ABSTRACT
Theories focusing on college students have grown in number and have become well defined and differentiated in recent years (Bilodeau & Renn, 2005; Ferdman & Gallegos, 2001; Kerwin & Ponterotto, 1995; Kim, 2001; Mayhew, 2004; Ortiz & Rhoads, 2000). Nevertheless, in student affairs literature authors describe the difficulties of linking day-to-day issues on a college campus to theory and the related research to practice (Bensimon, 2007; Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn, 2010; Hurtado, 2007; Love & Guthrie, 1999; Pope, Reynolds, & Mueller, 2004; Torres, Howard-Hamilton, & Cooper, 2003; Upcraft, 1998). This remains true despite an explosion of knowledge about student development, campus environments, organizations, and characteristics of diverse college students. While these are all requisite components in the education of student affairs workers (Komives, 1998; McEwen & Talbot, 1998), professionals also require practice applying this newly acquired knowledge to the reality of a college campus.
