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Executive Summary
This report assesses the engagement of
students living in the residence halls on Northern
Illinois University (NIU) campus. The assessment
team’s campus partner, Lauren Teso-Warner, tasked
the team with understanding how living in the
residence halls on campus influenced residential
students’ involvements in campus activities,
specifically during the first six weeks of the fall
semester.
Housing and Residential Services serves a
large number of students living in the residence
halls. At NIU, there are five residence halls and one
on-campus apartment complex with approximately
3,500 students that live on campus. Housing and
Residential Services employs student employees,
Community Advisors (CAs), to live in the
residence halls and serve as role models to the
students living in their community. There are
approximately 125 CAs working in the residence
halls.
This assessment project was conducted
during the fall 2021 semester and consisted of two
focus groups and one survey. The two focus groups
were for CAs. Questions centered the CAs
perception on their impact on their community as
well as the opportunities that they have created to
foster student engagement. The survey was
distributed and available to all students living in the
NIU residence halls. The survey
explored residents' engagement on campus.
The findings of the assessment showed
that majority of the respondents indicated they
were involved to some extent on campus. However,
the survey also showed that majority of students did
not have their CA bring them to any sort of campus
event. Furthermore, findings showed that CAs
believe that a large reason for lack of student
engagement was due to COVID-19
concerns. Lastly, one finding revealed that majority
of respondents felt that the location of their
residence hall has assisted them in being involved
on campus.
Introduction
The purpose of this assessment project is to
understand how living in the residence hall
influences residential students’ involvement in
campus activities during the first six weeks of the
fall semester. The assessment will focus on
answering two primary questions:
1. What activities do students participate in?
2. How does residence life facilitate these
engagements?
The following reviews the literature
regarding the benefits of student engagement, how
residence life shapes and impacts student
engagement, and how orientations and welcome
weeks impact student engagement. This is followed
by an overview of the methods of data collection
followed by the results from the survey and focus
groups. The report concludes with a discussion of
key findings and recommendations.
Mission
“Housing and Residential Services is
committed to providing a safe,
supportive, and educationally empowering
community where students can learn,
grow and be successful within a complex
and diverse world. Through our facilities,
programs and the collaborative efforts of
our staff, student leaders and campus
partners, we promote respect,
individuality, and personal responsibility”.

A Review of the Literature
Institutions of higher education are more
than just their classrooms. Campus life also
encompasses student organizations
and other extracurriculars and these can shape a
student’s experience at an institution as much
as academics. Tinto’s Dimensions of
Institutional Action asserts that students are more
likely to remain enrolled in an institution if they
become connected to the social and academic life of
that institution (Claborn & Kane, 2012;
Pascarella, Terenzini, & Wolfle, 1986). If the
connection is not made, then that will significantly
influence the student’s decision to depart from the
institution.
In addition to increasing persistence, student
engagement can help students develop new skills
and stronger social bonds and provide an avenue for
students to express themselves. When Holzweiss et
al (2007) asked participants what they got out of
their involvement in campus organizations, there
were a wide range of responses. Those involved in
academic organizations spoke of how it helped their
career goals by getting them access to professionals
in their future field, hands on experience, and
helping them develop interpersonal communication
skills. Those involved in non-academic
organizations also listed developing interpersonal
communication skills as well as business skills and
leadership skills. Even though their organization
may not be directly linked to their future careers,
the skills they learned would still help them
succeed.
Smith & Chenoweth (2015) address directly
how beneficial participating in student
organizations is when developing the leadership
skills. Participants in their study were asked to rate
how strong their leadership traits and their relational
leadership behaviors/skills. Participants who were
involved in at least one student organization rated
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their leadership traits in all measures and their
relational behaviors in most measures higher than
those who were not involved in any student
organization. While this study cannot show that
students involved in student
organizations have stronger leadership traits and
relational behaviors, it does indicate that there is a
positive correlation between involvement in student
organization and confidence in leadership skills.
Where does Residence Life fit into all this?
There is a consensus in the literature that
students who live on campus are more likely to be
engaged in co-curricular activity (LaNasa, S., &
Olson, E., & Alleman, N, 2007; Hurtado, S., &
Gonyea, R., & Graham, P., & Fosnacht, K,
2019). While this could be attributed to proximity,
there are some aspects of the structure of residential
life that researchers have found to have a positive
impact on student engagement.
One aspect is Living Learning
Communities (LLCs). Living Learning
Communities are often put in place to help students
feel more connected to campus and become more
engaged on their college campus (Hurtado, S., &
Gonyea, R., & Graham, P., & Fosnacht, K, 2019;
Zhao, C., & Kuh, G, 2004). They are linked to more
frequent interactions with faculty members,
engaging in diversity-related activities, and having
classes that emphasize higher order thinking skills
(Zhao, C., & Kuh, G, 2004). 
Another aspect is the role of community
advisors. Community advisors can have a
significant positive impact on student engagement
(Arboleda et al, 2003). They, among other
things, tasked with connecting residents with
resources across campus to help fulfill their
needs and creating programming within their
communities which all can help elevate the level of
engagement of their residents (Ganser, S. R., &
Kennedy, T. L.)

What about Week of Welcome (WOW)?
According to Claborn and Kane (2012), “the
transition to university life is revered by many as an
exciting, positive adventure filled with endless
possibilities, but one that can also be overwhelming
for some individuals” (p. 7). Going to college is a
phase marked by change, freedom, instability, and
exposure; all of which challenges a student to
explore and develop a sense of self. After being
accepted into an institution, a students’ transition
usually begins with orientation and then once
enrolled, welcome week. Colleges created
orientation for newly admitted students to attend so
that they could see what the institution has to offer
while welcome week designs a series of events for
enrolled students to have the opportunity to learn,
build new relationships and get involved socially,
and academically.
Welcome week (WOW) is a series of events
that allows students to get together socially and gain
a sense of belonging to the institution. The events
offered to students are designed to expose students
to campus resources and involvements that will play
a fundamental role in the integration to the campus.
Research shows that academic and social
integration are key to a student persisting at any
intuition (Pascarella, Terenzini, & Wolfle, 1986;
Soria, Lingren Clark, & Coffin Koch, 2013). The
events students attend during welcome week not
only provide students with a sense of belonging that
positively contributes to their transition, but they
serve as gatekeepers to students' success and
development. Students who participated in welcome
week had “a higher sense of belonging, academic
success, and retention compared with students who
did not attend the welcome week” (Lingren Clark,
& Coffin Koch, 2013).  community advisor with Housing and Residential
Assessment Design
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The purpose of this assessment was to
determine how involved students are within the first
six weeks of being on campus and what factors
either hinder or promote engagement amongst
students that live on campus.
In order to assess the involvement within the
first six weeks of students living within the
residence halls at Northern Illinois University, the
researchers conducted a mixed methods
assessment. The data collected for this assessment
was both qualitative and quantitative. Qualitative
data included the participation and review of
responses from two focus groups and the
quantitative data included responses from a survey
made with Qualtrics.
Focus Groups
The two focus groups were held to
gain information about how community advisors
help facilitate campus engagement. The goal was to
get personal authentic responses to their
contributions and overall satisfaction with the
position. The focus group participants gave consent
to researchers to record open ended responses that
would not have been easily collected in the
Qualtrics survey.
Focus groups were an hour long and
consisted of less than ten participants. They were
asked seven questions in total, and questions were
split into two categories: perceptions of impact and
barriers as seen in appendix A. We had two
facilitators, one note keeper, and a timekeeper.
Before conducting each focus group, the
participants were told that anything mentioned
would be confidential and nothing said would
jeopardize their position as a
Services.

Survey
The standardized questionnaire asked
students about their involvement and what their
perception was of campus
involvement. The survey included the 35
questions listed in appendix B and were
questions that consisted of demographic questions,
questions about the student’s involvement, and the
student’s thoughts towards Housing and Residential
Services contributions to the involvement. The
questions were a mix of multiple choice, slider, rank
order, open text, and matrix table. The survey took
about ten minutes to complete and was
distributed to all 3,500 students who reside
on campus by the department of Housing and
Residential Services via room pact and flyer.
Information gathered from these assessment
methods will be shared with housing and residence
life administrators with the hope that the
information will provide greater insight into how
the institution can enhance student engagement on
campus.
Results and Analysis
Based on the findings discovered, many
students who are currently living on campus are not
involved. When students were asked if their CA
took them to a campus event, 35 answered yes and
212 answered no. This finding is
significant because part of a CAs job is to help get
their students involved and familiar with campus.
Since this is only being done by few CA’s, it shows
that residents are lacking that community building
that the CA is supposed to bring to the floor.
Furthermore, when students were asked if any
housing staff (CA, Hall Director) helped them get
involved on campus, 109 respondents answered
with “strongly disagree” and “somewhat disagree”.
Additionally, only 63 respondents answered with
“strongly agree” and “somewhat agree” and 79
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were neutral to the question. The data illustrates that
many hall staff members are not withholding the
standard of helping students get involved on
campus. While hall staff may be helping in other
areas in the halls, our assessment group can
conclude from the data that some changes need to
occur in order to best support NIU’s students.
Another part of the survey that really stood
out was when it was revealed that most of our
respondents were first year students. This is
significant because a student’s first year of college
is the most important. During a student’s first year,
most of them are struggled to find things to do when
it comes to what their school has to offer.
With most of the respondents being first year
students, it is clear from the data that more needs to
be done to help get these students involved on
campus to help them feel more connected to the
institution.
The survey and focus groups attempted to
look at three different areas.
The first area is looking at what was
happening during the first six weeks of on-
campus student engagement:
what were residents involved in, to what extent, and
where it was happening. This also takes a brief look
at Week of Welcome (WOW) as it was the first
major opportunity for students to get involved and
become engaged on campus. The second area is
looking at how residence life facilitates this
engagement from the resident perspective. The third
area flips this around and looks at the perspective
of Community Advisors on this same topic. The
survey concentrates on the first two areas and the
focus groups concentrate on the third area, though
they do touch on the first two areas as well.
The survey had 264 complete
responses and 98 incomplete responses. All
demographic data comes from
complete responses. Over half of respondents who

filled out demographic data were 18 or
19 (58.7%), had only been at NIU for a
year (60.6%), and living on campus for a
year (69.7%). A little under half were
freshmen (46.2%) and sophomores and
juniors represented about a 1/5th each (22% and
18.1%). 42.8% said they were a first-
generation student. 32.6% were men, 59.9% were
women, and 5.3% were trans/nonbinary. For race
and ethnicity, 43.9% selected White, 24.6% Black,
5.3% Asian/Pacific Islander, 13.64% Latine/o/a/x,
1.5% another race/ethnicity, and 8.3% selected two
or more racial/ethnic groups. A more detailed
breakdown of race and ethnicity demographics is
available in Appendix
34.1% lived in New Hall, 22.3% in
Stevenson, 17.8% in Grant, 13.6% in Gilbert, and
9.5% in Neptune. No
respondents were from Northern View. Gilbert is
the smallest residence hall on campus so
is overrepresented in the results. 16.3% indicated
they were living in a Living Learning
Community. Almost half of respondents agreed that
the location of their residence hall makes it easy to
be involved on campus. Respondents were more
likely to agree to this statement if they lived in
Neptune or Gilbert. 41.7% of Gilbert and 58.3% of
Neptune residents strongly agreed to this
statement while less than 14% of New Hall, Grant,
and Stevenson residents strongly agreed.
Respondents had a generally positive view
of living on campus, with 64% agreeing that they
enjoyed living on campus (n=264). The majority
also agreed that there was always something to do
on campus and that being involved mattered. When
residents were asked what they actually did, most
respondents were spending 1-5 hours each week
participating in campus events or organizations,
though there was still 20.1% who said they spent 0
hours participating. 33% of respondents had
jobs (n=276), and of those with jobs 48.4% were on
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campus, 47.3% were off campus, and 4.4% had on
and off campus jobs. Residents who worked
were less likely to say they spent 0 hours
participating in campus events or
organizations, 15.4% of those who indicated they
had jobs compared to 21.5% of those who
didn’t. Even though working respondents were
more likely to be involved, 29% of
respondents also indicated that work was a barrier
to their involvement on campus. An equal number
of respondents indicated concerns about COVID
was a barrier to involvement and over twice,
72%, as many indicated a heavy course load was a
barrier.
When asked how frequently they went back
to visit family/friends during the first six
weeks, 53.7% said they were visiting at least every
other week and within that 20% said they were
visiting at least once a week. Respondents who
went back at least once a week were over twice as
likely to say they spent 0 hours participating in
campus events or organizations, 33% compared to
14%.
When asked about the type of involvement
that students were in, the top four types of
organizations and events were as
followed (n=256): 62.1% were involved
in social/fun, 39.5% academic
organizations, and 20% Greek life. The types of
organization respondents were involved matched
with the reasons they said they were
involved (n=254). The top two reasons chosen were
making friends and having fun, followed by
developing new skills and professional
development. When asked where they found the
information about these events and
organizations (n=249), emails, friends, and flyers
were the top three responses. Only 13% indicated
they heard about this information from a CA.

A similar pattern emerged with Week of
Welcome (WOW). Emails, the NIU website, and
flyers were the top three ways that respondents
heard about WoW and only 15% indicated they
heard about WoW from their
Community Advisor(n=336). However, despite the
similarities in how respondents learned about WoW
and other campus events and organizations,
significantly less respondents had attended WoW
than were involved on campus. Just 57% of
respondents (n=379) said they participated in Week
of Welcome activities. The top reason selected for
why they did not participate was they did not have
time to participate. The second biggest
reason given why they did not participate was that
they didn’t know anyone attending.
Focus Group Analysis
Focus Group Structure and Demographics
Two focus groups were held using
community advisors as participants. Each focus
group was asked the same set of questions but were
held at separate times and locations, one on the east
side of campus, and one on the west side of
campus, to accommodate the locations of the
participants. Focus group 1 occurred in the New
Hall Conference room on November 17, from
4:00pm-5:00pm. Focus group 2 occurred in the
Neptune Hall Conference room on November 19,
from 12:00pm-1:00pm.
The focus group participants came from the
following residence halls: 7 from New Hall, 3 from
Stevenson, 2 from Neptune, 1 from Grant, 1 from
Gilbert, and 0 from Northern View. The names of
the CAs (Community Advisors) have been changed
to protect their anonymity. The imitation names we
will use throughout this report are Sam, Cass,
Devin, Julie, Chad, Peter, Travis, Jace, Jake, Tony,
Matt, Brad, Sarah, and Jone.
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Perceptions
When the school year started, the CAs
perceived their residents as very eager to get
involved and to meet others. Many residents were
attending the beginning floor events and meeting
their CAs and the other residents on their
floor. Chad noted he would constantly see his
residents relax and interacting in the shared
lounge. (Chad, personal communication, November
19, 2021) Travis went around to his floor talking
individually to each of his residents and took some
down to the cafeteria when they were feeling
nervous about meeting others. (Travis, personal
communication, November 19, 2021) Sam had
residents share with her about the campus clubs and
organizations they were excited about
joining. (Sam, personal communication, November
19, 2021)
As the year progressed, it became harder for
the CAs to gauge the levels of engagement among
their residents. Peter found it hard to know if a
resident had gone to an event or joined a club if
they had not talked with that resident for an amount
of time. If the resident was not sharing with
their CA, it was difficult to know if they
were taking part in events that were not held by that
CA. After the first excitement of starting school,
many of the CAs noticed their residents starting to
split off and form groups. Cass saw her residents
form cliques within their cluster. (Cass, personal
communication, November 19, 2021) The residents
would stop interacting with the other residents in
their cluster who were not in their clique. Overall,
most of the CAs in the focus group did
see various degrees of engagement from their
residents despite also reporting low attendance for
events hosted by themselves or fellow CAs.
Outreach
During the Focus Groups the assessment
group asked CAs “what have you done to help your

residents get involved on campus” we got the same
answers from all participants. The ways CAs
attempted to get their students
involved was hanging flyers around their
floors, word of mouth, posting them in floor group
chats, taping flyers on their residents’ door handles,
and physically taking them to events. These
strategies were taught to CAs during their required
training. CA Peter showed that he
got positive feedback from his residents when he
taped events over their door handles. Specifically,
CA Peter said “I print out leaflets and tapes them
over their keyhole to force residents to pick up
leaflet before going into their rooms” (Peter,
personal communication, November 19, 2021).
Prior to asking CAs about event
promotion, they were asked what types of programs
they planned within the first 6 weeks of the
semester. By asking this, we found many
similarities between the events CAs put on for their
floors. All participants said their first event
they hosted was social. These events were meant to
get the residents acquainted with one another. CA
Jone revealed she hosted a scavenger hunt during
the first 6 weeks. Also, CA Travis showed that he
and other CAs in his building hosted a game night
as their first event. By getting so many floors
together, CA Travis said “New friendships were
born” from this event (Travis, personal
communication, November 19, 2021).
After asking the question
about programming, we asked the CAs how they
interact with their residents. This question was a
significant factor of our research because CAs are
expected to have a good rapport with their
residents. Many CAs responded to this question
in an equivalent way. Particularly, CAs expressed
they often interacted with their residents by greeting
them when they see them around campus. Also,
there was a pattern that CAs would go to the dining
halls with their residents and eat together and stay
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connected by using their floor group chats. In using
these methods, CAs were able to build trust and
connections with their residents.
When CAs were asked how they would
describe the impact they have on their floors, we
received a variety of responses. Some CAs
described their impact as being a role model while
others expressed their residents simply viewed them
as a person of authority. Furthermore, CA Cass
specifically said, “I’m the mom of my floor. I wish
it were more of a camp counselor vibe (Cass,
personal communication, November 19,
2021).” In saying this, CA Cass illustrated that
she prefers for her residents to see her as someone
they can also have fun with aside from being
viewed as a “mother.” Another CA response that
stood out during this question was
from Matt. Matt expressed that one of his residents
has asked how him to be a CA. Also, he explained
that he made a lot of solid connections with his
residents. Furthermore, he said that his
residents trust him with fixing their problems (Matt,
personal communication, November 17, 2021).
After gaining insight on CA impact, we
asked the CAs how they perceive the
engagement amongst their residents. This was
another question where we received similar
responses. In most of the responses, the CAs
expressed that many of their residents formed their
own small groups. In these small groups, residents
would often spend time together in
different Resident Halls or do off campus activities
together. Specifically, CA Julie said she “sees
engagement in floor, but does not see engagement
in college of engagement activities” (Julie, personal
communication, November 19, 2021). Another
significant quote was from CA Jone. Jone
stated “residents don’t want to particularly do
something that involves with housing. I know they
are interacting with other things, but they are not
interested in housing related events. The final quote
from this section is from CA Matt. CA Matt stated

that “you get familiar with who you are seeing
coming and going. Made friends with some of the
friends at Stevo. Resident wants to move buildings
to feel more connected to other friends in other
buildings. Sees lots of different friends that are
coming in going. You can see how some of them
interact with one another and others do not choose
to interact whatsoever” (Matt, personal
communication, November 17, 2021).
Barriers for Residents
During the Focus Groups, the CAs disclosed
a substantial number of barriers residents face when
considering getting involved on campus. In asking
this question, some of the common
themes were lack of social events versus
educational, lack of events when weather breaks,
COVID 19 restrictions, involvement fair only being
held once during the semester, going home every
weekend, events not being held in places students
would commonly go (students want to walk past,
see an event, and engage if it looks
interesting), students having a job, and not
having friends to attend events with. CA Chad made
a statement regarding COVID 19 restrictions. Chad
expressed that “residents worried about covid and
masks” (Chad, personal communication, November
17, 2021). Currently on NIU’s campus,
students must wear a mask in all public areas
(anywhere on campus except their door room). With
this restriction, it makes it hard for students to get
involved because after being on campus all day,
they want to be mask-less. Also, CA Cass brought
up a significant point about the involvement fair.
Cass stated the lack of student involvement
is “more of an NIU (Northern Illinois
University) issue. The involvement fair is at
beginning, of the semester. Residents might not sign
up at beginning but then try to do so in November.
Residents do not know how to get involved late. As
a CA, I do not know what to do about this. Once the
student misses the fair, they are sort of out of
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luck” (Jone, personal communication, November
19, 2021).
Barriers for Community Advisors
The primary barriers the community
advisors felt held them back were Covid-19
restriction, lack of proper training, and feeling
unsupported by their supervisors. Due to the
ongoing pandemic, many of the events held by CAs
had to be held under a certain attendance mark
or had to be moved to accommodate a larger
space. The responsibility of having to enforce Covid
policies has also been a barrier for the CAs.
Cass said she feels like the “Mask Police.” (Cass,
personal communication, November 19, 2021) Peter
says he often “asks residents to put on a mask and
the residents ignore me or continue walking without
responding. Sometimes the residents do not act like
adults, and it is frustrating” (Peter, personal
communication, November 19, 2021).
Some of the CAs also felt unprepared to
handle some of the situations that have occurred this
year. Sam described feeling disrespected by the
residents of her building whenever she worked desk
shifts (Sam, personal communication, November
19, 2021) An attempt would be made to enforce our
mask policies, and the residents would either ignore
Sam or talk back and degrade her. Peter and Devin
felt like Sam, claiming difficulty balancing work,
school, and home life when you live in the same
building where you
work. Devin struggled to enforce and document
policy violations as he wanted the residents to be
comfortable where they lived but felt uncomfortable
always being known as an authority figure. (Devin,
personal communication, November 19,
2021) Many CAs felt they needed more training on
conflict management and strategies when residents
are being overly hostile towards them.
The final barrier the CA focused on when
considered what prevented them from performing
 10
their duties was feeling unsupported by their Recommendation 2: Train CAs on different
supervisors. Jake believes the CAs are “not treated strategies of community building
as people. They are treated as pawns on a board.
Nothing is genuine.” (Jake, personal Both the community advisors and residents
communication, November 19, 2021) A common said they felt disconnected on their floors.
theme was the feeling of being unable to approach Community advisors said they would try would
their professional staff for assistance. Cass hold events that would go unattended. Focusing on
struggled to find the line between friends and community building and different strategies during
supervision in her relationship with her professional training will help community advisors prepare more
staff. (Cass, personal communication, November and find innovative ways to get residents
19, 2021) Chad was unsure how much to share with involved. (See Example 1.2)
their supervisor whenever they were struggling for
fear of losing their trust. (Chad, personal Example 1.2
communication, November 19, 2021) Jack only felt
like they were able to approach two of the five
professional staff in their complex with an issue
they wanted assistance with. (Jack, personal
communication, November 19, 2021) An overall
sentiment of separation between CAs and
professional staff created a barrier that prevented
the CAs from seeking the resources they need to be
successful.
Overall Recommendations

Based on the results of the student survey

and the community advisor focus groups, the
following recommendations should be implemented
to best support our students and student staff.

Recommendation 1: Offer more events during

the weekends during the first six weeks of the
semester

54% of students said they went home every

other week or more often at the beginning of the
school year. Hosting more events during the
weekends will help keep students on campus and
engaged in their community. (See Example 1.0)
Example 1.0
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Recommendation 3: Advertise more sure community advisors know what events are
transparency around the purpose of the going on around campus will help increase some of
community advisor position these numbers and improve the impact a community
advisor has on the engagement of their residents.
Community advisors spoke about feeling (See Example 1.4 – “Has your Community Advisor
disrespected by their residents who did not brought you to any campus events”?)
understand the intentions of the community advisor.
75% of residents said they did not believe any hall Example 1.4
staff member encouraged or helped them get
involved on campus. Increased transparency about
the functions of a community advisor will help
residents understand what resources are available to
them and will help community advisors feel more
confident in the role. (Example 1.3 show’s
“Housing Staff, like my Community Advisor and
the Hall Director have helped…”)

Example 1.3

Recommendation 5: Focus more on the mental

health and indirect impact a community advisor
has on their residents

Many of the community advisors in the

Recommendation 4: Prioritize having
community advisors be knowledgeable about
events going on around campus
When asked about Week of Welcome, only
8% of students had talked about Week of Welcome
events with their community advisor and only 6%
of students listed their community advisor as a
reason why they got involved with specific
organizations. Only 14% of students had their
community advisor bring them to an event. Making
focus groups noted a sense of burnout and fatigue.
They felt their supervisors did not see them as a
person. Some also noted that when I community
advisor is energetic and excited to make an impact,
that is reflected in the energy of their residents and
willingness to attend events. The opposite was also
noted when a community advisor does not seem
excited to interact with their residents or is not
present on their floor then their residents reciprocate
that same energy.

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 13

Appendix A
Focus Group Questions
Community Advisor Focus Group Protocol

1. Welcome-10 mins
a. Thank everyone for coming
b. Facilitator introductions (name, title, program,)
c. Explain the purpose of the focus group
d. Point out who will be the note-taker and who will be recording as well
e. Go over consent for participation and recording
2. Ask participants if they have any questions-3 mins
3. Turn on the tape recorder and gather verbal consent
4. Participant Introductions-10mins
a. Name, Major, Residence Hall, Years as a Community Advisor
5. Main Topic (guiding questions, will ask for elaboration on answers and adjust during interview)-
35 mins
a. Perceptions of Impact
i.What programs did you plan in the first 6 weeks?
1. Type? (Passive, educational, social)
2. Specific programs?
ii.How have you interacted with your residents this year?
iii.How would you describe your impact as a Community Advisor on your
community?
iv.How do you perceive the engagement amongst your residents?
v.What have you done to help your residents get involved on campus?
b. Barriers
i.What do you believe is preventing your residents from getting involved on
campus?
ii.What are some struggles you have faced this year concerning your position as a
Community Advisor?
6. Wrap Up-5 mins
a. What else would you like us to know?
b. Any final questions or comments?
7. Thank them for participation-3 mins
8. Analyze the data from Community Advisor interviews
9. Formulate conclusions
 14
Appendix B: Survey Questions
Residence Hall Engagement Assessment

Start of Block: Welcome!

Q1.1 Welcome!

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this short survey regarding your experience while attending Northern
Illinois University. The information gathered from this survey will be used by Housing and Residential Services
to better implement engagement opportunities on NIU's campus.

If you choose to participate, please continue through the survey. If you choose not to participate, please exit the
window now.

(IF YOU ARE A COMMUNITY ADVISOR, PLEASE DO NOT FILL OUT THIS SURVEY). A focus group
will be completed at a later time.

End of Block: Welcome!

Start of Block: Block 6

Q69 Welcome!

Thank you for taking the time to fill out this short survey regarding your experience while attending Northern
Illinois University. The information gathered from this survey will be used by Housing and Residential Services
to better implement engagement opportunities on NIU's campus.

If you choose to participate, please continue through the survey. If you choose not to participate, please exit the
window now.

(IF YOU ARE A COMMUNITY ADVISOR, PLEASE DO NOT FILL OUT THIS SURVEY). A focus group
will be completed at a later time.

End of Block: Block 6

Start of Block: Week of Welcome

Q2.1 Did you participate in any Week of Welcome (WOW) activities/programs?

• Yes (1)
• No (2)
• I haven't heard of Week of Welcome (3) in
any Week of Welcome (WOW) activitany Week of
Q2.2 Why didn't you participate in any WOW activities/programs?
• Didn't look interesting (1)
• Didn't have time (2)
• Didn't know anyone attending (3)
• Meant to but forgot (4)
• Other (5) ________________________________________________
:
 15
Q2.3 How did you hear about WOW? (Check all that apply)
1. Email (1)
2. Community Advisor (2)
3. Flyers (3)
4. Friends (4)
5. Family (5)
6. NIU website (6)
7. Other (7) ________________________________________________

Q2.4 Did you attend any of the following? (Check All That Apply)
8. Involvement Fair (1)
9. Career Fair (2)
10. Meet the Greeks (3)

End of Block: Week of Welcome

Start of Block: Current Involvement

Q3.1 For the following questions, please reflect on the first 6 weeks of the semester (Move In to October
1st)

Q3.2 How many hours did you spend a week participating in campus events or organizations?
• 0 (1)
• 1-2 (7)
• 3-5 (2)
• 6-9 (3)
• 10-12 (4)
• 13+ (5)

Q3.3 What type(s) of organizations and events have you been involved in?
11. Academic (1)
12. Fraternity and Sorority Life (2)
13. Service/Volunteer (example: Huskie Pantry, Huskie Alternative Break) (3)
14. Sports (4)
15. Identity/Cultural (example: Black Student Union, Spectrum) (5)
16. Res Halls (Community Council, NRHH, RHA) (6)
17. Religous (7)
18. Student Government Association (8)
19. Social/Fun (9)

Q3.4 How many organizations have you been involved in?

________________________________________________________________

Q3.5 Where did you find the information about the organizations you have been in or events you have
attended? (Check all apply)
 16
20. Community Advisor (1)
21. Emails (2)
22. Flyers (3)
23. Huskie Link (4)
24. NIU Events Calendar (5)
25. Friends (6)
26. Family (7)
27. Class (8)
28. Week of Welcome Event (9)
29. Involvement Fair (10)

Q3.6 Has your Community Advisor brought you to any campus events?
• Yes (1)
• No (2)

Q3.7 What are some of the reasons you have been involved on campus? (Check all that apply)
30. Making friends (1)
31. Professional development (2)
32. Developing new skills (3)
33. Having fun (4)
34. I am giving back to the community (5)
35. Other (6) ________________________________________________

Q3.8 What have been some barriers to your involvement on campus? (Check all that apply)
36. Heavy Courseload (1)
37. Work (2)
38. Internship (3)
39. Not around campus (4)
40. Concerns about COVID (6)
41. Other (7) ________________________________________________ Question:
If What have been some barriers to your involvement on campus? (Check all that apply) !=
Q3.9 Did you have a job during the first six weeks of the semester?
• Yes (1)
• No (3) first six weeks of the semester? = Yes

Q3.10 Is/Was your job on or off campus?

• On-campus (1)
• Off-campus (2)
• I have both an on-campus and off-campus job (3)

Display This Questiosome barriers to your involvement on campus? (Check all that apply) = Work

Q3.11 How many hours did you work a week during this period of time?
• 1-5 (1)
• 6-10 (6)
• 11-15 (2)
• 16-20 (7)
• 21-30 (3)
• 31-40 (4)
 17
• 40+ (5)

Q3.12 How frequently have you gone back to visit family/friends during the first six weeks of the
semester?
• Never (1)
• Once a Month (2)
• Every Other Week (3)
• Every Week (4)
• Multiple Times a Week (5)

Q3.13 How connected do you feel to the following?

A
Not at A little A lot A great
moderate
all (24) (25) (27) deal (28)
amount (26)
Other
• • • • •
students (5)
Other
residents in my • • • • •
building (6)
Other
residents on my • • • • •
floor (7)
Housing
• • • • •
staff (13)
Other
staff on campus • • • • •
(14)
Faculty
• • • • •
members (16)
NIU
• • • • •
(15)
 18
Q3.14 How often did you attend events at:
Not
Never Sometimes Very All the
Very Often
(14) (15) Often (16) Time (17)
(18)
Your
Residence Hall • • • • •
(1)
Other
Residence Halls • • • • •
(2)
Holmes
Student Center
• • • • •
or MLK
Commons (3)
The
• • • • •
Stadium (15)

End of Block: Current Involvement

Start of Block: Rate the Statement

Q4.1 Rate the following statements:

Q4.2 I enjoy living on campus.

• Strongly disagree (4)
• Somewhat disagree (5)
• Neither agree nor disagree (6)
• Somewhat agree (7)
• Strongly agree (8)

Q4.3 It is important to be involved on campus.

• Strongly disagree (4)
• Somewhat disagree (5)
• Neither agree nor disagree (6)
• Somewhat agree (7)
• Strongly agree (8)

Q4.4 There is always something to do on campus

• Strongly disagree (4)
• Somewhat disagree (5)
• Neither agree nor disagree (6)
• Somewhat agree (7)
• Strongly agree (8)

Q4.5 The location of my residence hall makes it easy to be involved on campus

• Strongly disagree (4)
• Somewhat disagree (5)
• Neither agree nor disagree (6)
 19
• Somewhat agree (7)
• Strongly agree (8)

Q4.6 Housing staff, like my Community Advisor and the Hall Director, have helped me get involved
and stay involved on campus.
• Strongly disagree (4)
• Somewhat disagree (5)
• Neither agree nor disagree (6)
• Somewhat agree (7)
• Strongly agree (8)

Q4.7 Week of Welcome helped me become more involved on campus

• Strongly disagree (4)
• Somewhat disagree (5)
• Neither agree nor disagree (6)
• Somewhat agree (7)
• Strongly agree (8)

Q4.8 Week of Welcome was a great way to learn more about NIU
• Strongly disagree (4)
• Somewhat disagree (5)
• Neither agree nor disagree (6)
• Somewhat agree (7)
• Strongly agree (8)

End of Block: Rate the Statement

Start of Block: Demographics

Q5.1 Gender (Check All That Apply)

42. Man (1)
43. Woman (2)
44. Nonbinary/Genderqueer (3)
45. Trans (4)

Q5.2 Race/Ethnicity (Check All That Apply)

46. White/Caucasian (1)
47. Black/African American (2)
48. Latine/o/a/x (3)
49. Middle Eastern/North African (4)
50. Asian/Pacific Islander (5)
51. Native American (6)
52. Other (7) ________________________________________________

Q5.3
Socioeconomic Background (the social and economic class someone is currently in or was raised in)

• Low (1)
• Lower Middle (2)
 20
• Middle (3)
• Upper Middle (4)
• High (5)
• I Don't Know/Prefer Not To Say (6)

Q5.4 Age
________________________________________________________________

Q5.5 What year are you in school based on year classification ? (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior,
Super-Senior).
• Freshman (1)
• Sophomore (2)
• Junior (3)
• Senior (4)
• Super-Senior (5)

Q5.6 Years at NIU

• 1 (1)
• 2 (2)
• 3 (3)
• 4 (4)
• 5+ (5)

Q5.7 Are you a first generation student? (neither parent has completed a college degree)
• Yes (1)
• No (2)

Q5.8 Years Living on Campus

• 1 (1)
• 2 (2)
• 3 (3)
• 4 (4)
• 5+ (5)

Q5.9 Where do you currently live on campus?

• Gilbert (1)
• Neptune (2)
• New Hall (3)
• Grant (4)
• Stevenson (5)
• Northern View (6)

Q5.10 Do you live in an Living Learning Community (LLC)?

• Yes (1)
• No (2)

End of Block: Demographics

Start of Block: Block 5

 21
Q6.1 If you are interested in being entered in our raffle to win a free beverage at a campus dining
location, please enter your email below.
________________________________________________________________

End of Block: Block 5

 22
Appendix C: Cleaned Data Demographics