The state of mental health has become increasingly concerning, particularly with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging adulthood is a time of adjustment and growth, and for many youths this includes attending college. The transition to college often comes with significant challenges that impact student mental health. This study uses…

Religious, secular, and spiritual identities (RSSIs) are an important aspect of the complex experiences of students in higher education. Often dismissed or forgotten by higher education professionals, RSSIs have shifted drastically over the 20+ years since Love and Talbot first wrote about them in 1999. While scholarship on RSSIs has steadily…

Previous studies have demonstrated that using guided, targeted, reflections in service-learning (SL) courses can increase student engagement and learning. However, little research has been conducted on how these reflective models can be adapted for faith-based institutions to help students to better integrate faith into their learning experience,…

This study uses systems theory to explore relationships between individual, micro, meso, and macro factors and expected future religious practices of students studying at a Seventh-day Adventist university. The study operationalizes system theory in context of both public relations and spirituality. The primary purpose is to understand…

Incidents of religious intolerance and discrimination have become too familiar in American society, and today's college campuses are not immune to these incidents. Previous research has shown the negative influence of perceived hostile campus cultures on students' overall learning and development. This study investigated bachelor's degree-seeking…

This study's purpose was to assess social work practitioners' educational needs for developing spiritual/religious competencies with end-of-life care and grief. Competency levels and factors associated with educational courses and content on developing spiritual/religious competencies were identified. Data were collected in 2017 through an online…

Students who return from an immersion experience often report that it was "life-changing," but how do we know that students' lives have changed, especially when change is best measured several months or years after the immersion? Each year, 1.6 million Americans participate in short-term immersion experiences or missions outside the…

In consideration of a historic rift between religion and the sciences, particularly at the collegiate level, this study uses the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Study (IDEALS) to examine the role of college experiences in the development of a self-authored spiritual worldview as first-year STEM students transition to…

Management educators have been advised to cultivate their students' character. Yet they lack the instructional resources they need to do so. We were inspired by the principles and techniques of the Jewish spiritual practice of "Mussar" to put students on a personalized path of continuous character improvement. According to…

Institutions of faith can no longer assume students of faith, and institutions of faith can no longer assume that a survey of the Old and New Testaments in today's college curriculum will provide the necessary elements to develop, sustain, and nurture biblical literacy in students. Nor can it be assumed that this antiquated model will equip…

Little scholarship explores the attention to religious, spiritual, and secular identity in the graduate preparation of student affairs professionals. To address this gap, we undertook a phenomenological examination of the experiences of second-year graduate students in four elite master of education programs with respect to these identities. We…

This study examines the experiences of gay-identified college men related to their faith and sexual orientation identity development. The findings suggest that for gay-identified college men, faith and sexual orientation identity development includes examination of one's faith and sexual orientation identity, important relationships, and a desire…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between interfaith engagement and self-authored worldview commitment among 13,776 students enrolled at one of 52 institutions. Results indicated an association between formal and informal interfaith engagement and that this relationship was conditioned upon self-identified worldview.…

The purpose of this investigation was to gain a better understanding of the expectations graduate students hold regarding the amount of and types of faith-related activities utilized in online coursework. Two groups of participants surveyed were enrolled at two different, faith-based institutions in Pennsylvania, United States; one a Catholic…

Participating in religious services has many benefits for college and university students. In this study, I examined qualitative data provided by college students regarding what they value and gain by participating in religious services. While the 58 student participants resided on campus at the time of data collection, they attended off-campus…