The Effect of Resident Advisor Interactions on Resident Enrollment: Undergraduate Research from the University of Colorado Boulder

Undergraduate Honors Thesis

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/undergraduate_honors_theses/s4655h04f

Abstract

This study examines the effect of resident advisor (RA) interactions on student retention rates within a peer mentoring structure at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) through linear probability regression analysis. As more schools look to residence life programs to increase retention rates, this analysis seeks to help the University of Colorado Boulder evaluate its residence life program for the Fall 2015 school year. This study finds that the peer mentoring program CU Boulder uses is insignificant in effecting a student’s enrollment decision while also holding a negative coefficient. This could be interpreted as the interactions resident advisors have with residents in this peer-mentoring model do not influence enrollment, but rather reflect the level of integration a student has in the university; the more interactions a resident has with their RA, the less that student may be integrated into the community, and the less likely they are to be enrolled for both the next semester and next school year. This does not speak to the entire role of resident advisors but only analyzes the peer mentorship model used by CU Boulder.

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