The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2 - 22

Kane P. Mach * Sarah R. Gordon * Katie Tearney * Leon McClinton, Jr.

part of the FIT program helped him realize
that he needed to study and also helped him
get better at it:
I came here not knowing how to study at
all . . . I went through high school, and I didn't
have to study. I just showed up and made
100's on tests, it wasn't a big deal. When I got
here and started taking Biology . . .
I had to learn how to study, and I learned
from the people around me that were doing it
and were being successful at it. I think living
here is the reason that, I am not going to say
I'm great at studying, but the reason that I've
gotten a lot better at it.
Another important academic benefit FIT
students reported was being more comfortable
approaching faculty members. The program
requires that students interact with faculty
in a variety of ways both in and out of class,
and students noted that it helped them better
connect with their professors. For some students, these interactions meant developing
better relationships with both faculty and advisors, which resulted in the students feeling
as if "they are someone you can have in your
corner." One student described the effect of
being in FIT this way:
This program removed the hump between
students and professors just because it does
require you to [invite faculty to the program
faculty dinner] and it did make me a little more
open-minded cause you know when you are
walking up to a professor after class and saying
"hey I have a question about this" . . . the fact
of knowing that I previously interacted with a
different professor has allowed me to feel more
comfortable going up to other professors.
Thus, it was clear that these interactions were
beneficial for students not only when they

The program requires that students
interact with faculty in a variety
of ways . . . . For some students,
these interactions meant developing
better relationships with both
faculty and advisors, which resulted
in the students feeling as if "they
are someone you can have in
your corner ."

were interacting with faculty participating in
FIT events, but also when they were interacting with faculty they weren't as familiar with.

Career Development
Two important goals of the FIT program are to
help students develop professional skills and
to provide them with an opportunity to explore
and determine a career path. With regard to
developing professional skills, focus group
participants clearly connected their experiences in the FIT program to helping them develop
the know-how to be professional in the work
place. One student reflected,
I have met people with different personalities.
Being able to handle their personalities and
figuring out ways to communicate with them
in an effective way without being rude or
sounding arrogant-you can take that into
your career. You [might] meet someone [in
the workplace] who has the same personality
as a person that you first interacted with [in
FIT], [and know you know how to] properly
interact with them in the workplace.

T h e J o u r n a l o f C o l l e g e a n d U n i v e r s i t y St u d e n t H o u s i n g

The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 2