The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 1 - 19

Residence Life and First-Year Student Retention

provides opportunities for students to gain skills and experiences that will make them more competitive for employment or graduate/professional school, and systematically records and acknowledges students for their accomplishments and experiences outside the classroom. Ultimately, the end product of the OCC is the achievement of nine goal areas that complement the profile of a University of Pittsburgh graduate. Once a student completes a particular goal area, they must complete a reflection form that allows OCC administrators to ensure that the student has met the learning outcome for that particular goal area. At the end of the 4 years, student will apply for the OCC distinction and undergo an interview to determine completion of the curriculum’s requirements. All segments of the university community are involved in the initiative. Professional staff throughout the university are becoming well acquainted with the curriculum and the software so they can assist students with developing a cocurricular involvement experience. Resident assistants have been trained to serve as peer coaches to help students work with the program efficiently. Each RA sat down individually with freshmen on their floor and helped each student tailor their OCC for each semester. It is our intention that students participating in the program will have a richer, more directed experience—and their résumés or vitae could be dramatically different from those who choose not to participate, thus making them more competitive in the job, application, and interviewing process. For example, the BursonMarsteller, Harold Burson Summer Internship programs require applicants to write an essay describing the skill sets/knowledge they have gained from participation in extracurricular ac-

tivities and explaining how they can apply their experiences in these activities to the workplace. The OCC transcript will not only provide students with a record of their accomplishments and experiences but will also empower them to clearly and effectively communicate their successes to employers and on graduate school applications. Lastly, students who successfully complete the Outside the Classroom Curriculum will be given a green cord of distinction at graduation signifying their accomplishments. At the conclusion of the Spring semester in 2009, we administered a survey to all students who participated in the OCC, gathering both quantitative and qualitative feedback. We asked a series of questions to try to get an idea of how students felt that participating in the OCC contributed to their growth within each of the nine goal areas. Respondents expressed that they felt they had grown to varying degrees within each of the goal areas; however, the areas of diversity, development of self, and connection to the university community warrant special mention. Approximately two-thirds of all respondents (67%) indicated that they experienced moderate, substantial, or significant growth in the area of developing a respect for a diversity of cultures, ideas, and people. One student wrote, Although I have understood the amount of diversity in our global community before the OCC program, I had not appreciated it as much as I do now. It amazes me the unlimited amount of differing cultural practices and beliefs, and I now recognize the importance of trying to understand and appreciate all of them. It is not right to take an ethnocentric perspective and shun different ethnic groups’ practices as strange or weird, but they should
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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 1