Living-learning Communities That Work: A Research-based Model for Design, Delivery, and Assessment

Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas is an associate professor in the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. Karen was the Principal Investigator for the National Study of Living-Learning Programs from 2001-2011, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Association of College and University Housing Officers International, the American College Personnel Association, and the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. In 2008, she guest edited a special issue on living-learning communities for the Journal of College and University Student Housing. Jody E. Jessup-Anger is associate professor of higher education and program coordinator of the Student Affairs in Higher Education master’s program at Marquette University. Jody has written several research articles exploring the effectiveness of living-learning communities, authored a chapter about theoretical foundations of learning communities in the New Directions for Student Services monograph, and co-led the Elon University Center for Engaged Learning’s research seminar on residential learning communities. Mimi Benjamin is assistant professor of Student Affairs in Higher Education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She is the editor of the 2015 New Directions for Student Services book Learning Communities from Start to Finish and served as co-leader for the Elon University Center for Engaged Learning’s 2017-2019 research seminar on residential learning communities. She was a resource faculty member at the National Learning Communities Summer Institute in 2016, and in 2011, Mimi was a guest co-editor for a special issue focused on faculty involvement in residence halls for the Journal of College and University Student Housing. Matthew R. Wawrzynski is associate professor in the Department of Educational Administration and coordinator of the Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education program and the Center for Higher and Adult Education at Michigan State University.