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Commuter students are believed to lack academic engagement because they do not 'stick around' on campus, but narratives of student belonging as tied to campus presence were challenged by emergency remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper reports on a longitudinal project on geographical, cultural and emotional dimensions of student practices of learning in an English widening participation university. We use theories of student belonging and mobilities as thinking tools to understand the relationships between students, spaces and learning practices in constructing fluid understandings of academic identity for commuting and residential students. Between 2016 and 2021, 28 students were interviewed. Geographical and cultural distance from university, but closeness to family or the domestic duties of home, affected commuter student practices of learning differently before and during emergency remote learning. When distance was enforced, remote learning was not necessarily easier for commuters, who had complex responses to losing social interaction. By rethinking how the benefits of being physically on campus are conceptualised and communicated, and how commuter identity is shaped by continuing interactions across home, digital, travel and campus spaces, we argue that commuter students' multiple experiences should inform the post-pandemic university. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When attending predominately residential universities, commuter students are the minority and typically have poorer outcomes than residential peers. Research demonstrates commuter students identify factors impacting on their persistence and success, include time taken to commute, lack of social integration and a poor sense of belonging. In contrast, most students studying in UK college higher education are commuter students. They are already embedded in local communities, with their family and friends outside of university, and have a different sense of university belonging. Data collected during 13 online focus groups over six months explored college higher education commuter students' sense of belonging and persistence. Reflexive thematic analysis identified that in contrast to the much-researched notion of belonging being important to students' persistence, in this group of non-traditional commuter students, the notion of mattering was more important. Students spoke about how college higher education staff, particularly their personal tutors, demonstrated students mattered, and this feeling was reciprocated. Feeling like they mattered helped them to engage with learning and persist with their studies. This paper offers insight for higher education providers with high proportions of commuter students, and recommendations about how providers can foster mattering in their students to develop their persistence and success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses evidence that developing a sense of belonging for students from different ethnic groups impacts on their engagement. It notes previous findings that in universities habits of coexistence may present barriers to the development of relationships and the sense of student belonging. The paper proposes that cosmopolitan engagement offers a frame for considering the experience of cultural difference in the classroom. It stresses the importance of relationality and communication. The research, involving students undertaking business and science programmes in two culturally similar universities, has sought to develop a better understanding of how students in London engage with higher education, with their learning and with cultural others, and the impact on their learning of differing communication patterns. The study finds that students often feel distant from their tutors and afraid to ask for further explanation. Instead, they rely on a circle of friends to provide support and clarification. Students have identified the development of agency through engaging with others from different cultures. Engagement in practical collective tasks such as forensic lab work seems to have the potential to encourage communication across cultures, but observation have suggested that students tend to self-segregate. The article concludes that there cannot be a presumption of cosmopolitan engagement. Rather universities need to develop strategies for improving communication between students and staff and between students of different cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, our cross-case analysis of students' lives challenges the conventional home-university model of transition and highlights the importance of acknowledging the influence of this complex symbiotic relationship for students who attend university and live at home. We argue that as with stay-at-home holidays, or 'staycations', which are of such crucial importance to the tourism industry, so stay-at-home students or commuter students are vital to higher education and the term utilised here is 'stayeducation'. Through the narratives of 'stayeducation' students, we see how family and community aspects of students' lives are far more significant than previously realised, and our study suggests that these heavily influence the development of a student sense of belonging. Drawing upon biographical narrative method, this paper introduces three first-year Business and Economics students enrolled at different universities in London and explores their journeys through their transition through home, school and early university life. Ways in which key themes play out in the transition stories of our students and the challenges and obstacles for the individual are drawn out through the cross-case analysis. Findings support the existing literature around gender, class and identity; however, new insights into the importance, for these students, of family, friendships and community are presented. Our work has implications for academic staff, those writing institutional policies, and argues for the creation of different spaces within which students can integrate into their new environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Union Member States are called upon to meet internationally proposed environmental goals. This study is based, in particular, on the recommendation of the European Union (EU), which encourages Member States to pursue effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, including through appropriate changes in the behavioral habits of citizens. In this respect, among the main sectors involved, transport and mobility should certainly be mentioned. National institutions should be adequately involved in order to achieve the objectives set; in this regard, universities must certainly be considered for their educational value. These latter, for instance, could commit to improving the environmental performance of the mobility of their commuter students (to a not insignificant extent), since commuting modes are often the cause of high CO2 emissions; indeed, they still largely involve the use of internal combustion engines based on fossil fuels. In this paper, the effectiveness of a smartphone-app-based method to encourage commuter students to adopt more sustainable transport modes is evaluated. In more detail, starting from a statistical analysis of the status quo of mobility habits of a sample of students at the University of Palermo (Italy), an improvement of current habits toward a more sustainable path is encouraged through a new application (specifically created for this purpose) installed on students' smartphones. Then, the daily and annual distances traveled by commuters with the new mobility modes are calculated, and the resulting savings in energy and CO2 emissions are estimated. Finally, it is proposed that the reduced emissions could be converted into energy-efficiency credits that the University could use to enter the emission trading system (ETS), here contextualized within the Italian "TEE" ("Energy Efficiency Credits") scheme, while the benefits for students participating in the program could consist of reduced fees and free access to university services. The results obtained show the feasibility of the proposal. This approach can be considered a useful model that could be adopted by any other public institutions—not only universities—to facilitate their path toward decarbonization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses evidence that developing a sense of belonging for students from different ethnic groups impacts on their engagement. It notes previous findings that in universities habits of coexistence may present barriers to the development of relationships and the sense of student belonging. The paper proposes that cosmopolitan engagement offers a frame for considering the experience of cultural difference in the classroom. It stresses the importance of relationality and communication. The research, involving students undertaking business and science programmes in two culturally similar universities, has sought to develop a better understanding of how students in London engage with higher education, with their learning and with cultural others, and the impact on their learning of differing communication patterns. The study finds that students often feel distant from their tutors and afraid to ask for further explanation. Instead, they rely on a circle of friends to provide support and clarification. Students have identified the development of agency through engaging with others from different cultures. Engagement in practical collective tasks such as forensic lab work seems to have the potential to encourage communication across cultures, but observation have suggested that students tend to self-segregate. The article concludes that there cannot be a presumption of cosmopolitan engagement. Rather universities need to develop strategies for improving communication between students and staff and between students of different cultural backgrounds.

The aim of this research work is to find out a relation between the class attendance of the Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech.) students and their academic attainment in face-to-face lectures and in labs. In addition, a survey has been conducted to know the issues faced by the students about partially compulsory attendance policy. Findings of this survey suggest that prerequisites may be taught online, timetable should not have long gaps between the classes, commuting is a big hindrance for attendance, and asynchronous lectures should compensate the attendance. The results clearly indicate that students' attendance has a direct relation with their academic attainment. This, presumably the first of its kind study in Indian context, will surely help academic administrators to frame academic policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To increase our students' access to study abroad opportunities, a full semester course was designed that embedded a study abroad trip to Belize during spring break. The course fulfills both an upper level science course for both biology and biotechnology majors and an elective course for the Global Studies minor. Ten students enrolled in the course, and students' financial aid packages covered all or partial cost of the trip for seven students. The students were divided into four groups to study the coral reef, mangrove forest, and either the rain forest of Belmopan or Punta Gorda. Guest speakers came to class prior to the trip and provided information on the flora, fauna, and marine ecosystems of Central America. In Belize, students completed a research experience, learned about Mayan and Garifuna culture, and traveled extensively within the country. In addition to learning about the ecosystems and culture of Belize, many stated they learned more about themselves and felt more prepared to step out of their comfort zones to travel internationally again. After this positive learning experience all students agreed that they would recommend the course to a friend. The students wrote blogs and presented their research findings in poster and video format at the Undergraduate Research Conference (URC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Union Member States are called upon to meet internationally proposed environmental goals. This study is based, in particular, on the recommendation of the European Union (EU), which encourages Member States to pursue effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions, including through appropriate changes in the behavioral habits of citizens. In this respect, among the main sectors involved, transport and mobility should certainly be mentioned. National institutions should be adequately involved in order to achieve the objectives set; in this regard, universities must certainly be considered for their educational value. These latter, for instance, could commit to improving the environmental performance of the mobility of their commuter students (to a not insignificant extent), since commuting modes are often the cause of high CO2 emissions; indeed, they still largely involve the use of internal combustion engines based on fossil fuels. In this paper, the effectiveness of a smartphone-app-based method to encourage commuter students to adopt more sustainable transport modes is evaluated. In more detail, starting from a statistical analysis of the status quo of mobility habits of a sample of students at the University of Palermo (Italy), an improvement of current habits toward a more sustainable path is encouraged through a new application (specifically created for this purpose) installed on students’ smartphones. Then, the daily and annual distances traveled by commuters with the new mobility modes are calculated, and the resulting savings in energy and CO2 emissions are estimated. Finally, it is proposed that the reduced emissions could be converted into energy-efficiency credits that the University could use to enter the emission trading system (ETS), here contextualized within the Italian “TEE” (“Energy Efficiency Credits”) scheme, while the benefits for students participating in the program could consist of reduced fees and free access to university services. The results obtained show the feasibility of the proposal. This approach can be considered a useful model that could be adopted by any other public institutions—not only universities—to facilitate their path toward decarbonization.

This article is about improving student retention and success to achieve excellent outcomes for all students. It draws on research undertaken by the author about student engagement and belonging; differential engagement and success, with a particular focus on commuter students, who experience intersectional disadvantage; and the development of a whole institution approach (WIA) to widening participation and student success. The research has been undertaken in England, and is situated within this policy context, in particular two national policy tools: Access and Participation Plans (APP) and the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF), which all higher education providers are required to engage with if they wish to charge fees above certain thresholds. The article demonstrates how in England both the policy framework and higher education institutions are working towards a system-wide approach to achieve excellent outcomes for all students, irrespective of their background or circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]