The Provost’s Question of the Month is a chance for faculty, staff and students to tell the U what they think about different aspects of life on campus. You tell us about your experiences, and we give a beautiful University of Windsor hoodie to the writer of the winning response!
This month’s Question of the Month is about student life in first year – and particularly experiences of residence!
The Background:
The University of Windsor has hundreds of students living in residence on campus. Most of them are first-year students; most of them are from outside the Windsor-Essex area.
Many local first-year students live at home. And why not? Why live in residence on campus when you can continue bunking down under your parents’ roof for free? What’s the advantage? Why should a local student live in residence in first year?
Well, there are a number of reasons. Independence. Meeting new people. Immersing yourself in the full university experience. Let’s face it, commuting to campus just before class and then heading home again right afterwards isn’t the greatest way to take advantage of all that university has to offer.
Research shows that students who live in residence in first year have a greater sense of “belonging, engagement, and openness to diversity” (NSSE). They also have a higher first-year GPA, a higher retention rate from first year to second, and a higher graduation rate (Academica Group 2017).
We know that interacting with your peers is a factor in succeeding academically, and one of the best ways to do that in first year is by living in residence.
For our local students, you’ve made an awesome choice in choosing UWindsor. What I’m suggesting is that going to your local university AND living on campus in first year is the best of both worlds
The Question:
The Provost’s Question of the Month for January 2018 is
• If you are/were a first-year local student in residence, why did you choose to live on campus?
• And if you wanted to encourage someone else to do what you did, what would be your top three selling points?
Please send your responses to vpacademic@uwindsor.ca by J
