Perspectives October 15, 2024

First-Year Foundations: Crafting Communities for Student Success

By David Damon, Yanel de Angel, and Kara McCall

First impressions matter; for colleges and universities, the intentional design and choreography of the first-year experience is fundamental to long-term student success and retention.

Studies suggest that students’ residential experience has an outsized impact on their college experience, especially in their first year on campus. Likewise, the happier students are living on campus, the more they give back to the greater academic ecosystem, remaining enrolled and engaged, and establishing long-term connections and community with their peers.

This positive correlation encourages investment in first-year residential life spaces and presents opportunities to reimagine the first-year experience with a spatial infrastructure that supports student growth and development. Through intentional space planning and design, higher education institutions can curate an environment of empowerment, collaboration, learning, respite, and retreat.

Fostering Community Building Skills

The generation entering college today faces a unique set of challenges, with developmental hurdles ranging from COVID-19 academic disruptions to mental health stress. A positive residential life experience can create an environment where first-year students feel comfortable meeting peers and building a new community during what is likely their first extended time away from home. Thoughtfully designed residential facilities can play a pivotal role in fostering these connections, making the transition smoother for students.

By carefully calibrating the size and layout of living units, universities can create opportunities to connect. For example, floor plans that consider proximity to social spaces encourage spontaneous interactions that help build social cohesion. When students don’t have to navigate barriers, such as multiple doors or long corridors, these right-sized facilities create a sense of openness and belonging. In fact, some universities are finding this model so successful that they are extending it to second- and third-year housing as well.

Design strategies that layer social opportunities offer students a range of social engagement, depending on their comfort level. By providing choice and access to different types of social spaces, residential facilities can also better support students across the neurodiversity spectrum. Common spaces that allow for both group gatherings and quiet nooks provide students with the flexibility to choose how much they want to engage at any given time. Additionally, incorporating transparency—through open spaces or glass-paneled rooms—creates a visual invitation to join in. When these transparent spaces are located along students’ daily paths, it becomes easier for them to feel included in on-going activities and motivated to engage with peers.

California State University Long Beach Lounge

California State University Long Beach, La Playa Student Housing

Floor-size, ratio of resident advisors, and ratio of lounges to beds relates to community size and measures of student success.

Keene State College, Learning Living Commons Hub

Keene State College, Learning and Living Commons

Students on upper levels have access to dedicated quiet study space, which is complemented by a floor-level community space that connects through a transparent, vertical social hub.

Keene State College, Living and Learning Commons

Social commons at the ground level acts as a mixer, where students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to connect academically and socially.

Querétaro Campus Residence Hall Game Room

Tecnológico de Monterrey, Queretaro Residence Hall

First and second floors host a collection of campus amenities, including dedicated rooms for music and gaming.

Incubating Student Growth

The rise of academic villages has transformed campus design, integrating programmatic elements that once existed in isolated silos into convenient hubs. This trend supports not just the social and residential needs of first-year students but also their academic performance and overall well-being.

A key component of academic villages is the creation of social commons that care for the whole person. Thoughtfully designed spaces within these commons can include wellness areas, such as quiet zones or self-regulation spaces, as well as private rooms for telehealth services. Other environments might encourage active social engagement, like gaming rooms or conversation circles arranged around central focal points like a fireplace. For those seeking concentration, individual study rooms or more isolated study nooks offer a place to focus. The integration of living-learning environments can also ensure students have access to academic support where they live. Study rooms, mentoring spaces, and makerspaces promote collaboration and academic growth. These varied environments allow students to move seamlessly between recreation, wellness, and academic focus, enhancing their overall campus experience.

Beyond unifying different programs, deliberate equity in the design, quality, and distribution of these spaces can ensure that all students, especially first-year communities, feel valued and supported. Equitable access to visually and acoustically quieter environments, adjustable lighting, and customizable furniture also foster a sense of ownership. Students come to feel like they belong and have some autonomy within their shared spaces.

Tecnológico de Monterrey’s Queretaro Campus Kitchen

Tecnológico de Monterrey, Queretaro Residence Hall

With a genuine sensitivity to diverse and equitable spaces, each community of approximately 46 students shares an equally-sized, combined kitchen, dining, and lounge space. These lounges are color coded to the associated rooms, creating a clear diagram of ownership for each shared community space.

Plymouth State University, Merrill Place

Sustainability signage shares performance data and design strategies for both the building and rooms.

Creating Opportunities to Live Sustainably and Inclusively

The social responsibility of a residential life community is to create an environment that mirrors the diverse and interconnected society students will enter after college. The experiences and lessons learned during a student’s first year on campus are foundational, preparing them not only for the remainder of their college career but also for life beyond graduation. By fostering a sense of co-ownership and inclusivity, residential life communities help shape responsible, engaged citizens.

One way to achieve this is by integrating sustainable principles into the design of residence halls, creating what is often referred to as “a building that teaches.” By benchmarking energy or water usage and making performance data visible to students, colleges can promote awareness and encourage behavioral change. Recycling and composting programs further reinforce the shared responsibility for resources. Some institutions even establish sustainability ambassador programs, where selected students educate their peers, orient new students, and foster accountability through engaging activities and programming.

Creating culturally competent spaces within residence halls is another crucial step toward building an inclusive community. When aesthetics and design are influenced by a diversity of cultures, students from different backgrounds are more likely to feel represented and at home. Additionally, the integration of gender-fluid communities through gender-neutral restrooms and nonbinary room assignments signals that every student belongs. These choices ensure that the campus environment reflects the diversity and complexity of the world students will encounter after they leave.

University of Victoria New Student Housing Lounge

University of Victoria, Student Housing and Dining

Building names were carefully selected by the local indigenous community: Cheko’nien House and Sngequ House. To further integrate with First Nations culture, the project features a dedicated Indigenous student lounge and incorporates native plant species into the landscape.

University of Victoria New Student Housing Exterior

Actionable Steps

Wondering where to start? While we know the challenges and opportunities on each campus differ based on scale, budgetary constraints, and competing priorities, there are actionable steps that institutions can take now to assess current conditions, prioritize necessary improvements, and create a pipeline of student and university success for the future.

We recommend a three-step process to begin transforming the residential life experience:

Step 1: Assess the first-year experience across the residential portfolio, studying spaces provided from qualitative and quantitative perspectives.
Step 2: Identify gaps and opportunities and prioritize biggest impact strategies by creating an intentional framework that is replicable across all first-year residential communities.
Step 3: Define and prioritize implementable projects that can first act as pilot spaces to seek feedback before launching into phased projects.

First-Year Foundations: Crafting Communities for Student Success

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