Involving Colleges: Successful Approaches to Fostering Student Development and Learning Outside the Classroom

G. Kuh, J.H. Schuh, E.J. Whitt, et al. (1991)

This book describes how schools of higher education can implement practices that promote educationally purposeful out-of-class activities within the context of their campus communities. The practices are intended to help develop faculty and student creativity and initiative.

Chapter 1 examines the contributions of out-of-class experiences to student learning and personal development.

Chapter 2 describes how the institutions for study were selected and discusses the questions that guided the study.

The material in Part 2 describes the five sets of factors and conditions shared to varying degrees by such “Involving Colleges”: mission and philosophy (chapter 3); campus culture (chapter 4); campus environment (chapter 5); institutional policies and practices (chapter 6); and the role of administrators, faculty, and students in promoting students’ out-of-class learning and personal development (chapter 7).

In chapters 8 through 10, a description is provided of the selected policies and practices to illustrate how the factors and conditions work in different types of institutions. Chapters in Part 3 discuss the implications of these factors and offer recommendations for administrators, faculty, and others committed to enhancing the quality of out-of-class learning opportunities at their institutions.