The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1 - 191

How Are They Faring?

residence hall assistants (RAs). UI-REACH collaborates with University Housing & Dining to
recruit, hire, and train its undergraduate RAs.
Two male and two female RAs rotate duty,
one on each of two hall floors during the later
hours of each evening of the week. Although
UI-REACH students often interact with other
RAs in the residence hall, the first staff person
they tend to seek out with questions and concerns is one of their own RAs.
To encourage engagement in campus activities, RAs and mentors support UI-REACH
students in their initial participation in hallsponsored social and educational programs
with undergraduates; once the students are
comfortable, they attend such activities independently. These inclusive experiences
promote acceptance, respect, and cooperation,
as well as building a community and sense
of belonging (Vander Busard, 2012). These
students experience campus life with other
students by participating in such things as cultural and social events, theater performances,
student clubs, and sporting events. Through
their involvement in these and other leisure
and recreational opportunities, they discover
new interests. UI-REACH staff have found that
students and families highly value campus life,
especially the residence hall experience. Families of these students have stated unequivocally
during applicant interviews that living in the
residence hall and experiencing typical student
life activities were pivotal factors in the student’s decision to become part of the program.

UI-REACH STUDENTS AND FIRSTYEAR COLLEGE STUDENTS
Our study of UI-REACH and its students had
two research objectives; the first was to assess

No specific disability label
is required to be part of the
program, which admits students
with a wide range of intellectual,
social, independent life, and
communication skills.

these students’ psychological well-being after
a year in college to determine whether or not
they were similar or dissimilar to their college
peers. The University of Iowa, like many universities, is a very diverse community; therefore, the second research objective was to
assess UI-REACH students’ openness to diversity and response to diversity challenges.
Together these data might help to inform and
potentially bolster the arguments of college
and university proponents considering developing postsecondary education opportunities
for students with ID.
The responses of UI-REACH students
were compared to those of undergraduates
using two scales—the Ryff Scales of Psychological Well-Being (SPWB) and the Openness
to Diversity/Challenge Scale (ODC)—after
they had been on campus for one year. We
used a randomly selected sample from the
Wabash National Study of Liberal Arts Education as a naturally occurring comparison
group. The Wabash study was designed to
measure the experiences and outcomes of a
liberal arts education. Our random sample was
drawn from a larger sample that consisted of
first-year students at 19 four-year and two-year
colleges and universities located in 11 states

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 39, No. 2 & Volume 40, No. 1