any SYE housing, because students recognize the importance.
Location of the apartments illustrates another benefit to the sophomores living in these
communities. As both sophomores mentioned in their interviews, being close to campus is
important and allows them to still be involved in various activities on campus. The barrier of
distance and going back and forth form their off campus place no longer poses a problem, and
the involvement from their first-year and/or new involvements foster themselves and carry
through. This allows for students to remain socially integrated, but also academically integrated
from being so close to other resources.
Finally, defining the needs of sophomores and where they are at in their educational path
will always need revisiting. As the director of Residence mentioned, the definition of what it
means to be a sophomore changes and professionals working with this population need to be
aware of the changes that occur. Always communicating and evaluating where the students are,
provides the best opportunity for understanding what needs to be provided to sophomores. As
developments in higher education occur, SYE housing will need to develop the services provided
in this programming efforts.

Future Research and Recommendations
Moving forward with SYE programs, future research needs to look at the development of
students occurring during the transition year and how that may affect programming efforts. Also
this study was of one specific community and program, so future research could expand to other
programs and efforts at other institutions. My recommendations is to continue to look at the
changing and unique needs of sophomores and how professionals and programs can best serve
them. As the population grows in their understanding and transition of higher education, the
programs offered will need to grow and transition along with it. In the end, all programs may
have similar aspects; however, they should be tailored to the communities and institutions
specifically to best serve the students.
Conclusion
SYE housing at the University of St. Thomas provides intentional programming to help
foster the community between second years. While it can be a retention tool, it is more about
supporting the students during their transition year and helping them navigate higher education.
Keeping them engaged on campus is one benefit resulting from SYE programming. Sophomores
have a year of experience in higher education, and SYE programming should build from that
experience and allow students the opportunity to continue defining how they want to achieve
engagement and community at the institution.
The University of St. Thomas’ SYE housing program provides sophomores a community
of support and while improvements are possible in the future, the students currently living in the
communities appreciate the support and learning opportunities provided to them. They are able
to engage on campus with being so close and still have the amenities and freedom of living in an
apartment. Overall, the SYE housing program has potential to expand overtime and impacts
students’ experiences on campus.

References
Foote, S.M., Hinkle, S.E., & Kranzow, J. (2015). Supporting the Transition of Sophomores,
Transfers, and Seniors: Opportunities for Residence Life Professionals. The Journal of
College and University Student Housing. 47(1), 212-233.
Karp, R., & Logue, R. (2003). Retention Initiative for Unscheduled Sophomores and
Unscheduled Readmits. Journal of College Student Retention. 4(2) 147-172.
Kennedy-Phillips, L.C. & Uhrig, K.J. (2013). Measuring the Second-Year Transformational
Experience Program (STEP) at The Ohio State University. New Directions for Student
Services. (142), 83-88.
Klein, M. (December 13th, 2016). Personal Communication.
Macke, A. (October 27th, 2016). Personal Communication.
Pumper, N. (December 8th, 2016). Personal Communication.
Tobolowsky, B.F. (2008). Sophomores in Transition: The Forgotten Year. New Directions for
Higher Education. (144), 59-67.
VanValkenburg, S.E. (2013, January 1). Finding a Niche: Examining Sophomore and Junior
Sense of Community. Online Submission.
Wang, X. & Kennedy-Phillips, L. (2013). Focusing on the Sophomores: Characteristics

Associated with the Academic and Social Involvement of Second-Year College Students.
Journal of College Student Development. 54(5), 541-548.
Appendix A- Survey Questions
Thank you for volunteering to participating in this survey. By engaging in this survey, you are
consenting to be part of the Sophomore Year Experience (SYE) study with myself Emily
Johnson. All information is confidential and participants will be protected with anonymity. All
results are in aggregate form.
1. Please describe your sex or gender.
2. What factors played a role in you choosing to live in the SYE housing? (Check all that
apply)
a. Finances
b. Support from staff members (e.g. Hall Director, Apartment Coordinator)
c. Security
d. Programming efforts (events to attend)
e. Resources
f. Apartment Style Living
3. What areas do you feel you need the most support as a sophomore at St. Thomas? (Check
all that apply)
a. Academics/Study Skills
b. Time Management
c. Socialization
d. Career Exploration
e. Major Declaration
f. Connection to Faculty
g. Secure Campus
h. Mental and Personal Health and Balance
4. Of those areas, what ways do you feel best supported through living in SYE housing?
(Check all that apply)
a. Secure Living Environment
b. Academic/Study Skills
c. Time Management
d. Socialization
e. Career Exploration
f. Major Declaration
g. Connection to Faculty
h. Mental and Personal Health and Balance
5. In what ways does your on-campus living experience help connect you to campus?
a. Involvement in Student Organizations
b. Athletics/Intramurals
c. Connection to other students
d. Creating a community where you live
e. Accessibility to on campus resources
f. Feel a part of the campus culture and community

6. Do your housing experiences influence you remaining at St. Thomas? Please explain why
or why not.
7. What areas of improvements and future changes do you see in SYE housing? (beyond
housing amenities more on programming)
8. Are you willing to participate in a follow up interview to further discuss the SYE housing
experience?
a. Yes
i. Name and Email
b. No
Appendix B-Questions for Students
Thank you for volunteering to meet for this interview. By engaging in this interview, you are
consenting to be part of the Sophomore Year Experience(SYE) study with myself Emily
1. Expanding from the survey, what areas do you feel you need support as a sophomore?
And Why?
2. How do you think St. Thomas has provided you that support?
3. How has living in SYE provided you with the support and services you feel you need as a
sophomore?
4. What improvements could be made to improve the SYE housing?
5. Do you see living in SYE having a major impact on your academics? If so how, if not,
why?
6. Do you feel there are connections you could make through living in SYE? Please explain.
7. Do you think it is beneficial having sophomores living together? Why or Why not?
8. Any other comments about living in the SYE housing?
Appendix C- Questions for Director of Residence Life
1. Can you share with me what you know about the history of SYE at St. Thomas?
2. What do you see as the primary benefits/reasons for SYE?
3. What program efforts has SYE developed in the past?
4. Describe how those efforts have been successful? Describe what was not so successful
and why
5. Where do you see the future of SYE going at St. Thomas?
6. What do you see as the successes of SYE?
7. What are the areas of improvement for SYE?
8. What role does SYE play in your department and/or at St. Thomas?
Appendix D-Transcript of Interview with Director of Residence Life
The interview started with the interviewee pulling up documents from previous research and
documents they had from before on SYE housing. The interviewee then began discussing the
history of SYE housing without being prompted, which is where the recording starts.
consenting to be part of the Sophomore Year Experience (SYE) study with myself Emily
A: That kind of the history of SYE here because it all came to be with 2151 back in ‘06, ‘07 ‘08
Because we got it from the same way we got everything else we got on Mid Campus. Kleinmann
Management Company, Kleinmann Reality, um was hired by auxiliary services here to run the
properties.
E: Okay.
A: And all the properties from Cleveland down to Cretin And in between Summit and Grand, so
what we call Mid Campus, and um overtime, Mark Vansguard had wanted to transition things
from that contract to our portfolio. So that there was this greater control by the university. He
likes me and trusts me and he didn’t like how things were kind of willie nillie in those properties
or whatever else and getting more students to live on campus, controlling the finances a little
more, and the upkeep and the presentation of them, staffing them. You know just...and that was
before the transfer houses too I think, or did the transfer houses happen first. Shoot I can’t
remember now, that was one of the first ones though and so um part of it though was I had to put
together a little proposal. And so, we are going to make it an SYE building to get more
sophomores to live on campus, specific programming, it was then what got us a grad and an AC
to be in there because it was programming for sophomores and we would blah blah blah. Um,
and so that is kind of how that one got sold to be. And then the two transfer houses, um we have
put in a proposal for those and the proposal was transfer only so we could guarantee housing to
the first 22 transfers that came in, otherwise transfers have a really hard time getting housing
wherever they go because they transfer in May, and June, and July and housing is usually taken
up by colleges by that time. So, we wanted to hold space so that would guarantee transfers that
wanted housing, housing. No matter what happened with retention, no matter anything else, that
was dedicated to transfers. Um, which was very much ahead of the curve at the time when we
decided to do that so that’s how those two houses got to be transfer and then when 85 came
along later, it just made sense for us to expand the SYE and have that and 51 be both sophomores
and join the programming so that went through the grads and whatever else, so.
E: So, was the main reason than to make those to help with sophomore housing?
A: it was to get more sophomores on campus and have a space dedicated solely to them so we
didn’t you know we have people choose based on credits they can choose housing going top to
bottom. And so, pulling those completely offline so no juniors and seniors couldn’t get in. It was
just for first years going into their second year and then we had to have lotteries and all that kind
of stuff, which you know made them all mad, but it was to get sophomores on and it was for us
to pilot and get in, cause at that time we did it, the concept of SYE programming was just
starting to be a hot topic. And so, there was just literature coming out on it and so we wanted to
try it in an environment that was controlled, smaller, staffed heavily, um and give it a shot. The
goal was to and we kind of sort of did, but not really. The goal was to pilot there come up with a
plan and then expand it to floors in our traditional housing. And so, there was a period of time
there, four or five or six years ago, whatever it was, where the grads on mid the area directors in
Dowling and Brady and at that time we had grads in each one too. We had a grad for Brady and
Koch Desk and a grad for Dowling, would work together with floors, primarily seven, but six
and seven in Brady uh we designated seven, seven was an SYE floor and Dowling six, five,
where is the kitchen in there right now? Five because there is a little kitchen in five in Dowling
on the floor by the lounge. And five was designated as SYE housing for returners, and so we had
sophomores on five, sophomores on seven, sophomores in 85, sophomores in 51 and the four
grad then were supposed to do programming together that was SYE programming. A whole SYE
programming plan, um and then join the residents from all these areas together to do that. Um,
and it happened, I shouldn’t say it didn’t happen, it did, but sophomores are hard to program for
because they consider themselves upper division students, and since you’re in an apartment, your
autonomy and flexibility is what it is. Grad turnover, you run out of energy, um no one knows
what to do with the grads. We all know there is a need there because they are still young, their
frontal lobes aren’t developed, they still need support, assistance and guidance, but only a small
percentage of them think they need that, so it’s hard, so it fizzled out. Plus, what happened was
we had a year, 2011, when we had 1502 first years come in and we had cannibalized the spaces
because we needed them for first years. So, we took those sophomores and we moved them into
canceled spaces that were in like Flynn or Morrison and whatever else and we put freshman in
up there. And so then that kind of killed the program you know different things. And then now
these buildings really, I mean there are some sophomores in them, but they are primarily first
year buildings. So, it never kind of our vision if you were was to have this pilot in 51, expand it
across campus eventually to our Flynn suites, because those are mostly sophomores and have
this really robust SYE curriculum, SYE program. You know, program for first year FYE and
program for SYE and a program for upper division junior senior was the kind of the original
vision. And as time goes on and people come in and have different interests and things like that
and whatever else that hasn’t fully um come to be. But that was kind of what the goal was.
E: okay, so what would you say were the primary benefits we were aiming to give the students
when we first started?
A: Based upon when we did initial focus groups and surveys, I pitched and you will see this in
the stuff, I think it was assistance with career planning, so career services, uh support resources
on campus, kind of to a deeper extent than what you get in your first year, um still to give them a
community building and community bonding experience, because what we heard to was who
your freshman group was, sometimes was based on pretty artificial things. And that there was
still a need going into the second year to develop deeper relationships and deeper bonds and a
deeper friendship group so there was still a need for that. For us to help them get connected to
campus and to one another especially early on. Academic support, picking a major, so having
academic counseling come in and talk about major tracks and minor tracks and all of that
stuff. Again, that gets tricky because now the trend is bring in credits and you are really picking
your major and minor before you get here, because the core is so tight, that if you start on the
wrong class, it is the difference between four and half year, four year and five years. So the
whole helping sophomores develop resources to pick a vocation and that kind of stuff, um my
guess is if they were doing, I haven’t looked at research out there and that’s why, my guess is
new research will probably find that, probably still note it but it might be find it a little less
relevant than when they were starting their research in ‘06, ‘07, ‘08, cause I am guessing most
schools have what we have. Which is more and more people earning credit, coming in college
has turned into much less than a liberal arts experience and now it’s all about getting a job and
career services now is all about placement, and you know so there is probably less of that well
they need to discern in that second year, so we need to have programs for them to discern. That
is probably more of a spring of freshman year thing now than it is really a second-year thing. I
am not really sure what, it would be interesting to see when you’re looking at it and doing
research on it, what is the current uh hot trend around SYE now in regards to what people would
identify as them needing in the second year. Is it still about major, is it now no that gets picked
in the first year, now its about service and engagement or now it’s about internships, are SYE
programs placing people into internships now. You know I don’t know but that would be
interesting.
E: Um I’ve like obviously started doing my research and I think it is like a balance of both, like I
don’t think there is as much focus on that major exploration of it, but that is still like an aspect of
it because you are still young enough to where you could still be choosing a major and for some
people that could be reality, um but it is more of that career exploration and what do you want to
do with it and that internship side as well, and so I think that is where the shift has gone, like it
recognizes there is that shift and it is kind of shifted with it, but still maintaining those two as
some aspect I guess. Um, so I guess my question to that would be with still considering 51 and
85 our sophomore year experience, like is there really benefit now for that or is it just like we are
here are sophomores living in an apartment complex? Is there that focus for this department
anymore?
A: Uh, there is. How well that is being communicated from me to the Associate Director to the
Area Director and then the Area Director to the grads you would be able to answer. I am not
entirely confident that it is being communicated well. Um, There is some benefit just to the sheer
fact of putting people together, that we can or cannot take credit for, pick and choose. Uh, and
so by having all of the sophomores together in those two buildings, not all of them but those
buildings are specific to that, I would like to think there are some mutual benefits that they will
glean from one another from being in the same program and from having staff, it’s a very good
staff ratio, that there would be some very good benefits from that just because we have and we
assign staff to it. Beyond that I would like to think that you and Jerrimiah and those all before
you are considering your programming options, considering your population and you’re doing
programming that would be more in line and tailored to and suited for that population than if you
were in Brady or Ireland. So in that sense, there would be additional benefit. That may not be,
so that sophomore lived in Brady or Dowling, or even if it lived in a Flynn suite, or it lived
somewhere else, wouldn’t get that same attention, because that intentionality of that
programming wouldn’t be the same, it wouldn’t be a programming for you whereas right now
whatever you do, you are likely thinking, I am programming for you and programming because
you are a sophomore you are 19 to 20 years old, you are not supposed to be drinking because you
can’t quite drink yet, you probably have chosen a major, but maybe half of you haven’t really or
you have but you are not really sold on it, you may be in an internship, you may not be, you may
be working, you may not be working, you may be connected and engaged and everything else on
campus or you may be a lost child on campus, like you probably got a huge spectra of mix there,
and that you are probably thinking about that as you are developing one on one conversations
and programming and everything else. So, I would like to think that there is still benefit by the
fact that we have it and we label it what we label it and we staff for it. You know we had a
choice when all of this um Karen came in and said I am restructuring the grad program, submit
what your priorities are as a department, in terms of numbers of grads, where you want them
living, what you want them doing, uh excetra excetra. That was a moment where I had a real
choice to staff or not staff that block, because it would have been really easy to not staff and to
say um there is 500 women in Dowling and I am going to staff that, there is 300 men in Brady uh
the north campus has a certain population and risk and everything else, I am going to staff, put
my grads in those spaces and have an Area Director take care of Mid Campus and I am going to
maybe have one or two ACs remain. You could really do that, it’s apartment style, it’s upper
division, you could take the stance of we will provide safe, comfortable housing but we are not
going to babysit it. We are not going to attempt to program or be intentional or whatever else,
we will just let them live and a lot of schools choose that with your upper division students
because it is so much easier and cheaper. Um I wanted to still see that through. And part of my
reason for wanting to see it through is that, there still could be, I mean right now the questions
we are asking ourselves right now is two year residency or not, if we build three new buildings,
uh it would be four buildings because two on the east block one on Cleveland and then one
replacing JP2, but the one on Cleveland and lot G and the two on east block would likely be for
juniors and seniors. The plan then would be to take our juniors and seniors that are currently in
Flynn and Morrison, shift them, by how, what we make available to them, when it comes to
choice for selection and stuff like that, is at a price point that is more affordable for a
junior/senior, it would be amenities that would be, uh and plus the juniors and seniors are going
to want the nicest things, latest thing built. And then that would make Morrison, especially
floors two through seven, that don’t have ranges, and a slightly less price point, along with the
Flynn suites and some of the apartments in Flynn, primarily sophomores. So, and then what
would absolutely need to happen, is a really solid SYE program. So we are kind of, and if we
move to a two year residency, would be about okay, if you are going to force us to live on, and if
we are going to forces students to live on, what are we going to do academically for them, in
terms of working with student success center, in terms of working with LLCs, you know right
now our LLCs they are all about first years, because we are trying to get that first year to second
year retention up. If we went to a two-year residency, it would be about first year to second year,
and second year to third year, it would be about four-year graduation, it would be about
articulation. So, we would go from alright here is two kind of smaller communities where we
want to be thoughtful about how we program plan and house sophomores, to a Residence Life
now has got 800-900 sophomores on campus instead of 450, what are doing that is very
intentional specifically to them. So, my goal even at that time too would still be about this is
going to continue to grow, um we are likely going to grow the number of beds we have for
sophomores and we are likely going to need to then have a really good plan and be ready when
that day comes. And here is a great way for us to get ready. Um so even as we sit today, why I
still make the comments I do and this and that, let’s make sure we are still being very thoughtful
about what we are doing with those communities, because they could be, it is very easy to say,
let them just utilize the apartments as though they were across Grand Avenue and we were a
landlord and we submitted RFSs and we made sure the place didn’t burn down. Easiest job, you
could just do it, you know, the grad student can go about their business, go about grad school,
um live in the building have a nice big living and just basically keep the building from burning
down. Um, and we have had grads do that and we have had grads not do that. So um but I really
think we need to do more than that and I know you all are, but I mean the reason why we keep it
staffed the way we do and keep calling it SYE and keep putting sophomores in there, is because I
think we are really going to need something to come out of that, some kind of model, some kind
of practice, even if it is a whole bunch of things that doesn’t work or if it just fresh data about
what various generations of students are saying and doing and how they are behaving, at least
that would be good data for us too as we think about alright when we do get three or four
hundred more on campus, and now we’ve got, at that point in time it would be almost 70 percent
of the sophomores likely on campus if you take out those who will apply for exceptions, you take
out study abroad, you know there is going to be a certain number, um you know what are we
going to do, that’s really thoughtful, really intentional.
E: So, kind of a transition, looking at like where we are at now with SYE and where it’s been,
what have you, like I guess what efforts have been developed in the past for SYE that maybe we
could revamp and bring back, or maybe we are still doing that you view as successes, um and
things we could maybe implement for that future if we make like Morrison and Flynn that bigger
SYE community?
A: Um, yeah, I don’t have a good sense for what um what the intentionality is behind what we
are doing with it. You know, I know and I hear success stories of programming or that was
frustrating because no one showed up. So, you know I have been hearing that over the
years. What I don’t know and have not honestly spent the time getting to know is um what really
was it about it that led it to be success and what was it about it that led it to not be. You know
what I mean? So, I don’t have a good sense for that. I think what I do know is, focuses for this
university and most universities for the next five years, are going to be about getting students to
think about their learning in a very comprehensive way, in and out of the classroom, connecting
the dots between what I am getting from a curriculum in a classroom, what I am getting from my
living environment, what I am getting from a job or an internship, what I am getting from a club
or an org, and helping them connect all those dots in a meaningful way that translates into this
will then help me go do whatever. Um and that’s what all the schools right now are under fire to
go do. And so which is also why your career services at all these schools, some of them are
reporting straight to the president, are all turning into these uh half of a leg in the I’m going to uh
help develop you, which is why it is called career development, develop you, talk you through a
process, be a sounding board, give you things to think about, put a matrix together, be a resource,
blah, about half a leg is in there now. The other half of the leg and the entire other leg are in the
what does it mean to be here for only four years, what does it mean to have an internship in your
sophomore year, a job in your junior year and a full-time job lined up before your senior year
even begins. What does it mean to um align yourself with a profession that is in directly in line
with your major and what you are paying for school i.e. don’t go into debt 60,000 dollars to
become a social worker, because that’s what schools are on fire for right now, you know? All
those kinds of things, so you’re going to see a ramped up career services here at St. Thomas, uh
the reason why you are seeing a student success center and why you are seeing versions of that at
other schools and that’s going to be the next trending topic, and everything else, um is to connect
the tutoring and the support services and the career placement, and the before they even walked
in the door and the academic counselors are sitting with them, what are they advising them to do
in that moment, that will almost guarantee them a three to four year graduation, and align them
with all the things I just said, so that is why you’re academic counseling, and your careers are
being joined together. Um, so it is all about that, so if you take SYE and you look at it with that
lens, what would be the natural things you want to address at that time. So, your first year is all
about connection, acclimation, um get them started on the right foot, introduce topics to them
that challenge them, push them and grow them, start with basic service types of things and then
that second year, you would then push them all the way down a path. So, then SYE would then
be about what does it look like to then catapult them down a path they started in their freshman
year, and I don’t know exactly what that would be. I mean that would be I think that’s where
SYE is going to be going, and so as we think about what would be fun to pilot out here in spring
or whatever else, or to write about or research about or whatever else, I think it would be taking a
look at higher ed as a whole and the other thing we are seeing too is um the shrinking movement
into your liberal arts fields into your soft sciences, into this huge volume of growth in your hard
sciences, business, science, engineering, and all of the different kind of fields related and
attached to them, in a spider kind of way, those are going through the roof at all schools and so
what is that then mean for that second year, what does that mean for our curriculum of a
residence population, what does that look like? If our core, becomes more flexible and people
can take some more exploratory courses, uh, what might that look like? What might living
learning communities look like? So, uh our provost loves living learning communities, which is
why we are doing them, and um we will likely have ten or eleven of them next year, and they all
could have a second year to them. They don’t, but they all could. Um, so what might that look
like in terms of SYE. So, is SYE not SYE, is it simply LLCs for SYE or uh is it a second-year
LLC so SYE LLC? You know that kind of stuff. You know do you just design your first year
LLCs in a way that are not major based and right now they are kind of sort of major based, but
do you revamp it a little bit, so do you take your first year FYE and LLCs are all large theme
topical based, allowing some exploration allowing um some cross interdisciplinary studies and
whatever else and it’s not pathways to engineering, it’s something broader bigger, and then uh in
the second year, you have an extended LLC program, you know you have another ten and ten or
twenty and twenty, whatever else and then that is where we clump them together. So, your
engineers and your science and maybe your civil and electrical and everything else. But that
might be another, is the whole SYE thing gone and it should just be another LLC, you know
what are these schools who are putting every first year in an LLC and I don’t really call them
LLCs, but they do, but they are putting every first year in an LLC, what does that second year
look like then? You think about it, you’re the student you come into a school and you’re in this
very specific community around a particular theme, whatever it might be for instance based on
service, based on their mission whatever else, and it is very mission driven focused and then your
second year is just what?
The interview was then paused as the interviewee had a confidential phone call and conversation
that needed to happen. It resumed after the phone call and conversation.
E: Um, so kind of going off of that LLC component, do you see, is that where you see the future
of SYE going maybe here?
A: I don’t know. It depends. It depends on if there is a two-year residency, it depends on how

many sophomores are really put on campus, it depends on these LLCs. So, we are down the road,
we are down right now, because of the model we have in terms of how we bring students in and
everything else, and its um it is not conducive to LLCs but we are still making it work. I am
very carefully watching these four models that are being put to um that are being put forward
right now from the Educating for the Future task force. They are going to take those four models
based on surveys and feedback that some of us are filling out, and they are going to make a
model. They are going to take it to the faculty senate for a vote, the faculty senate will vote yay
or nay, if they vote nay they go back they redo it, they present another model. Faculty senate
says yay it gets put in place. There are, there is extreme variation in these four models about
what a first year might look like here at St. Thomas. You’ve got on the one end, um heavy
involvement from us, Dean of Students, student success center, etc. co teaching, co
programming, uh credit based first year experience, kind of the whole shebang, and then you’ve
got a we are not involved at all and the students come and they take a paired course theo and
philosophy, which is basically what they are doing now, that has something to do with the
common good and it’s called First Year Experience. Uh and we keep doing Welcome Days, and
so what comes out of that though will say a lot about where LLC might go, because if um if
you’ve got something that is uh a true joint effort between academic and student affairs, then the
LLC model can be that program, if you don’t then it’s just what we are doing now, which is
okay, but this is not a long term solution and no one is going to want it to be a long term solution,
and then the question will be is do we stop doing LLCs and do we find another way to you know
whatever, trying to retain students. So, that’s why I don’t know. It kind of depends on what
happens with those modeling the core , the size of the core, the flexibility, our role with
academic affairs, how much collaboration is there going to be, what’s the student success center
going to be, because technically the students success center also has LLCs as a program
underneath it, not exclusively but it’s trying to give indication that Residence Life and the
Student Success Center will be working together on LLCs, which is what we are doing now with
Wendy and whatever else, but um you know, so when that director gets in place, uh by the way
is Tonia Jones, um from over in Academic Counseling and Support, she got the job, um and she
is wonderful, she used to be in the SDIS, but I think it was called MSS at the time, and I used to
work with her, and um then she moved over to academic counseling and support and she’s been
wonderful and she’s a great partner and she gets housing and she likes us, um so that would be a
nice partnership. So, what comes of that you know because you can’t have a strong LLC
sophomore year if your first year one you know so like it’s going to depend what happens with
the first year before we know if we are going to expand it or not or what we do.
E: Okay, so kind of then the program in a sense is in a lingo until we know more solid
information about first year, right?
A: I would say, um there will likely never be a here is what SYE is. I don’t ever really see a
school ever really getting to that place. Sophomores are just too complicated. Because here is
the other problem with sophomores, this notion of a sophomore is no longer. So you know um
second year what does that mean, so is it years in school but ignores credit, you know so many of
our first years, by the time they are half way through their first year are already sophomores and
so many of our sophomores go after, so what does it really mean to be a second year, is it simply
just time at an institution regardless of where you are at in your curriculum and in terms of your
credits, but all of that stuff matters. So, if I am a junior credit wise, but I am halfway through my
second year, I might have entirely different needs than someone who is a second-year sophomore
credit came in kind of no credits, no I am just in, you know I mean those are two very different
populations in terms of what they are looking for, where they are at in their careers. So, I think
it’s always going to be messy because it’s a messy topic. Um so I don’t think anyone is going to
arrive at it, I think what our focus can be and should be is what is the best that we can do for the
population we have in front of us right now, and how do we take that time with them to learn as
much as we can, so that if our volume grows we have a better sense of what to do. And if an
opportunity presents itself to get engaged in LLC, we have a sense for what that might look
like. What might be a good topic area, who do we go talk to as faculty, who do we go talk to as
staff to say hey we have been doing this for a number of years, this is what we’ve learned since
2008, and here is something we think would be good to pilot with for a community or for a
program or for an LLC, or someone comes back to us, one of these models is um J-term
heavy. So, in their first year, having all first years do something in January kind of getting rid of
the six-week slump that is in there. Um what are someone comes back and says hey that is such a
great idea we want to do it in the second year too, what do you have for ideas? Well you know
hey, we got these communities who are just sophomores, and this is what our sense would tell us
or what our gut would tell us or what a survey has told us or focus group or whatever else. That
would be really neat for us to pilot for three weeks in say J-term of their second year. You
know, something like that, that would be great data, great information and great intuition for us
to lend to the conversation.
E: Okay, interesting. It is very intriguing to me because before coming here, SYE in housing
was a thing but wasn’t a thing and trying to learn and working with Maya, and Maya and Cooper
collaborating and what do their communities need and kind of focusing on like what do we have
now and what can we give them and what do they need, like meeting them where they are at, so
it is just very interesting, how it really is kind of that unknown until you get to know the
community. Um, that’s pretty much all of my questions. I appreciate…
A: What’s the product of all of this? Paper?
E: Yup so I have to do a research paper, it’s a qualitative research class and so I am doing a lit
review, I am doing data collections and then analysis and summary.
A: So, a mini thesis yup.
E: Well and I wrote my thesis last semester so it was funny like when she talks in class about
how to do these things, I am like okay. And I learn some new things and it is good to have
discussions about your topic, but I am like okay I am essentially taking my thesis class
over. Which is fine.
A: Not everyone gets a thesis class though.
E: Yeah cause that’s just how sociology does it at Superior, but um yeah so, it’s very interesting
to see how much is carrying over and then how I can still learn. It’s one of my favorite classes.
A: Is it?
E: Because the teacher and I like…
A: Who’s doing qualitative?
E: So, there is two different ones. I am in Eleni Roulis and then Rigouni is the other one. So
yeah, me and Eleni just like click and we have fun.
A: Yeah, she’s got a great personality.
E: Oh, yeah for sure.
A: Well you will have fun with this then, and it’s nice that you are kind of living it, which is kind
of nice you got something vested in it.
E: And that’s why I chose it because when I was first like okay what am I going to research, I
didn’t really know, but then I was like I’m put in this position of like supervising SYE and even
Maya has kind of struggled with how to not be discouraged if residents or not so many residents
show up and what that means and how we are meeting them where they are at and so just kind of
like clicked, why don’t you look into what sophomores may actually need and see where that
gets you.
A: Yeah, and in some ways we do it a real disservice by putting them in apartment style living,
um you know if this were an SYE program in a traditional hall, you would get a lot better data, a
lot better turnout, you know, this group has already by default found a group of four that they
feel connected to at least enough you know sometimes it’s two and two or three and one, but at
least connected enough that they chose the space together to live in there, so they’ve got an
immediate support group. So, it is a disservice that we have them in apartment style living, but
that’s what was available to us. The other thing maybe to look at too is with your lit review or
whatever else, schools that have a two-year residency, and right now five of our uh benchmarks
do. Um are they doing something specific because of that two-year residency, whether they are
calling it an SYE or not see if you can maybe find something connected to as just maybe another
data point or touch point on um on it. Um you know you’re going to Google search the hell out
of SYE so you will get whatever that pulls up, but that might be another way to get at what some
schools might be doing without calling it SYE but through residency.
E: Through having that requirement.
A: Correct if they are doing anything. Um another thing might be to google um sophomore year
housing and see what people are building for sophomores right now. Anecdotally I think it is still
mostly apartments and suites style that they are doing. They are kind of putting sophomores in
with this upper division group, but then again as soon as you do that you really kill your
opportunity to connect with them. You give them what they want up front, which is fine,
because at some levels we do too, but you kill your ability to do that. But maybe by searching
for that you find a school who is saying um we are still doing traditional or just put them in pods
and you know whatever else, and upscale traditional and then you might find some programming
that comes with that or curriculum that comes with that, I don’t know.
E: Yeah, that would be interesting to see how that effects.
A: Search the Residential Curriculum Institute. See if they got anything on second years. Mac is
huge on this, and I am not sure.
E: Macalester?
A: Yeah Macalester has a residential curriculum cause Keith Edwards is the residential
curriculum guy and he’s uh he just left there, but he was there. He’s a great guy, Keith Edwards
Social Justice based, but he is also residential curriculum based. So, Macalester has a heavy
residential curriculum, um and they have presented to me and stuff like that in the past, but you
may even want to contact. They might have it online, if not contact Hanna Dinku is an Area Hall
Director over there. Hanna was our JP2 grad student so she just one or two year ago, no it’s gotta
be two years ago, now. So, she is out of the LSA program and she is over there and so she might
even be a resource too to see do they have a difference in their residential curriculum between
their first and second year. My guess is it’s probably going to be this is the curriculum for the
first year, this is the curriculum for the second year, they won’t call it SYE, um is what I am kind
of remembering from when they presented and this has to do more with self and this then is
about transitioning into um local regional kind of community impact and then their third year,
because they are a four-year thing, and then their third year is kind of global. So I think it’s
going to be that, but that would be kind of another insight into what might you do in that second
year. Because if your first-year experience is about self-awareness and your second year is then
about impact on your community and your third year then is about social innovation and your
fourth year, you know I mean you can tailor that way, which is how a lot of residential
curriculums are. That might give some insight too. And you probably won’t find them by doing
SYE, but that would be and it’s local which could be a good source of information and easy to
get, but if you do residential curriculum institute is out there too and this is all stuff you may
know I am just talking off the top of my head just to kind of give you ideas and whatever else so
you know take it for whatever it’s worth but that’s another resource for your lit review that might
be you know. Just be helpful with data stuff like that. Because I think you might find a lot similar
language by googling SYE and I sent you, the stuff I sent you know will have stuff in there and
there is tons of resources and stuff, but a lot of it is very similar like, themes and sophomores
needs, you know like similar learning outcomes and like kind of gets boring fast because it’s like
alright, yeah it says the same thing.
E: Yeah and even already the few articles I have read I am like yup you all talk about that.
A: Yeah so if you look at maybe some different places for things on sophomores you might get a
little different lens on it that might make it a bit more capitative. Social innovation is also the
latest cliché, phrase of higher ed. So this whole concept of social entrepreneurs and this change
making and um students as citizens and social justice and change, you know and social capital
and all of this kind of stuff, um that might be another, that would be again something you
probably wouldn’t do heavy in your first year, because they aren’t quite developmentally ready
but could be something you could introduce in the second year, so you might find some second
year kind of things in that world too and that’s kind of a hot topic now and that’s being written
on stuff like that too so. But anyway so.
E: Thank you for interviewing with me! I appreciate it
A: Yeah, no problem. Absolutely! Yeah and if you want to share it or parts of it at the end, I
would love to read it, it’s up to you.
E: I am hoping there is like something I can take away and apply to my next year and a half
working in the SYE realm of some sort. And it may not be you know like a program that we do
every year, but just something to help guide Maya the rest of this year and then also supervising
it next year and kind of see where it goes.
A: Yeah, no doubt. Cool.
E: Awesome. Thank you so much!
Appendix E-Transcript of Interview with Female Student
E: Thank you for volunteering to meet for this interview. By engaging in this interview, you are
results are in aggregate form. Um, so why don’t you just start by expanding from the survey,
what areas do you feel you need support as a sophomore? And Why?
M: Definitely, I think um I think it has done a great job so far of giving that community aspect
for sophomores. Um, I think it would be kind of fun to like, just to you know if we got to do a
couple more things. I know there is a lot of activities, but you know a lot of it is not necessarily
mandatory. Not that it necessarily should be, but um just some more like atmosphere in the
building. I don’t necessarily know all of my neighbors and stuff which is fine by me but um
cause we are all busy and everything, but it would be kind of cool to have just to a little bit more
a community aspect to it.
E: Okay, um is there like other areas maybe outside of housing that you feel you need support
and maybe how St. Thomas has provided that support?
M: Um, I think outside of that, in terms of academics and stuff, I think St. Thomas does an
awesome job with all the centers and stuff and having our ACs and stuff recommend going to
those places like the writing center and the MARK and all of that, that’s an awesome opportunity
that I don’t know all of my friends have at other schools. So I really appreciate that.
E: Okay cool. So, you have kind have touched on this, but how has living in SYE provided you
with the support and services you feel you need as a sophomore?
M: I think it has been really cool, who I have lived in the housing with or just other experiences
to like learn how, just how they are doing things and how I am doing things and just kind of
mesh that together. But also just how it has been really helpful to have Cooper our AC like come
around and just asking questions and just kind of making seem a little bit more like homey and
stuff. Because it is fun to have like that aspect of freshman year, like um, you know like because
you know it was nice to have support then and cause we are kind of transitioning now, so it is
kind of nice to have that too.
E: So you kind of have that support through your transition?
M: Exactly, yeah yeah.
E: Awesome, um, what improvements could be made to improve the SYE housing?
M: Um, honestly one of the biggest things I have heard people talk about is if it could be more
than just sophomores, or like um similar things, because you know there is like Flynn and
Morrison and stuff and I know a lot of people who like my friends will come over and will like
my roommates, we love the apartments, we love how big they are, and how cozy you can make
them and the location is awesome too. I think I just have heard a lot of people like I wish I could
have lived in there. So I think honestly that would be my one like it would be cool if they could
do it for juniors or seniors.
E: Um, did you choose sophomore housing or was Flynn or Morrison one of your top?
M: Um we tried to get into Flynn or Morrison and then um we were just under the limiting
credits and then um so we got into the lottery for sophomore, but yeah I honestly I have friends
in Flynn and Morrison and I like my apartment better.
E: Competition now mine’s better. Totally get that. Do you see living in SYE having a major
impact on your academics? If so how?
M: I think one of the biggest things um you know you do have like I have friends in my building
who are in classes who I necessarily wouldn’t have talked to before, but because we are living
together, I mean it is kind of like living in the dorm, which is really nice because we can study
together. But also just location too of it being so close, because I have so many friends that rent
houses off campus and stuff and they just don’t come to campus often or because it is so far
away. I love that accessibility of being able to easily get to places and be able to work with
people a lot easier too.
E: Are you still in your core classes or are you more in a major?
M: Um both, I am kind of split.
E: Okay, I figured this is the time where people are kind of in that spot. So I was like wonder if
she is still in core classes.
M: Right no I yeah I still have my neighbor is in my physiology class with me. It is kind of we
are all kind of in the same boat kind of.
E: Um, do you feel there are connections you could make through living in SYE? And kind of
explain, so you talked about being in same classes but are there any other connections.
M: Yeah, I think um just kind of even just with our ACs and stuff those connections are nice to
have to hear kind of like I said what they are doing. Um, and well Cooper is our age, and just the
other coordinators and stuff it’s nice to have them like an example is cool.
E: And kind of having Cooper being that age is interesting dynamic.
M: Yeah, it is a really cool dynamic because he, you know he definitely asserts his authority and
stuff, but he also is our friend, you know it’s just really cool, it’s a nice thing to have yeah.
E: Is it almost like he can relate more because he is on that level?
M: Aboslutely. Yeah that’s awesome.
E: Um, so you mentioned that you’ve heard that it would be nice if juniors and seniors had kind
of the same opportunity, but do you think it is beneficial having sophomores living together?
Why or Why not?
M: Definitely, yeah. I think it’s kind of hard because you hear people saying oh I wish I had that
for juniors and seniors but then like how many people would actually do it sort of thing. I do
think it’s really beneficial for sophomores just because um I know a lot of people including
myself and my family we didn’t want to be in a house just yet. It’s a good transition just to be
like in an apartment with all of your friends still, but not have all of the responsibilities of a
house or you know what I mean, it’s just kind of a good transition I think.
E: Um so have you thought about what your living arrangements look like for next year?
M: Yes. I am studying abroad one semester.
E: Ooo fun!
M: Um, yeah, no idea where yet, but I’m excited. So we are not quite sure. I think I will end up
getting um an apartment with just a couple of my friends, but it will have to be a little bit off of
campus I think, but hopefully my senior year I’ll be able to, just cause next year is so funky with
being gone so.
E: Are you studying abroad fall semester or spring?
M: I haven’t decided yet.
E: That’s fair.
M: I am leaning towards fall.
E: Do you have an idea of a major?
M: Exercise Science pre-physical therapy.
E: Nice. I studied abroad so I really appreciate those.
M: What was your major?
E: I was a sociology major and a psych minor, I didn’t go here, but I studied abroad for a month
in Scotland and I was like.
M: That’s one of my places, I am thinking the University of Glasgow.
E: So amazing.
M: That’s good to know.
E: Um and if you go to Glasgow, um Glasgow I would say is more modern and so like definitely
go into like Edinburgh and like um and so I went and when I went I lived in Dalkieth, which is
not that far from Edinburgh.
M: Mhmm.
E: Um, but I did a couple day trips to Glasgow and there is definitely an appreciation for both.
M: Definitely.
E: Um, but beautiful, take a trip to the Highlands because they are amazing.
M: That’s helpful. I am trying to decide, I have like seven places that work with my, so it’s like I
need to decide.
E: Pick them out of a hat. No just kidding. But I am sure no matter where you go you are going
to get so much.
M: Right and I will get to travel.
E: Yes. So cheap to travel within Europe versus like if you were have to go from the US. So I
was there a month and I went to Scotland, I went to the Highlands for a weekend, I went to
Ireland and I went to Germany.
M: In a month.
E: Yeah in a month so just imagine what you could do in a semester. You could go everywhere.
M: That’s awesome. Very cool.
E: Um, that was a side track, but I get passionate about study abroad
M: Absolutely. Love that.
E: So that’s kind of all the set in stone questions I have for you, but do you have any other
comments about living in the SYE housing?
M: I would just say thank you because I think it has been an awesome experience and I think we
all just wish we could stay a little bit longer, um yeah I think it has been a great experience.
E: Well I am glad you have had a good experience. Um, we really strive for that clearly.
M: Absolutely.
E: It’s kind of crazy like oh it’s semester one and we are already thinking oh where are we living
next semester.
M: I know it’s crazy.
E: So it is just like this big cycle.
M: Everyone is freaking about housing and I’m like we still have another semester so yeah.
E: Well thank you for taking time to come meet with me and especially close to finals. I
appreciate the feedback not only for my research but for my job as supervising one of the SYEs
and working with Jerrimiah supervising the other one. I hope the rest of the semester and year go
well. Good Luck with your study abroad experience.
Appendix F-Transcript of Interview with Male Student
E: Thank you for volunteering to meet for this interview. By engaging in this interview, you are
results are in aggregate form. So if you just want to start by expanding from the survey, what
areas do you feel you need support as a sophomore? And Why?
N: Can you be more specific?
E: Yeah, so um in the survey it talked about like the support of academics or security or in
helping with career exploration. Things like that. So what areas sort of academic, but it could
also be like social like gaining friends do you feel like at this point in your college career do you
feel you need support?
N: That’s a good question. Um, socially I’m good because I have different avenues, because of
my roommates are different, well I’m in ROTC and my roommates are outside of ROTC so I
have many avenues. Also I am involved with Chapel Music, so I have plenty of avenues through
that. So, that’s great, because there is so many opportunities to be involved in things on campus.
Um, academically so coming from a comp sci perspective, lab hours could be later and such.
There is not many tutors anymore I don’t think. I am not sure, I don’t come across them very
often. Um, but as far as sophomore, I am not sure how that would help much.
E: Okay so how do you see St. Thomas providing that support? So you kind of mentioned the
tutors, um so is that like one area maybe or are there other areas you think St. Thomas provides
you that support?
N: There definitely is, I think we just lack the facilities and staff to be honest. Um, like this
semester there is hardly any comp sci courses being offered which is really annoying because
I’m trying to complete my major and ROTC the pressure is much higher to complete it on time.
So that would be great. Um, but being around I see how limited we are as far as how many
computer labs we have, uh how many staff can take on holding classes and such, that would be
really helpful. Um, more computer labs in general with the software that we use would be and a
wider variety of software that would be good.
E: So, software for like your major?
N: Yeah.
E: Okay. So that’s kind of limited?
N: Yeah it is, I mean except for in OSS and OWS it is widely available but outside of that its
zero, which makes sense, but it would be nice, because the facilities there are somewhat limited.
E: So how has living in SYE provided you with the support and services you feel you need as a
sophomore or if it hasn’t?
N: Honestly, just having the like the resources and the like apartment style living, having a
kitchen, having a bed, having a not super cramped bedroom, just simple things like that is super
helpful. Uh, not having a bathroom that is shared with 100 other people is just like honestly just
having these kind of facilities to live in helps a ton.
E: Does it help to just kind of take that like pressure maybe not pressure but make it more of a
relaxed like your own environment?
N: Yeah definitely for sure.
E: Did you choose who you’re living with?
N: Yeah I did.
E: I didn’t know because some people do and don’t to a certain extent so. So knowing just the
main focus of just having your own space are there any improvements could be made to improve
the SYE housing? Maybe to provide support or anything that would help?
N: As far as facilities go, a computer lab would be hella nice and washing machines there are
only two, which hasn’t been too much of an issue if you time it right. But yeah, otherwise
overall it’s been great.
E: Do you see living in SYE having a major impact on your academics?
N: Yeah for sure. It’s helped a ton, being close to campus, oh my gosh. But being in ROTC it
helps a ton like tomorrow morning I have to be up at 4:45 so being close to campus is amazing
absolutely amazing and it helps a ton.
E: So, obviously you are connected with ROTC so that’s your kind of route, do you feel there are
connections you could make through living in SYE? If so, what does that kind of look like?
N: Um, Cooper our AC really encourages us to go activities and such for me that’s very limited
again ROTC, I don’t have much time. But um Cooper has done a great job as our Area
Coordinator to come around and actually not just do a check list but actually be social with us
and encourage getting out and such, he’s done a great job. So even simple things like that help a
ton.
E: So just like having that person here that you know?
N: Yeah Cooper has been like not just an administrator, he’s been a friend so. That’s been great.
E: Awesome. Any other general comments you want to make about living in SYE or questions
you have about SYE or things you might think are beneficial for us to know.
N: Um, nothing really. The apartments are really nice, the appliances work really well, when we
moved in everything was clean. Honestly just yeah having the facilities is amazing. I wish there
were more so future sophomores could use it.
E: It’s in our ten year plan, so.
N: That’s not something to be solved very quickly.
E: So you think it is beneficial having sophomores living together, versus like mixing you in
with others like first years or junior senior?
N: Um, I think it is kind of nice, just cause there is less of a wall. Like I don’t have a hard time, I
mix with a lot of our junior and seniors with the chapel programs then ROTC, but um having like
um that your neighbors are there and they are in a similar situation, um again I can’t really get
out too much. I think it is a good thing. I think definitely if I had more time I actually my
neighbors and I have actually become friends with. I don’t think that would happen in Flynn to
be honest. To me from my perspective corned off this is your home this is my home.
E: So there is more of that community?
N: Yeah there is more community which is nice.

E: That’s all the questions I had for you. I definitely appreciate your time, especially being in
ROTC taking the time to expand on the survey. Thank you for taking the survey, and for meeting
with me.
Appendix G-Survey Responses
1. Please describe your sex or gender.

a. Male-11
b. Female-9
2. What factors played a role in you choosing to live in the SYE housing? (Check all that
apply)
a. Finances-8, 40%
b. Support from staff members (e.g. Hall Director, Apartment Coordinator)-0,0%
c. Security-3, 15%
d. Programming efforts (events to attend) 0, 0%
e. Resources7, 25%
f. Apartment Style Living 18, 90%
g. Other- 7, 35%; I had a last minute housing change and the girls I am living with
now were living here and had an open spot. I did not really choose to live here for
any reason besides that.; Lack of availability in Flynn or Morisson; Location; my
friends wanted to live here; Proximity to campus; Required due to scholarship;
Location
3. What areas do you feel you need the most support as a sophomore at St. Thomas? (Check
all that apply)
a. Academics/Study Skills-7, 35%
b. Time Management-6, 30%
c. Socialization-4,20%
d. Career Exploration-8, 40%
e. Major Declaration- 6, 30%
f. Connection to Faculty- 7, 35%
g. Secure Campus-3, 10%
h. Mental and Personal Health and Balance-5, 25%
i. Other-1, 5%; Food
4. Of those areas, what ways do you feel best supported through living in SYE housing?
a. Secure Living Environment-13, 65%
b. Academic/Study Skills- 3, 15%
c. Time Management- 2, 10%
d. Socialization- 8, 40%
e. Career Exploration-2, 10%
f. Major Declaration- 0, 0%
g. Connection to Faculty- 0,0%

h. Mental and Personal Health and Balance- 3, 15%
i. Other- 1, 5%; Location
5. In what ways does your on-campus living experience help connect you to campus?
a. Involvement in Student Organizations- 6, 30%
b. Athletics/Intramurals- 2, 10%
c. Connection to other students- 12, 60%
d. Creating a community where you live- 9, 45%
e. Accessibility to on campus resources- 16, 80%
f. Feel a part of the campus culture and community- 11, 55%
g. Other- 1, 5%; I’m in ROTC and being near campus is the most heavenly god bless
because I have so many things going on you legit have no clue.
6. Do your housing experiences influence you remaining at St. Thomas? Please explain why
or why not.
a) I had a last minute housing change and the girls I am living with now were living
here and had an open spot. I did not really choose to live here for any reason
besides that.
b) Lack of availability in Flynn or Morisson
c) Location
d) my friends wanted to live here
e) Proximity to campus.
f) Required due to scholarship
g) Location
7. What areas of improvements and future changes do you see in SYE housing? (beyond
housing amenities more on programming)
a) I think the programming is done well and my AC puts in a lot of work but
honestly, as sophomores people are not really interested in the hall activities
anymore and I think cutting back on them would save a lot of work for the AC's
especially because not many people usually show up
b) More required events because I don't know anyone in my building except my
roommates
c) more socializing and free food
d) Not just for sophomores would be nice! We love living here!
e) I would like to see more attention giving to keeping the buildings in good
standing.
f) We did a fun roommate trivia game and that was super fun, I'd like to see more
programs like that
g) more activities for the students who live in the building to get to know each other
better. I don't even know my neighbors...
h) Honestly I really don't feel like I need more programming. I would hope in the
future that St. Thomas would pay more attention to SYE because the building
definitely gets overlooked compared to the other on campus apartments.
i) Maybe more programs between mid campus living spaces

j) N/A
k) none
l) Better Internet. More available rooms.
m) Sometimes maintenance takes awhile to fix problems in the apartment, that's the
only thing I think would need a change!
n) social events should be sent out with more planning than two days of
advancement
o) None
p) More communication and involvement between residents.
q) Need to be a lot cleaner before move in, as well as the big problem needs to be
taken care of. If these don't get fixed paying as much as I am to live here is no
where near worth it.
r) Better relationship btwn 2151 and 2085
s) None.
t) Not sure. At this point most people have their friends and their own things to do
during the week and on weekends.
8. Are you willing to participate in a follow up interview to further discuss the SYE housing
experience?
a. Yes- 2, 10.53%
i. Name and Email
b. No-17, 89.47%

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Running head: SOPHOMORE YEAR EXPEREINCE HOUSING 1

Sophomore Year Experience Housing: Evaluating the impact on student’s experiences

EDLD 621: Research Design and Analysis

Dr. Eleni Roulis

University of St. Thomas

December 21st, 2016

Sophomore Year Experience Housing: Evaluating the impact on student’s experiences

Sophomore Year Experience (SYE) housing provides a community specifically created

future at the institution and in the community.

Significance of SYE housing

knowledge of the creation of SYE programs, and looking at an evaluation of where

improvements can be made for the university.

SYE is and how to implement and determine a SYE programming success.

successful the program is with serving the students.

Researcher’s Passion and Interest

Ethics of the Research

Academic and Social Needs

(VanValkenburg, 2013), affected by their unique needs. Growing diversity in demographics,

versus extroverts, missed stimulation opportunities and redefining and/or reestablishing

and keep sophomores at higher education institutions.

Feeling of Belonging and Being in the “Right” Place Effects on Retention

is a growing time in which students tend to find their sense of purpose.

Having a sense of belonging influences students in many ways, especially sophomores

they belong encourages students when it comes to academic engagement. VanValkenburg

placing more importance on creating a sense of belonging for sophomores.

contributes to a stronger sense of community. Foote et al (2015) emphasizes the importance of

increasing that perception.

Connections and Relationships on Campus

connections and relationships sophomores create on campus. VanValkenburg (2013) discusses

Tobolowsky (2008) expands on the importance of connections and relationships, by discussing

in room for new relationships and connections to form.

As mentioned, relationships and connections occur in different ways including

as a larger community and developing relationships and connections, professionals in higher

education create a stronger support for sophomores in their campus community.

Faculty Integration and Engagement

beneficial to both the institution and the student.

through a student’s development.

Career and Major Decision Support

(Foote et al, 2015).

Expectation versus Reality

to do to help positively affect those factors and a student’s persistence.

Literature Review Conclusion

When assessing the programs serving sophomore students in higher education

Methodology and Methods

for living in the SYE housing.

History of SYE Housing Program

Communication, October 27th, 2016).

Reasons for SYE Housing

Communication, October 27th, 2016).

(65%) and socialization (40%) were the top two responses.

communities. (Personal Communication, December 8th, 2016 & Personal Communication,

December 13th, 2016)

communities. As both sophomores mentioned in their interviews, being close to campus is

from being so close to other resources.

in this programming efforts.

Future Research and Recommendations

programs and efforts at other institutions. My recommendations is to continue to look at the

specifically to best serve the students.

engagement and community at the institution.

students’ experiences on campus.

Klein, M. (December 13th, 2016). Personal Communication.

Macke, A. (October 27th, 2016). Personal Communication.

Pumper, N. (December 8th, 2016). Personal Communication.