New Living Learning Communities on campus

As part of continual enhancements to the residence experience, McMaster Housing and Conference Services (HCS) has introduced six new Living Learning Communities (LLCs) for incoming students. Now with a total of 11 themed communities from Outdoor Leadership to eSports and Gaming, residence students will now have more options when it comes to choosing a themed community that resonates with their academic and social interests.

LLCs were introduced to enhance and extend students’ residence experience by having the option to live in a designated community with programming derived from that LLC’s learning outcomes. Since the implementation of LLCs in 2012, students who participate in LLCs have indicated that they learn more from their residence experience and are more satisfied with their overall first-year residence experience than students who do not.

For the 2016-2017 school year, over one third of students in residence applied to be in an LLC, which demonstrated the need to expand the existing ones. The existing LLC groups were revamped from previous years with the help of stakeholder consultation in order to create more excitement about the previous LLCs. Stakeholders for this project included first year students, Residence Life staff, faculty members, as well as the President’s Office. Also taken into account were a number of unique McMaster priorities and opportunities when developing the new themes, including McMaster’s focus on community engagement and its proximity to natural lands such as Cootes Paradise.

“The new Living Learning Communities are a great opportunity for incoming students as they encourage student participation within their residence building,” says Sean Beaudette, Manager of Student Leadership and Learning. “Even more, they allow for learning to continue outside of the classroom which contributes to a fun and educational experience.”

The programming in each LLC is driven by specific learning outcomes while fostering a stronger sense of community within McMaster’s residence buildings. Residence Life staff organize everything from trips to Algonquin Park to League of Legend viewing parties, while students are encouraged to create their own programming with support from the residence Community Activity Fund.

Emma Timewell, a recent first-year student at McMaster shares her positive experience living in the Healthy Active Lifestyle LLC, now known as the Health & Wellness LLC. “Being on the varsity swim team at McMaster, I was expecting my LLC to give me another way to be active,” says Timewell. “As it turned out, living in an LLC also allowed me to be in a community with people who shared a lot of similar interests as me, which made it easier to make friends and get along with everyone.”

Living in residence is no longer the only way for first-year students to join an LLC. As a new initiative that was piloted last year, McMaster’s Mac/One program is designed to help off-campus students makes the connections they would typically enjoy in a first-year residence experience. This year, via the Mac/One program, off-campus students will also be able to join an LLC community of their choosing and benefit from the themed programming and academic supports.

The application process to join an LLC is similar for both on- and off-campus students. Students who are applying for residence have the option to fill out a supplementary application form to join an LLC at no added cost. Similarly, when off-campus students register for the $100 Mac/One program, they will be asked to choose their preferred LLC.

Not only have LLCs proven to increase student satisfaction, they are also very important to student engagement and learning. Each year, students living in LLCs indicate that they attend more residence-based programs and identify more frequently that living in residence contributes positively to their academics. Now the benefits of participating in an LLC will reach further than ever with more communities and off-campus students. Along with the introduction of the Mac/One program, the LLC expansion comes at a great time for incoming students, putting student engagement at the forefront of the McMaster experience.