What is Thriving?
Thriving is an expanded vision for student success that incorporates students' intellectual, interpersonal, and psychological engagement and well-being while in college. Emerging from the intersection of research in positive psychology on flourishing (Keyes & Haidt, 2003) and Bean and Eaton's (2000) psychological model of student retention, thriving takes a holistic view of students and their college experience.
​
Author of the Thriving Quotient, Dr. Laurie Schreiner, describes thriving students as "not only succeeding academically but also engaged in the learning process, investing effort to reach important educational goals, managing their time and commitments effectively, connected in healthy ways to other people, optimistic about their future, positive about their present choices, appreciative of differences in others, and committed to enriching their community" (Schreiner, 2020, p. 20). Each of these aspects of thriving are amenable to change through campus interventions.
​
​
​
​
​
Dr. Laurie Schreiner
Dr. Laurie Schreiner is Professor of Higher Education at Azusa Pacific University in southern California, having spent 40 years in higher education as a psychology professor and associate academic dean after receiving her PhD in Psychology from the University of Tennessee. Co-author of The Student Satisfaction Inventory that is used on over 1600 campuses across the US and Canada, she has published numerous journal articles and book chapters on thriving, positive psychology, engaged learning, sophomore success, faculty development, and advising.
She also has consulted with over 150 colleges and universities on issues of student success, strengths-based education, retention, academic advising, student satisfaction, and effective teaching strategies. She has been principal investigator on two federal grants to promote student success and retention and has directed national projects on retention and student satisfaction.
