At an annual symposium in 2009, Scott Collard and Lucinda Covert-Vail from New York University suggested there is no such thing as “a single graduate student type.” The presenters found the needs of graduate students vary but, in general, converge around the areas of community, student services and space.[1]
In Search of Community
Although that symposium took place nearly five years ago, survey research in 2011 (published in the Continuing Higher Education Review) and 2013 (my unpublished dissertation in progress) on graduate students enrolled at Johns Hopkins University agrees that a sense of community is important to graduate students.
A sense of community has been defined by Westheimer and Kahne as the result of interaction and deliberation by people brought together by similar interests and common goals.[2] The most essential elements of community include: mutual interdependence among members, sense of belonging, connectedness, spirit, trust, interactivity, common expectations, shared values and goals and overlapping histories among members.[3] In fact, research has shown the development of a sense of community is linked to student satisfaction.[4] However, though graduate students may be more inclined to infer they “didn’t come to graduate school to make friends” (as several respondents mentioned in my doctoral study interviews), they may still use language such as a desired “connection with my classmates and faculty” or “build my network” instead of the classic term “community” to describe their sentiment. Networks, however, are sub-communities and those engaged in social and professional networks have an opportunity to build a sense of community as a result of their participation.
A student satisfaction survey conducted at Johns Hopkins University in 2010 also suggested online graduate students in the advanced academic programs of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences had a strong sense of community — interestingly, stronger than students enrolled in on-ground graduate programs in the same School at Johns Hopkins. Graduates of this online master’s program also demonstrated a willingness to give as alumni donors as a result of their sense of community and satisfaction with the program.[5]
Because of the importance of “community” and its positive influence on student satisfaction, universities are encouraged not to consider graduate students as outliers and to intentionally program events and efforts to bolster their sense of community.[6] Faculty and administrators who work with online graduate students may also use this opportunity to embed community building opportunities into the online program. For example, the museum studies program at Johns Hopkins University uses a cyber café to engage graduate students and holds virtual alumni and career development events as well.
Investing time and some financial resources into a well-delivered orientation program for graduate students may also prove beneficial. New beginnings are important and setting a tone that supports camaraderie and community are critical first steps. Don’t assume your graduate students are too busy for orientation, or that they only want the required policies of the School or program during orientation — it’s simply not true. Graduate students want to network and build social and professional communities. For many students, graduate school can be both intellectually challenging and socially isolating.[7] As a result, a sense of community can be particularly important to the overall experience.
This was the first of a two-part series on the importance of creating a sense of community for non-traditional students. To read the conclusion of this series, please click here.
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References
[1] Scott Collard and Lucinda Covert-Vail, Meeting Graduate Student Needs. Presentation for the RLG Partnership Annual Symposium (June 3, 2009). Accesible at www.oclc.org/content/dam/research/events/2009/06-03c.pdf
[2] Joel Westheimer and Joseph Kahne, “Building School Communities: An Experienced-Based Model,” Phi Delta Kappan Vol. 75 (4), 1993.
[3] Alfred Rovai, “Building Sense of Community at a Distance,” The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning Vol. 3(1), 2002.
[4] Ibid
[5] Monica Moody Moore, Doctoral Dissertation (as yet unpublished), University of Pennsylvabia Graduate School
[5] Rovai (2002)
[6] Jodie Kern-Bowen and Rick Gardner, “Creating Campus Community for Graduate Studies Through Programs, Services and Facilities,” The Bulletin (March 2010). Accessible at http://www.acui.org/publications/bulletin/toc.aspx?issue=22641
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