The development of a model for improving student thriving at private universities in Hunan, China
Keywords:
institutional integrity, nstitutional readiness;, ommitment to student welfare, erceived teacher support, psychological sense of community, campus involvement; student thrivingAbstract
This research explored the influential pathways to student thriving at private universities in Hunan, China by employing a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach, and the strategic model from the research results are expectedto help improve student thriving in these institutions. The conceptual framework was proposed based on theThriving Model and it examined how factors of university support and students’ campus experiences are associated with students’ thriving. Through anonline survey 707 validquestionnaire responses were obtainedfrom students at four representative private universities in Hunan, China. Findings suggested that factors related to university supports (institutional integrity, commitment to student welfare, institutional readiness, and perceived teacher support) and students’ campus experiences (psychological sense of community and campus involvement) are positively associated with student thriving. We also found that students’ campus experiences play the mediating role in the relationship between university supports and student thriving. The SEM model from the results for improving student thriving at private universities in Hunan, China can provide implications and recommendations for teachers and university administrators at private universities in Hunan, China, as well as private higher education policy makers and researchers in this field, to create interventions or conduct further research to enhance student thriving, either practically or theoretically.
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