Dr. Mary Ellen Wade conducted two presentations at the recent NASPA Annual Conference in March. Her first presentation was a poster session on “Exploring Contributing Factors to Undergraduate and Graduate Student Sense of Belonging.” This session focused on research conducted by the Division of Student Affairs in spring 2023 regarding student sense of belonging, specifically, how students define belonging and contributing factors to belonging at UMBC.

Dr. Wade talked about unique considerations in collecting robust demographic information to understand better student belonging and the impacts on the institution as a whole regarding the results. On the whole, students feel a sense of belonging at UMBC; however, more can be done through campus services, supports, programs, and outreach to increase student belonging. Students described belonging at UMBC as the institution feeling like a home, that belonging involves care for others and expectations of self in a community, and having others that support your whole self.

In Dr. Wade’s second presentation titled, “Understanding Undergraduate Student Experiences with Integrative Learning and High-Impact Practices in Co-Curricular Leadership Roles,” she shared the findings of a correlational research study that examined if holding leadership roles in co-curricular experiences impacted the ability of undergraduate college students to demonstrate integrative learning. It explored how well a student can articulate experiences in which they have integrated their learning and sought to understand the extent to which the structures of co-curricular leadership roles exemplify characteristics of high-impact practices.

This study revealed that students experience integrative learning in their co-curricular leadership roles and when describing their integrative learning, student responses reflect areas of the AAC&U Integrative Learning VALUE Rubric and the NACE Career Readiness Competencies. It also shows that students in co-curricular leadership roles are experiencing the characteristics of high-impact practices in their role, highlighting the learning taking place outside of the classroom in leadership experiences.