The Other 100 Hours

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The Other 100 Hours

• How the outside-of-class experiences affect
• the spiritual life of college students
• by Jane Thayer
• A presentation at the annual conference of
  Adventist Student Personnel Association
• Union College, Lincoln, Nebraska
• March 1, 2006

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Time as a Resource

• 168 hours in a week
• 48 hours in class and studying
• 10-20 hours working
• 68 hours locked in
• What is happening the other 100 hours?

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Its All About Involvement

• Involvement is a measure of the amount of time
  and physical and psychological energy that the
  student invests in the learning process.
• --A. Astin (1975, 1977, 1984 )

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Domains of Human Learning

• Cognitive
• Psychomotor
• Affective

Knowledge, Beliefs, Critical thinking Skills,
Behaviors Values, Attitudes, Commitments
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Difference in Language

• Faculty Student Learning
• Student Affairs professionals student
  development

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• Which domains comprise a college education?
• If higher education is really about cognitive
  and affective outcomes then student affairs has
  a central part to play in educating the
  student. A. Astin
• Involvement in Learning Revisited,
  Journal of College Student Development,
• Sept / Oct, 1999, 588.

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Out of Class Learning

• Interviews with Wellesley alumnae indicate that
  critical experiences in college . . . the things
  that changed students lives . . . they tend to
  be more outside the classroom than in, informal
  rather than formal.
• Marchese, quoted in Kuh, et al., Involving
  Colleges,
• p. 336, 1991.

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Out of Class Activities

• The only factor predictive of adult success is
  participation in out of class activities.
• --George Kuh et al., Involving Colleges, p. 9,
  1991

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Outline of the Presentation

• What does research tell us about the spiritual
  life of college students?
• What is the context in which we are trying to
  foster spiritual growth?
• What are the young adult developmental tasks
  that provide teachable moments?
• Establishing identity
• Finding meaning
• Finding intimacy
• Choosing a vocation

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Spiritual Life of College Students

• A national study of college students search for
  meaning and purpose

By Higher Education Research Institute UCLA
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Indicators of Entering Students Spirituality

• Indicator Percent
• Believe in the sacredness of life 83
• Have an interest in spirituality 80
• Search for meaning / purpose in life 76
• Have discussions about the meaning of life with
  friends 74
• My spirituality is a source of joy 64
• Seek out opportunities to help me grow
  spiritually 47
• Describes students to some or a great extent
• Agree strongly or somewhat
• Consider it essential or very important

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Indicators of Entering Students Religiousness

• Indicator Percent
• Believe in God 79
• Pray 69
• Attended religious services 81
• Discussed religion / spirituality with
  friends 80
• Discussed religion / spirituality with
  family 76
• Religious beliefs provide strength, support, and
  guidance 69
• Follow religious teachings in everyday life 40
  
• Describes students to some or a great extent
• Agree strongly or somewhat
• Consider it essential or very important

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Social Views of Students

• Religious Engagement Spirituality
• High Low High Low
• Abortion legal 23 77 33 72
• Same Sex Marriage 28 76 39 71
• Laws against Homosexuality 53 16 44
  20
• Sex OK if you like the person 15 67
  22 65

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Differences by Religious Preference

• Cluster One
• Mormons
• Seventh-day Adventists
• Baptists
• Other Christians

• Cluster Two
• Unitarians
• Episcopalians
• Eastern Orthodox
• Jewish students
• Buddhists
• Hindus

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Characteristics of the Two Clusters

• Cluster One
• Strongly Spiritual
• Strongly Religious
• Religiously / Socially Conservative
• Very little religious skepticism

• Cluster Two
• Low on religiousness
• High on religious skepticism
• High on ecumenical worldview
• High on caring
• High on charitable involvement

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Adventist Students Compared to Others

• Adventist Mormons Others
• High Spirituality 36 56 17
• Compassionate Self-Concept 35 33
  30

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Characteristics of Adventist Students

• Religious Engagement High
• Spiritual Quest High
• Religion / Social Conservatism Average
• Religious Skepticism Low

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Current Views about Spiritual / Religious Matters
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Study by Dr. Steve Henderson

• Data from HERI
• UCLA
• 16,000 Students 133 Colleges
• www.christianconsulting.net

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Differences by Type of College

• Drop in Church Attendance
• Church College Secular College
• X 4 Times Greater
• Drop in Prayer Meditation
• Church College Secular College
• X 7 Times Greater
• Overall Drop in Spirituality
• Church College Secular College
• X 15 Times Greater
• Increase in Overall Religious Commitment
• Church College Secular College
• 5 Times Increase X

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Hendersons Conclusions

1. First year is the most critical for setting the
   course of ones religious commitment in college.
2. Findings on type of college is in direct conflict
   with those who say that Christian kids should
   become salt and light in non-Christian colleges.
3. The single most important thing to maintain or
   increase religious commitment student should
   get involved with a local Christian Fellowship.

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Hendersons Advice to Students

• Read How to Stay Christian in College
• by J. Budziszewski

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Quote from a Female College Student

• I guess what I really mean is college is like
  this four-year period you have when you can try
  anythingeverythingand if it goes wrong, theres
  no consequences. You know what I mean? Nobodys
  keeping score! You can do things that if you
  tried them before you got to college, your family
  would be crying and pulling their hair out and
  giving you these now-see-what-youve-gone-and-done
  looks? . . . . College is the only time in your
  life, or your adult life anyway, when you can
  really experiment, and at a certain point, when
  you graduate or whatever, everybodys memory like
  evaporates.
• From a book by Tom Wolfe.

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Quote from a Campus Chaplain

• Never before in the human life cycle (and never
  again) is there the same developmental readiness
  for asking big questions and forming worthy
  dreams. In every generation, the renewal of
  human life is dependent in significant measure
  upon the questions that are posed to us during
  this era in our meaning-making.
• Sharon Parks in Big Questions, Worthy Dreams,
  2000, p. 103

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Developmental Tasks

• What are the young adult developmental tasks
  that provide teachable moments?
• Establishing identity
• Finding meaning
• Finding intimacy
• Choosing a vocation

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Establishing Identity

• Who am I?
• Who does God think I am?
• Who am I in relation to God to others?

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If you have come to Calvin College so you wont
have to wrestle with Nietzsche or worry about
evolution, youve come to the wrong school. You
cant rise with Christ unless youve died with
him first, and that means enduring some dark
nights of the soul. Cornelius Plantinga Jr. in
Engaging Gods World A Reformed Vision of Faith,
Learning, and Living, p. 127, 2002
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(No Transcript)
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Challenge and Support
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The Identity God Gives Students

• An identity grounded in God would mean that when
  we think of who we are, the first thing that
  would come to mind is our status as someone who
  is deeply loved by God.
• David G. Benner in The Gift of Being Yourself,
  p. 49, 2004

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Transformation Through Love

• "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may
  strengthen you with power through his Spirit in
  your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in
  your hearts through faith. And I pray that you,
  being rooted and established in love, may have
  power, together with all the saints, to grasp how
  wide and long and high and deep is the love of
  Christ, and to know this love that surpasses
  knowledgethat you may be filled to the measure
  of all the fullness of God." Ephesians
  316-19

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Finding Meaning

• What is the purpose of life?
• How did the universe begin?
• Why is suffering so pervasive?
• Etc.

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Shipwrecked Faith

• Sometimes they simply encounter someone, or
  some new experience or idea, that calls into
  question things as they have perceived them, or
  as they were taught to them, or as they had
  read, heard, or assumed. This kind of experience
  can suddenly rip into the fabric of life, or it
  may slowly yet just as surely unravel the
  meanings that have served as the home of the
  soul.
• Sharon Parks in Big Questions, Worthy Dreams,
  p. 28, 2000.

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Big Enough Questions

• What should I do with my life?
• How can I know Gods will?
• Who do I really want to become?
• How do I work toward something when I dont even
  know what it is?
• Am I loveable?
• Who will be there for me?

• What is the meaning of money? How much is
  enough?
• Am I wasting time Ill regret later?
• How have I been wounded? Will I ever really
  heal?
• Do I want to bring children into the world?
• Why is there a growing gap between the haves and
  have-nots?

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Finding Intimacy

• Will I find a marriage partner? If not, who will
  be my close friends?
• Where can I fit in?
• Who will be there for me?

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Subcommunities on Campus

• Residence halls Total
• Residence halls RAs domain
• Student organizations
• Campus ministries

• Sports teams
• Mentoring relationships
• Chapels (whole school)
• Church

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Choosing a Vocation

• What should I do with my life?
• Have I chosen the right major?
• What is Gods will for my life?

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Andrews University Mission Statement

• To consider vocation as a calling
• To prepare for a meaningful position in the work
  place.

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Theological Base for Vocation

• There is not a square inch in the whole domain
  of our human existence over which Christ, who is
  Sovereign over all, does not cry Mine!
• --Abraham Kuyper (1837-1920)

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A Dream A Community

• A Dream
• Help them to identify their calling. Give them a
  vision of how they can partner with God in his
  work of redemption and restoration.
• A Community
• Give them the challenge and support they need for
  growth. Provide the loving, safe community for
  this growth.

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The Other 100 Hours

• Build the time you have them around their
  developmental tasks and interests
• Establishing identity
• Finding meaning
• Finding intimacy
• Choosing a vocation