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The present study utilized consensual qualitative research (Hill 2012) to investigate undergraduate students' sense of belongingness to their university. The analysis revealed four broad domains: (1) valued group involvement, (2) meaningful personal relationships, (3) environmental factors, and (4) intrapersonal factors. Within these domains, six general categories and eight typical categories emerged. The results highlight the importance for students to have opportunities to meaningfully connect with other peers/faculty, the availability of a myriad of campus organizations and groups, and universities to foster an environment of diversity. Implications for higher education personnel as well as directions for future research are discussed. AbstrakStudi kali ini menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif konsensual (Hill 2012) untuk mempelajari rasa memiliki mahasiswa S-1 terhadap universitasnya. Hasil analisis menunjukkan empat ranah luas: (1) keterlibatan kelompok yang bernilai, (2) hubungan personal yang bermakna, (3) faktor lingkungan, dan (4) faktor intrapersonal. Dalam ranah ini, muncul enam kategori umum dan 8 kategori khusus. Hasil studi menekankan pentingnya bagi mahasiswa memperoleh kesempatan membangun relasi bermakna dengan sesama mahasiswa atau dosen, adanya beragam jenis kelompok dan organis asi kampus, dan universitas yang mendorong kebhinekaan lingkungan. Studi ini juga membahas implikasi dan masukan bagi karyawan/pejabat pergurua n tinggi.Key Words: Belonging, Consensual Qualitative Research, Higher Education, Connectedness , Inclusivity College students across the country often struggle to stay committed to the college experience (Blustein et al. 2004). Retention rates for college students returning for a second year, after the completion of the first, are at a 20-year low (65 percent in 2013; ACT 2013). Further, approximately half of students that begin college will complete a bachelor's degree in five years or less (ACT 2013). Many students find themselves lost in the university environment and struggle to identify with their peers and the university culture. One construct that has received attention in trying to understand issues of retention in the college/university environment is belongingness (Baumeister and Leary 1995;Pittman and Richmond 2008). Belongingness has been researched by a wide variety of scholastic disciplines, utilizing many different terms, most notably: feelings of relatedness (Deci and Ryan 1985), and Tinto's (1988) model of college student retention.Researchers have theorized that underlying factors contributing to university belongingness include a sense of commitment to the institution, individual commitment to work in this setting, and a sense of one's abilities being recognized by others (Pittman and Richmond 2008). This suggests that students who feel a strong sense of school belonging are better able to adjust to academic life, experience lower levels of depressive symptoms, lower attrition rates, and better social adjustment as well as academic motivation (Goodenow...

Youth experiencing discomfort in educational settings find it difficult to engage and are often at risk for academic failure. Using consensual qualitative research (Hill, 2012), the authors examined students' perspectives on their own educational needs and concluded that humanistic counseling and educational tenets are strongly desired by at-risk youth.

College athletes across north America are often known on their respective college campuses for their athleticism, and spend a considerable amount of hours weekly engaging in their respective sport through practices, meetings, travelling and meals, to name a few. It is no wonder it is difficult for these students to feel fully engaged and connected on university campuses as students. Female college athletes in particular, who often are not athletes in revenue-generating sports, often feel left behind as students and isolated as athletes. The purpose of the current study was to examine female collegiate athletes’ experience with belonging in a university setting. This qualitative inquiry utilised consensual qualitative research to explore 14 female student athletes’ experience of belonging on a university campus. The results of the data analysis yielded the following domains or themes: athletic team culture, athletic department culture, campus support and involvement, female athlete identity, and individual athlete experience. The most salient finding was that these female athletes suggested that their sense of belonging on campus was almost exclusively related to their experience as an athlete and their athletic team.

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