Four Environmental Perspectives In College Environments

It is vital to the student affairs profession that we understand how to assess and implement the four environmental perspectives in college environments. These perspectives, which are physical, human aggregate, constructed, and organizational, can give us the necessary tools and ideas to support first generation students in a public, research based four-year institution. In order for first generation students to succeed at a public four-year institution they need outreach, resources, meaningful structures, and influential college climate. I believe it is important to take all four perspectives into consideration when critically thinking of intentional programming to reduce the impact of partying. Through the history of higher education and assessment of these perspectives we can gain new insights and make new efforts to reduce the impact of partying on first generation students. Historically, higher education opportunities didn’t expand to minorities until the G.I. Bill was put into effect. This was a pivotal moment for people that were not white males because minorities could now be seen and considered for higher education. The G.I. Bill promoted growth in veteran support that also opened doors to

Human aggregate is based on the idea that the environment of the institution is based off the characteristics of the people that are involved in the environment (Strange, 2015). Human Aggregate perspective has many theories that are based off certain student personality types within the university setting, and how this effects a high or low differentiate campus, and what that does to those environments on campus (Strange, 2015). The higher degree of satisfaction to a person’s congruence with their environments promotes growth in their strengths, likability of the campus, and higher retention (Strange,