Table Of ContentCite as:
Schreiner, L. A., Louis, M. C., & Nelson, D. D. (Eds.). (2020). Thriving in transitions: A research-based approach
to college student success (2nd ed.). University of South Carolina, National Resource Center for The First-Year
Experience & Students in Transition.
Copyright © 2020 University of South Carolina. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be
reproduced or copied in any form, by any means, without written permission of the University of South
Carolina.
ISBN: 978-1-942072-46-1
ISBN (ePub): 978-1-942072-47-8
ISBN (eBrary): 978-1-942072-48-5
Published by:
National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience® and Students in Transition
University of South Carolina
1728 College Street, Columbia, SC 29208
www.sc.edu/fye
The First-Year Experience® is a service mark of the University of South Carolina. A license may be granted
upon written request to use the term “The First-Year Experience.” This license is not transferable without
written approval of the University of South Carolina.
Production Staff for the National Resource Center:
Project Manager: Tracy L. Skipper, Assistant Director for Publications
Design and Production: Stephanie L. McFerrin, Graphic Artist
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schreiner, Laurie A., editor. | Louis, Michelle C., editor. |
Nelson, Denise D., editor. | National Resource Center for the First-Year
Experience & Students in Transition (University of South Carolina),
issuing body.
Title: Thriving in transitions : a research-based approach to college
student success / Laurie A. Schreiner, Michelle C. Louis, and Denise D.
Nelson, editors.
Description: 2nd edition. | Columbia, SC : National Resource Center for The
First-Year Experience & Students in Transition, 2020. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020021796 (print) | LCCN 2020021797 (ebook) | ISBN
9781942072461 (paperback) | ISBN 9781942072478 (ebk) | ISBN
9781942072485 (ebook other)
Subjects: LCSH: College freshmen--United States. | Transfer
students--United States. | Student adjustment--United States.
Classification: LCC LB2343.32 .T47 2020 (print) | LCC LB2343.32 (ebook) |
DDC 378.1/980973--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020021796
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020021797
ii
About the Publisher
The National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition was
born out of the success of University of South Carolina’s much-honored University 101 course
and a series of annual conferences focused on the freshman year experience. The momentum
created by the educators attending these early conferences paved the way for the development of the
National Resource Center, which was established at the University of South Carolina in 1986. As
the National Resource Center broadened its focus to include other significant student transitions
in higher education, it underwent several name changes, adopting the National Resource Center
for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition in 1998.
Today, the National Resource Center collaborates with its institutional partner, University 101
Programs, in pursuit of its mission to advance and support efforts to improve student learning and
transitions into and through higher education. We achieve this mission by providing opportunities
for the exchange of practical and scholarly information as well as the discussion of trends and issues in
our field through convening conferences and other professional development events such as institutes,
workshops, and online learning opportunities; publishing scholarly practice books, research reports, a
peer-reviewed journal, electronic newsletters, and guides; generating, supporting, and disseminating
research and scholarship; hosting visiting scholars; and maintaining several online channels for
resource sharing and communication, including a website, listservs, and social media outlets.
The National Resource Center is the trusted expert, internationally recognized leader, and
clearinghouse for scholarship, policy, and best practice for all postsecondary student transitions.
Institutional Home
The National Resource Center is located at the University of South Carolina’s (UofSC) flagship
campus in Columbia. Chartered in 1801, UofSC Columbia’s mission is twofold: to establish and
maintain excellence in its student population, faculty, academic programs, living and learning
environment, technological infrastructure, library resources, research and scholarship, public and
private support and endowment; and to enhance the industrial, economic, and cultural potential of
the state. The Columbia campus offers 324 degree programs through its 15 degree-granting colleges
and schools. In fiscal year 2019, faculty generated $279 million in funding for research, outreach and
training programs. South Carolina is one of only 32 public universities receiving both Research and
Community Engagement designations from the Carnegie Foundation.
iii
CONTENTS
Tables and Figures ......................................................................................................................................vii
Preface ...................................................................................................................................................................ix
Laurie A. Schreiner, Michelle C. Louis, and Denise D. Nelson
Introduction .......................................................................................................................................................1
A New View of Student Success
Jillian Kinzie
Chapter 1 ............................................................................................................................................................17
From Surviving to Thriving During Transitions
Laurie A. Schreiner
Chapter 2 ...........................................................................................................................................................33
A Strengths Development Model for Enhancing College Student Thriving
Michelle C. Louis and Laurie A. Schreiner
Chapter 3 ...........................................................................................................................................................53
Thriving From the Start: Equipping Students for Success in the First Year
Denise D. Nelson, Deb Vetter, and Matthew K. Vetter
Chapter 4 ...........................................................................................................................................................79
Thriving and Students of Color: Daily Transitions on Predominantly
White Campuses
Kristin Paredes-Collins and Eric J. McIntosh
Chapter 5 ...........................................................................................................................................................97
Thriving in High-Risk Students
Rishi Sriram and Jennifer Tharp
Thriving in Transitions
Chapter 6 ........................................................................................................................................................129
Beyond Sophomore Survival
Laurie A. Schreiner, Tamera Pullins, and Eric J. McIntosh
Chapter 7 ........................................................................................................................................................153
Maximizing Transfer: Thriving on a New Campus
Eric J. McIntosh and Denise D. Nelson
Chapter 8 .........................................................................................................................................................171
Thriving in the Senior-Year Transition
Michelle C. Louis and Eileen Hulme
Chapter 9 .........................................................................................................................................................193
The Role of Faculty in College Student Thriving
Laurie A. Schreiner, Tami K. Martinez, Jennifer Drumm, and Crystal Keetch
Chapter 10 ......................................................................................................................................................211
Recommendations to Promote Thriving in Transitions
Laurie A. Schreiner, Denise D. Nelson, and Michelle C. Louis
Index ...................................................................................................................................................................219
About the Authors ....................................................................................................................................235
vi
TABLES AND
FIGURES
Tables
Table 3.1 Characteristics of the First-Year Student Sample .......................................................60
Table 3.2 Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis of Predictors of
Thriving Scales and Overall Thriving ................................................................................62
Table 5.1 Study 1 Participant Demographics ..................................................................................104
Table 5.2 Descriptive Statistics for Variables: First-Semester Grades Regression . ..105
Table 5.3 Descriptive Statistics for Variables: Intent to Persist Regression ..................106
Table 5.4 Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses:
First-Semester Grades ...............................................................................................................108
Table 5.5 Summary of Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analyses:
Intent to Persist . ...............................................................................................................................110
Table 5.6 Study 2 Participant Demographics ...................................................................................114
Table 5.7 Multivariate Analysis of Covariance of Posttest Academic Effort
as a Function of Growth Mindset Treatment Condition ..................................116
Table 6.1 Demographic Characteristics of the Student Sample .........................................135
Table 6.2 Summary of Logistic Regression Analysis Predicting Persistence:
Specific Satisfaction Model ...................................................................................................137
Table 7.1 Demographic Information of the Transfer Study Participants .....................158
Figures
Figure 1.1 Construct of Thriving as Represented in the Thriving Quotient ....................22
Figure 6.1 Structural Equation Model of Sophomore Thriving ............................................140
Figure 9.1 Structural Regression Model of Thriving for Students of Color ...................196
PREFACE
Laurie A. Schreiner, Michelle C. Louis, and Denise D. Nelson
Higher education is at a critical juncture. Faced with unprecedented economic hardships,
increased demands for accountability, and challenges from students, families, and the public
to demonstrate the value of a college education, we must find new ways of helping students
succeed not only in college, but in life. The strides that have been made in access to college
have not translated to equivalent rates of success, as only 60% of college students who pursue
a bachelor’s degree graduate within six years (National Center for Education Statistics,
2019). Disparities in graduation rates, academic success, and psychological well-being
across ethnic groups on campus (Bowman, 2010) underscore that traditional approaches
to helping students succeed are not working—at least not for all students.
The traditional perspectives that define student success as strong grades and timely
graduation are open to question, as practitioners and researchers acknowledge that there
is more to the college experience than the classroom and commencement (Kuh et al.,
2010). Engaging fully in that experience and benefiting most meaningfully from a college
education involves potentially life-changing decisions, relationships, emotional reactions,
social interactions, and psychological responses that transcend the behaviors measured by
GPA and graduation rates.
When this book was first written eight years ago, we presented thriving as a new concept
that provided an expanded vision for student success. The very word thriving implies that
success involves more than surviving a four-year academic obstacle course. Students who
thrive are vitally engaged in the college endeavor—intellectually, socially, and psychologically.
They are investing effort within the classroom and managing their lives well beyond it.
Thriving students are also goal-oriented, applying their strengths to address the academic
challenges they face. When they are thriving, students are connected to others in healthy
and meaningful ways, and they desire to make a difference in the world around them. They
also see the world differently: Equipped with a positive perspective on life, they are secure
in the present and confident of the future.
Thriving is not a personality trait. Because it is comprised of psychosocial characteristics
that are changeable within a person, interventions and environmental situations can make
a difference. Thriving students are those who are able to experience life’s transitions as
ix
