The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2 - 98

James H. Banning • Linda Kuk

student success and satisfaction in residential learning communities and other academically focused program areas. This collective analysis enables the findings to be combined and provides a more cohesive and comprehensive understanding of how to apply findings from research to programmatic efforts. Efforts to increase the understanding of diversity, better address the needs of diverse students within the residence hall community, and extend the benefits of housing to all students were also important themes identified by this study. These studies collectively add to the evidence for providing certain types of focus and identifying specific programmatic efforts that promote success. They also collectively reinforce the need to attend to diversity as a major area of emphasis within the residential experience. A number of the dissertations focused on administrative/management issues: outsourcing, staffing, training, and technology. Although fewer in number, these studies can collectively serve to inform the interrelated aspects of residence hall administrative practice. Administrative issues often require an integrated and multidimensional perspective that requires an overlaying of issues and strategies. This is especially true with regard to continuing questions related to a broad spectrum of administrative issues and their interaction with available research. While single studies provide evidence and clarity related to singular administrative issues, a collective analysis can provide a broader perspective related to their implications for practice. This study has demonstrated a methodological approach that can be used with an array of research findings and, through the use of qualitative meta-analysis, can provide a
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broader perspective on findings and trends that can inform administrative practice. Another benefit of this research approach was to identify the gap in needed and desired research related to critical housing issues. An additional perspective from which to view the results and implications of this study was to address the question of omission. Once themes were identified, the results clearly revealed what topics and trends were not covered by recent research efforts and led to addressing how these gaps could help guide future research efforts. One omission appears to be the topic of housing construction and renovation. Over the past 5 years, this issue has been a significant concern to many college and university housing operations, and there has been considerable activity in this area across all types of institutions. It was surprising not to find dissertations focused on topics such as what types of housing should be constructed and whether or not public-private partnerships are a viable best practice. Dissertations regarding assessment and forecasting of housing needs could be quite helpful to campuses considering new building programs. Again, it was surprising not to find dissertations focused on topics such as housing needs, designing to meet future student needs, and how to modify existing facilities to best serve the changing needs of students. Likewise, the processes associated with construction—for example, working with stakeholders and architects, planning, designing, and budgeting—could also be helpful. In addition, a focus on the issues of building to accommodate the needs of special populations and the impact of different structural designs on student satisfaction and academic success

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 37, No. 2

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