1. The Influence of Commuter Status on College Students’ Organization Involvement and Identification With Their University Heather Diaz Environmental Analysis & Design School of Social Ecology UROP Symposium May 31, 2008

2. Rumor has it… UC Irvine is a commuter school.

3. Rumor has it… There’s nothing to do at UCI.

4. Rumor has it… Commuter students don’t really get involved.

5. Previous Research Usually the commuter participates very little in community affairs. The Effect of Commuting on Participation in Community Organizations. Alvin H. Schaff, 1952 Commuting students are those who live off-campus and are usually required to do so due to job requirements, cultural attachments, or social obligations. Encouraging Commuter Student Connectivity. Barbara D. Davis, 1999 Another problem experienced by commuter students is that it becomes easier for students to be involved in competing off-campus social roles. Academic Performance in College Town. Mark Delucchi, 1993

6. Research Question What differences are there between commuter and non-commuter students with respect to membership in campus organizations and involvement?

7. Hypotheses H1. Commuters (especially those who live the greatest distances away from the university campus) will experience a lower sense of commitment to campus involvements. H2. Commuters will exhibit lower levels of involvement with campus organizations as compared to their non-commuter counterparts.

8. Methods Survey Cognitive Maps Environmental Observations

9. Demographics Number of Valid Surveys 39 Number of Self-Identified Non-Commuters* 26 *-based on response to a two-option question Number of Self-Identified Commuters* 11 Average Age of Respondent 21 (Range from 18-33) Gender 21 female, 18 male

10. Commuter Status Do you live on-campus? If you live off-campus, do you consider yourself to be a commuter? -the discrepancy between the # of students who report living off campus but don’t consider themselves to be commuters could be explained several ways Yes No 1425 1126

11. Involvement Figure 1. Number of Organizations

12. Results Recoding Variables RoleOrg1RoleOrg2 RoleOrgARoleOrgB RoleOrgTime

13. Results Females Figure 2a. Role in Organizations

14. Results Males Figure 2b. Role in Organizations

15. Results RoleOrgTime Figure 3. Time Spent in Organizations

16. Cognitive Maps

17. Conclusions H1. Commuters (especially those who live the greatest distances away from the university campus) will experience a lower sense of commitment to campus involvements. H2. Commuters will exhibit lower levels of involvement with campus organizations as compared to their non-commuter counterparts. Inconclusive.

18. Survey Completion Definition of terms Data source Limitations

19. Future Research Sense of Community Commuter-Status Connectivity to Campus

20. Acknowledgements Dr. Daniel Stokols Dr. H.C. Clitheroe, Jr. Shalini Misra Dr. Valerie Jenness Social Ecology Honors Class