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The Effects of Community Building Programs on Student Neighborhoods Adjoining the Urban University Campus

McLaughlin, Sean M.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306841625

Abstract Details

2011, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, EDU Policy and Leadership.
Student neighborhoods near urban university campuses are unique neighborhood settings. Social problems resulting from thousands of college aged students living in dense enclaves in neighborhoods near university campuses are numerous. Rioting, high crime, negative neighbor relations and poor living conditions are examples of the many problems of the student neighborhood. As universities develop and implement strategies to address the challenges of the campus proximal student neighborhood, research must guide those practices. This study examines the effects of a specific community building program sponsored by a large mid-western research university located in a large metropolitan setting on social outcomes in the densely populated student neighborhood adjacent to its campus. The community building program is designed by Student Life staff to strengthen social ties and community in the student neighborhood. Social disorganization theory and sociological approaches to the study of neighborhoods are used to theorize important exogenous and intervening independent variables relevant to the student neighborhood context. These independent variables include demographic structures such as race, gender, age and socioeconomic status along with intervening structures such as friendship density, network associations (university versus neighborhood) and participation in university sponsored programs to build community. Dependent variables include social ties, sense of community, perceptions of informal social control and neighborhood satisfaction. Regression analysis is used to determine the extent to which participation in university community building programs predicts the outcome variables. The study concludes that participation in university sponsored programs has effects on social ties and perception of informal social control in the student neighborhood. Gender and race were found to negatively predict social ties formation. The study also concludes that living in neighborhoods where community building programs take place, regardless of the amount of an individual’s participation, predicts sense of community. Neighborhood satisfaction is not predicted by demographic variables or participation in the university sponsored community building program. Results also indicate that when a student identifies as a resident of specific street, or as a member of the community at-large, they tend to have greater sense of community. The discussion offers propositions for higher education administrators who are tasked with creating policy and practical interventions aimed at addressing the unique challenges with which these neighborhoods confront the institution.
Ada Demb, EdD (Advisor)
Helen Marks, PhD (Committee Member)
Lenard Baird, PhD (Committee Member)
152 p.
Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration
student neighborhood; higher education; town-gown; neighborhood; co-resident neighborhood; sense of community; neighborhood intervention; community building program; community building

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McLaughlin, S. M. (2011). The Effects of Community Building Programs on Student Neighborhoods Adjoining the Urban University Campus [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306841625

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McLaughlin, Sean. The Effects of Community Building Programs on Student Neighborhoods Adjoining the Urban University Campus. 2011. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306841625.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McLaughlin, Sean. "The Effects of Community Building Programs on Student Neighborhoods Adjoining the Urban University Campus." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2011. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1306841625

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1306841625
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© 2011, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.