Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1 - 87

TABLE 2
Program Session Counts by
Association and Year
ASSOCIATION
CWI (n = 97)
YEAR
2014
2016
2019
RCS (n = 160)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
PRESENTATION
COUNT
44
34
19
12
25
23
27
19
23
31
Topics of Scheduled Program Sessions
To answer the first research question, we
found 10 emergent themes related to professional
development from the thematic
content analysis of conference sessions from
both professional associations: former resident
engagement, leadership experience,
resident experience, collaboration, assessment,
the residential college model, history
and values, organizational structure, inclusion
and well-being, and academics. The
most frequent topic and therefore the largest
theme encountered was the residential college
model. The least frequent theme was
former resident engagement. Table 3 illustrates
the emergent themes, the initial start
codes collapsed into the themes, and narrative
descriptions.
Within the residential college model
theme specifically, both associations utilized
only indirect explanations of the residential
college model, using campus-specific examples.
We drew this conclusion from an analysis
similar to the one performed by Cohen
and Suen (2012), who analyzed conference
session titles and drew observations from the
analysis. For example, a 2014 CWI presentation
titled " Arana and Abbey Reflections: The
Collegiate Way at the University of Otago " exemplified
the residential college model at the
University of Otago rather than presenting
an abstract discussion of the model throughout
history. The same can be said of the 2020
RCS presentation titled " Making a Location
a Place: Plotting Residential Colleges in the
U.S.A. " Here, instead of exemplifying the
residential college model at a specific university,
this presentation exemplified the model
through examples specific to campuses in
the United States. These titles seem to suggest
an avoidance of a general or abstract discussion
of the model throughout history.
Further, the emphasis on the residential
college model found within both associations
was expressed only through practical
means-as ways to inform the professional
practice of student, faculty, and staff
stakeholders. To illustrate, conference session
titles seemed to imply a focus on the
structure, faculty engagement, age, values,
academics, etc. within their frameworks.
Two examples of conference sessions sharing
their models were " Respectful Relationship:
Residential Life at St. Andrew's College "
from CWI and " Transitioning from
an LLC to a Residential College: Lessons
Learned from the Leadership and Social
Change Residential College " from RCS.
Even with this primary focus on the residential
college model, neither association
offered an explicit definition of the model,
even though this seems of primary concern
to both association audiences.
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Journal of College & University Student Housing Volume 48, No. 1

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