Rethinking Sense of Belonging After the Pandemic: The Perspectives of Senior Housing Directors

Creating a sense of community and belonging for students is a desired outcome for residence life staff. This qualitative study explored how campus housing directors defined a sense of belonging and how they implemented curriculum, programs, and services to enhance residents’ sense of connection and community. Utilizing semi-structured interviews, we found that, for 10 senior housing directors, belonging was a significant outcome of community building, choice of space design, and housing live-on requirements and that this sense of belonging mattered greatly in creating community and changing staffing patterns. We offer implications for staff attempting to create, establish, and maintain community and students’ sense of belonging.