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Regents hear how campus programs and employment foster belonging; presenters flag gaps for underrepresented students
Summary
University presenters told the special committee that welcome programs, living-learning communities and student employment correlate with higher retention; they recommended sustained outreach, better gathering spaces and continued focus on students who live off campus or identify as underrepresented.
University officials told the Board of Regents’ special committee that community and belonging initiatives help retain students but that disparities persist for some populations.
David Israel Swinson, senior director of student engagement and well-being at the University of Minnesota Morris, opened the committee’s second presentation by defining community and belonging and by listing survey tools used across the system, including a systemwide campus climate survey. Swinson said students generally report a sense of belonging comparable with peers, but that some individual populations report lower belonging and need targeted support.
Megan Miller Toole, assistant vice provost for student life on the Twin Cities campus, and other presenters highlighted programs that foster connection: Welcome Week and onboarding, living-learning communities, student employment programs such as RecWell, and targeted cohorts on smaller campuses. Presenters cited campus data: at Morris, 68% of students engaged with at least one student organization, and campus analyses showed students who participate in organizations are about 18% more likely to persist than peers who do not.
Speakers urged sustained, scaffolded approaches to onboarding — not only front-loaded orientation but ongoing contact during the first semester — and noted physical gathering spaces and compensated peer-leader roles help sustain community. Presenters described a recent Twin Cities pilot pairing community advisors with welcome-week leadership to create longer-term connections and said that compensating leaders had begun to address workload and retention among leaders.
Committee members and student representatives raised questions about access for commuter and remote students and about timing and scale of welcome programming. Presenters recommended continuing to solicit student preferences for how they receive information and to expand targeted programming for students who do not live on campus.
The committee did not take formal votes on the item; presenters said the work will continue through campus offices and student-affairs partnerships and invited further questions by email or subsequent committee updates.
