Table 1. Institutions Reviewed for Practices Fostering a Sense of Community in Residence Halls Binghamton University (public, large) Clemson University (public, large) Eckerd College (private, small) Emory University (private, medium) Miami University (public, large) Stony Brook University (public, large) The Evergreen State College (public, medium) The University of the South (private, small) Vanderbilt University (private, medium) Table 2. Survey Items Measuring Dimensions of a Sense of Community in Residence Halls Identity. Composite of four items measuring student agreement with such statements as, “My residence hall floor is a good place to live,” “I feel at home on my residence hall floor,” “I care about what my neighbors on my residence hall floor think about my actions,” and “It is important for me to live on my particular residence hall floor.” (1=strongly disagree, 4=strongly agree). Interaction. Composite of four items measuring student agreement with such statements as, “I can recognize all of the people who live on my residence hall floor,” “Very few of my neighbors on my residence hall floor know me” (reversed scored), “I have no influence over what my residence hall floor is like” (reversed scored), and “People on my residence hall floor generally do not get along with each other” (reversed scored) (1=strongly disagree, 4=strongly agree). Solidarity. Composite of three items measuring student agreement with such statements as, “People on my residence hall floor do not share the same values” (reversed scored), “My neighbors and I want the same thing for our residence hall floor,” and “If there is a problem on my residence hall floor, people who live there can get it solved” (1=strongly disagree, 4=strongly agree). Source: Adapted from Table A.3 in Rethinking College Student Retention, Braxton et al. (2014). 2 Figure 1. Influence of Three Dimensions of Communal Potential on Student Persistence 3