Colorado College Living Learning Communities AIMHO 2011 Amanda Hurst and Sara Rotunno

1. Colorado College Living Learning Communities AIMHO 2011 Amanda Hurst and Sara Rotunno How Do You Measure a Year in The Life?

2. Who Are We?Colorado College 4 year private college Liberal Arts Block Plan 3 year residential college 1500 student beds, 32 residential facilities

3. History of Living Learning Communities at Colorado College • Started in 2005 with a linked course • Practiced and reflected on civic skills and competencies • Combination of civic skill building, course requirement and community service placements

4. History of Living Learning Communities at Colorado College • For the first 3 years, focus groups and course evaluations measured learning • We found that the required course wasn’t working, and the LLC demanded too much student time • In 2009 CC hosted 21st Century Residential Housing Summit

6. Five Tenants • Community • Flexibility • Sustainability • Technology • Innovation

7. 2009-2010 Mathias Hall was redesigned with those Tenets and LLCs in mind

8. Living Learning Communities at Colorado College • In 2010, we re-launched and expanded the LLC Program in a co-curricular model • Staff as Program Coordinators • Student Leaders as Community Assistants • Learning Outcomes and Assessment at the forefront of our mind

9. Community Spaces Colorado College – Living Learning Communities

10.  LLC kitchen space Main Hallway  Colorado College – Living Learning Communities

11.  Expression Space Community Spaces Colorado College – Living Learning Communities

12. Our LLC Themes Grassroots Organizing: delving deeper into social issues, learning applicable tools for community change, and applying their knowledge on campus or in the local community. Global Living: a cross-cultural experience for students interested in broadening their understanding of world issues and cultures. Gender and Sexuality: focus on gender and sexuality as aspects of social identity that have a tremendous impact on the ways that communities and relationships develop. Spirit of Nonviolence: engages a small group of students in an integrated practice of spiritual disciplines, reflection and academic study of non-violence, and embodied response to ethical commitment.

13. Why Is CC Doing LLC’s • Civic Engagement • Building Community • Leadership and Teamwork • Connecting Classroom to Living Room

14. Types of Assessment • EBI (Educational Benchmarking Institute) • Community Assistant information • AAC&U (Assoc. of American Colleges and Universities)

15. EBI Assessments • Overall Residential Experience • LLCs • Grassroots LLC highest mean (5.92); Gender & Sexuality (5.87) • Learning Outcomes—Personal Interactions • Mathias • 4.36-5.28 • LLCs • 5.45-6.19

17. Now to measure a year in the life… • Pre- and Post-test with LLC participants and a control group of Mathias residents • Anecdotal and informal assessment from Program Coordinators, Community Assistants, and LLC Leadership Team • Projects based on themes

18. What our students learned… • Teamwork • Community Building • Potential humbling effect for perception of Civic Engagement competencies • Personal Leadership skills

19. What We Learned… • More qualitative data collection • Guided reflections • Interpersonal development skills • Teamwork, Community Building, Conflict management • Coding the end-of-year video • Work with Alums

20. Video Clips

21. What next… • Reassessing our assessment • More qualitative data collection • Involve more of the campus community • Faculty integration • Determine what themes are most relevant

22. So…How do YOU Measure a Year in the Life? Questions/Comments