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Commuter Student Program in ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College: Final

Audrey Enz
CCHE 620: Access and Opportunity in Higher Education
Professor Jennifer Blaney
March 7th, 2023

Background and Literature

Targeted support for commuter students is essential to advancing equitable access to

opportunities within higher education. As a commuter student myself, I often felt that I was

missing pieces of academic, social, and future planning opportunities that my on-campus peers

were not. I remember on many occasions feeling that I was behind or missing out, or that my

transition to collegiate life was slower and lacking. I wished there were more opportunities to

engage with my peers, academic staff, and support staff, that were not later in the evenings or

housed within the campus dorms. Indeed, I was not alone in my feelings of isolation, as similar

patterns are documented within the higher education literature. In his (1984) study on commuter

and non-commuter students Pascarella found that living on campus (when controlled for

background characteristics of students) had a positive impact on students’ social integration,

which, in turn, predicted degree aspirations and satisfaction with school. More recently research

has pointed to students who commute may feel a lack of belonging and miss out on many of the

experiences of higher education that are outside of academics. Commuter students more often

than residential students, have outside responsibilities that do not allow for additional time spent

on campus and must balance their time and demands (Stalmirska 2022). Further, commuter
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students make up the majority of populations of institutions of higher education (IHE’s) of up to

85% (Horn & Nevill cited in Gianoutsos & Rosser 2014). Non-residential students are more

likely to be from families in low-economic standing, who have not been to college before or

have very little higher education experience and are Hispanic (Gianoutsos & Rosser).

Having a community-like relationship with your peers can be incredibly important to

ensure that students have access to information and resources that may otherwise not be

available. Students who feel disconnected from their community (or do not perceive to have one

at all) because they don’t have ample opportunities and spaces to foster relationships with their

peers and staff/faculty, have lower levels of satisfaction with their time in higher education

(Jacoby & Garland, 2004). Learning communities created within the class system such as cohort

based courses and small enrollment caps, as well as during normal school hours can help bridge

the gap that commuter students may have (Jacoby & Garland, 2004).

Program Objectives

Guided by the literature above, I propose a program aimed at ensuring that commuter

students who are enrolled in ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College will have access to all of

the same information and learning opportunities that on-campus housed students do. In addition

to faculty office hours, MLFTC faculty will be invited to spend time in a shared (and more

casual) environment during times when most commuter students report already being on campus.

There will also be a series of mini-events during the same timeframe that students report being

available, which will allow students to connect with their peers outside of their classrooms and

connect with student support staff whom they may not have time to see on a regular basis. In

their interviews of 14 commuter students, Stalmirska and Mellon received feedback that students

almost unanimously were not participating in extracurricular activities or meeting with faculty
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members outside of their normal class schedules due to other responsibilities and time

constraints. Students mentioned in their interviews that they felt that they were missing out, did

not feel like their experience was whole and one even mentioned that it felt more like a job they

had to keep up with (2022). The goal of this program is to help students have a more well

rounded experience where they don’t feel like they’re missing out as often.

This program will also involve additional outreach to commuter students whose academic

advisors have not met with at least once a semester to ensure that students are on track

academically, as well as give these students the opportunity to discuss any concerns they may

have and a chance to receive additional resources they may otherwise be unaware of. Gaining

feedback from students will present myself and colleagues with an opportunity to hear from our

students exactly what they are struggling with and work with them to ensure their retention,

satisfaction, and success. Dr. Shaun Harper caught my attention when he wrote about a student

Marques who was interviewed after being nominated for the National Black Male College

Achievement Study, and expressed his difficulties about being a commuter student. Harper wrote

that with the information the institution had on Marques’ situation, they would be completely at

fault if Marques did not complete his degree or was not retained from year to year (2007).

Program Assessment

In order to assess my program’s effectiveness, I would like to gather data on current

students who do not live on campus and see what percentage of students stay enrolled from

semester to semester and ultimately graduate. I will then continuously monitor this while my

program is running to see if there is any change in numbers. While seeing retention and

graduation numbers go up would be a wonderful win in my eyes, my focus will be on student

satisfaction and whether or not they feel engaged with faculty, staff, and their colleagues. Sign in
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sheets will be placed at all events and students will be tracked to see how often they participate.

This will assist with future planning in dates and times and will give a big picture of

participation. I will also evaluate this using student satisfaction surveys. These will be given to

students prior to the start of the program, while they are enrolled in the program, and after the

school year has been completed. I recognize that there may be missing information from students

not completing all three surveys but this data will be used in tandem with retention/graduation

data to help monitor where students are ending up after they’ve participated.

Conclusion and Future Directions

The program that I am proposing is to be directed at commuter students to help them find

a sense of community and have greater satisfaction in their college years. While the majority of

our student spaces are filled with students who do not live on campus, activities, events, and

resources often go unnoticed and unused by these students due to familial, time, and money

restraints. I want to close the gap between students who live on and off campus.

I hope to use the feedback and data from this event series to continue to work with

students who are underserved and underrepresented.

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References:

Gianoutsos, D., and Vicki Rosser. "Is there still a considerable difference? Comparing residential
and commuter student profile characteristics at a public, research, commuter university."
College Student Journal, vol. 48, no. 4, Dec. 2014, pp. 613+. Gale OneFile:
Contemporary
Women's Issues, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A398073352/CWI?u=asuniv&sid=bookmark-
CWI&xid=16ebb899. Accessed 16 Feb. 2023.

Harper, S. R. (2007). Using qualitative methods to assess student trajectories and college
impact. New Directions for Institutional Research, 2007(136), 55–68.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ir.231

Jacoby, B., & Garland, J. (2004). Strategies for enhancing commuter student success. Journal of
College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 6(1), 61–79.
https://doi.org/10.2190/567c-5tme-q8f4-8frg
Pascarella, E. T. (1984). Reassessing the effects of living on-campus versus commuting to
college: A causal modeling approach. The Review of Higher Education, 7(3), 247–260.
https://doi.org/10.1353/rhe.1984.0016

Stalmirska, A. M., & Mellon, V. (2022). “it feels like a job …” understanding commuter
students: Motivations, engagement, and learning experiences. Journal of Hospitality,
Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 30, 100368.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2021.100368