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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...

With the rise of Asian international students choosing to pursue higher education in the United States, research that identifies ways to promote Asian international students' sense of belonging on campus is needed. We used consensual qualitative research methodology to examine factors that contribute to university belonging in a sample of Asian international students (N = 11) from a large university in the Midwestern United States. Through data analysis, we identified 14 categories across five domains (i.e., Interpersonal Interactions, Experiences of Acculturation, Campus Environment, Emphasis on Academic Achievement, and Intrapersonal Factors) that contributed to university belonging. Our findings highlight the importance of within-group social connection, acculturative stress, and academic success on Asian international students' sense of university belonging. We discuss differences between Asian international and domestic students' sense of belonging as well as implications for counseling psychologists, including interventions at the individual and institutional levels.

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.

Defined as the faulty assumptions about and general dislike of heavy individuals, antifat attitudes are pervasive and pose numerous consequences for the health of people who are overweight. Despite the continual rise of obesity rates in the United States, there is a paucity of research examining the underlying psychosocial factors associated with antifat attitudes. This study used hierarchical regression to examine the unique contributions of weight and health locus of control and social dominance orientation to antifat attitudes in a mixed sample (N = 630) of community members and college students after controlling for fear of becoming overweight and belief in the controllability of weight. Results revealed that health locus of control and social dominance orientation contributed uniquely and positively to antifat attitudes, with the complete model explaining 24% of the variance. Based on these results and previous literature, implications for practice and research are discussed.