Living Learning Communities

• Aerospace
• Deciding Students
• Diverse World, Diverse Arts
• First Year Experience
• Give me a Beat (Recording Industry Management)
• Global Learning Community
• Honors
• Music at Middle
• Nursing
• Pre Professional Programs: Pre Med, Pre Pharmacy, Pre Dental
• Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)

A variety of research studies conducted nationally have emphasized the unique potential of on-campus residential settings for positively impacting student success and retention. Studies clearly demonstrate the positive influence of living in residence halls upon freshman persistence, with one researcher concluding: "Even when controls were made for important precollege characteristics, such as academic aptitude, socioeconomic status, educational aspiration, and secondary school achievement, across several independent samples, living on campus still exerted a statistically significant positive influence on persistence and completion of the bachelor 's degree." Another study states the case even more strongly: "By far the most important environmental characteristic associated with college persistence is living in a dormitory during the freshman year." It has been estimated that living in a residence hall added approximately twelve percent to the student's chances of persisting through to graduation.

But what of not just persistence, but of student learning? Other studies demonstrate that living environments with the strongest impact on cognitive development and persistence are typically the result of purposeful, programmatic efforts to integrate students' intellectual and social lives during college. MTSU living-learning centers are especially designed to meet this goal of bringing academic programs and services into the residence halls.
 
Characterized by such academic support systems as residence based tutors, computer labs, and credit-bearing classes taught in residential classrooms, by the fall of 2011 nearly 1738 bed spaces-almost 60% of our space designated for single students-have been affiliated with either the Living-Learning programs like First Year Experience, Honors Living Learning Community, or academic major centered communities. Internet access is available for all individual rooms to further enhance the academic experience for students living in residence halls. Each of these initiatives is designed to meet MTSU's goal of creating a student-centered learning environment, one which creatively strives to provide programs and services that are more flexible and responsive to students. Residentially based programs that bring academic support services into the living environment, at hours and on schedules more realistic for students, offer exciting new possibilities for meeting student needs.

Aerospace Learning Communities
Freshmen Aerospace majors are invited to join the Aerospace Learning Community. This program is designed to build camaraderie and provide a support network for new Aerospace majors. The home for the Aerospace Learning Community is in two of our newly renovated areas, Cummings Hall and Monohan complex. To support students academically, all students living in the Aerospace learning community are encouraged to enroll in AERO 1010, Introduction to Aerospace. AERO 1010 is required of all Aerospace majors. The topics covered in this course include history of aerospace, opportunities in the field, fundamentals of flight, navigation, meteorology, and Federal Aviation Regulations. Upper-class Aerospace students are supported in Monohan where the focus is on academic connections and issues common to students scheduling flight labs.

Deciding Students
Space in Cummings Hall, one of our First Year Experience buildings, is devoted to students who are undeclared. Special resources and programs are provided to these students to help them choose an appropriate major. In the first year of the program over 60% of the students had declared a major by the end of the first semester. This is a great place to live with other students who are learning more about themselves and what the university has to offer.

Diverse World, Diverse Arts
The Diverse World, Diverse Arts Learning Community affords residents the opportunity to live among a diverse community of students interested in the arts and in integrating the arts into all aspects of the academic experience. Community members will have the opportunity to redefine their living and learning environments through participation in a variety of mixed-media artistic expressions, by helping to design and participate in programming highlighting the arts in the MTSU, Murfreesboro, and Middle Tennessee communities, and by participating in community service outreach activities. All students are invited to participate, but students in Dance, Theatre, Art, and Music form the core of the community.

First Year Experience
Corlew, Cummings, Smith, Beasley and Sims Halls are the home of MTSU's First Year Experience Program. Services and programs offered in these residence halls are geared toward first year students (29 college credit hours or less) and are designed to enhance students' academic success at MTSU. The First Year Experience Program offers a number of unique services for first-year students at MTSU, including lower division classes taught in the Corlew Hall, Cummings Hall or Smith Hall classrooms, trained Learning Community Advisors who live in the residence halls and provide tutoring services in the residence hall tutoring centers and special workshops and programs designed to assist students with their transition to MTSU.

Give Me a Beat (Recording Industry Management)
Freshmen RIM majors are invited to join the Learning Community designed specifically for them, Give Me a Beat. This program is designed to build camaraderie and provide a support network for new RIM majors. The home for the RIM Learning Community is in three of our First Year Experience Buildings, Smith, Beasley and Sims Halls. To support students academically, all students living in the Give Me a Beat community are encouraged to enroll in RIM 1020, Understanding Mass Media. RIM 1020 is required of all Recording Industry majors. The course analyzes the content and context of the American mass media to understand how they affect individuals and society. Community members also have the opportunity to take MATH 1710 and have access to a tutor. Math 1710 grades factor heavily into the candidacy formula for the RIM department.

Global Learning Community
The Global Learning Community (GLC) offers a unique residential experience for students with an interest in global affairs and is especially ideal for international students, study abroad returnees and/or those majoring in a field with an international component. The GLC accommodates thirty-eight (38) residents within a newly renovated house located on Rutherford Boulevard between MTSU Boulevard and Alumni Drive. The GLC offers male and female participants both single and shared accommodations on gender specific floors with gender specific community bathrooms. The GLC offers a community shared kitchen, living room, dining room, and group study room. Live-in Housing and Residential Life staff provide academic and social programming opportunities for community members with interaction among faculty and staff from various internationally related fields of study. Global Learning Community

Honors
The Lyon complex residence halls on the west side of campus are the home of MTSU's Honors Living and Learning Center. Application to this residence facility is limited to students who meet Honors program eligibility requirements. Students who live in the Honors Living and Learning center must also enroll in at least one Honors class (3 credit hours) each semester. Honors program participants living in the Lyon complex have access to special facilities designed to help them make the most of their on-campus experience, including use of a computer lab, access to special Honors College programs and advisement, and other important activities and services. The Lyon complex is located adjacent to the James Union Building. Students who live in these halls have the opportunity to interact with their professors outside of class, participate in Honors Department seminars, gain valuable leadership skills and fulfill mandatory service hours.

Music at Middle
All music majors are encouraged to become a part of this unique community open to music majors from audition to graduation! Musicians of all kinds find a place to come together in the beautiful Monohan complex. Living among students of similar interests, talents, and academic requirements, you will find support and camaraderie. Students will have access to faculty mentors and will have an opportunity to interact with visiting artists from a variety of disciplines. This community enables Music majors to integrate the academic, social and artistic aspects of their lives. This community also offers the unique experience of having a music faculty member living in the building in our Faculty in Residence program.

Nursing
We have a learning community for Nursing majors located in the Monohan complex. This program is dedicated to the success of students planning for careers in nursing. Living in this community will allow you to interact with other Nursing and science majors and members of the School of Nursing faculty in a meaningful and enriching way. We have a variety of both fun and educational activities planned for you.

Pre-Professional Programs: Pre-Med, Pre-Pharmacy, Pre-Dental
Initiated by the Academic Advisor of these programs, this learning community will support students in their pursuit of pre-professional majors in the health sciences. Preparing students for admission to professional school will be the special focus of this community. This community will be housed in Monohan where other learning communities for students in the sciences are also located in order to optimize the use of resources and interaction of students in these majors.

Women in Science and Engineering (WISE)
The residential home for the WISE learning community will be in Monohan. On the west side of campus, this community is close to the science and mathematics buildings and provides access to a 24 hour computer lab and study rooms on each floor. Students in the WISE learning community interact with faculty and professional women in their fields of study and have the opportunity to mentor junior high and high school girls interested in the sciences. WISE community members engage in a variety of science-related educational, service, and social activities.

 

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