HSCI 660D PAIRED POLICY BRIEF PAPER RUBRIC

Due Date: June 13, 2017

Group Members: Vanessa Rangel & Athena Montiel
Title: Policy Brief on Food Insecurity Among College Students

Format: 10 points possible _____

6-8-page maximum (body of paper), 12-point font (Arial or Times New Roman) with 1-
inch margins, black ink, white paper
Required paper elements described in guidelines posted in Blackboard with headings
clearly identified per template
Adherence to APA style requirements (Purdue Online Writing Lab: APA Style
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01)
9-10: All details in order or a minor discrepancy or two
7-8: Deviations from format easily noticeable
0-6: Formatting errors detract from overall quality, function, components missing

Writing Quality: 15 points possible _____

Mechanics, e.g., spelling, grammar, punctuation
Sentence / paragraph structure, e.g., subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement,
clear articulation of ideas
14-15: Clean and well written at university level
12-13: Only minimal number of minor errors
0-11: Content compromised because of writing errors

Mindful Content: 50 points possible _____

Each section complete, including accurate conceptual detail per guidelines: Executive
summary, Context and importance of the problem, Critique of policy option(s), Policy
recommendations, Appendices (if necessary).
45-50: Well written, articulate, accurate, graduate-level paper
40-44: Minor errors, inconsistencies do not compromise overall content 35-39:
Errors, inconsistencies, bring comprehension, effort into question
30-34: Number, severity of errors suggests limited comprehension, effort 0-29:
Blatant errors, inconsistencies, or shallow content clearly indicate lack of
comprehension or minimal effort

Group Total: 75 points possible _____

Running head: POLICY BRIEF ON FOOD INSECURITY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS 1

Policy Brief on Food Insecurity Among College Students

Vanessa Rangel & Athena Montiel

California State University, San Bernardino

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Executive Summary
Food insecurity is a nation-wide health issue that affects college students and impacts a

students ability to meet daily needs and right to an education. The CSU system serves over

479,000 college students across 23 campuses in California, which is a large population of

students that depend on the resources the CSU system provides (CalState.edu). Research shows

that as much as 59% of students in a university had been food insecure at least once during the

past year (Patton-Loez, Lopez-Cevallos, Cancel-Tirado, and Vazquez, 2014). A different study

conducted in 2015 with students in the CSU system found that 47% of food insecure students

wanted information regarding campus nutrition assistance programs (Martinez, Brown, &

Ritchie, 2016). CSU campuses should meet the needs of their student population through raising

awareness and creating programs in order for students to be successful. Food insecurity in its

most simplest form can be described as the short or long term inability to to access healthy foods

in a socially acceptable way. Defining food insecurity among college students is very complex

and various factors should be considered including education, socioeconomics, and housing.

These factors are important and must be kept in mind when creating or implementing new

programs and policies addressing college students.

College students who are food insecure tend to have a lower GPA, which potentially

impacts a students ability to graduate and affects university graduation rates, (Maroto, Snelling,

& Linck, 2014). Socioeconomic status including a students ability to pay for books or tuition or

having to choose between making school purchases or groceries may also contribute to a

students academic achievement. A study in 2015 found that 15% of college students in the CSU

system were forced to postpone their studies because of financial issues (Martinez et. al, 2016).

Housing among college students is important because their housing circumstances have changed

and they may now be living alone or in a dorm and in a financial situation where a large portion
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of their income goes to housing. In a study looking at food insecurity among college students

who live in dormitories, researchers found 33% were food insecure (Bruening, Brennhofer, van

Woerden, Todd, & Laska, 2016). Currently there is no system-wide policy in place at the CSU

system level so students rely on food pantries, CalFresh, Feeding America, and National

Campaign against Hunger and Homelessness. Research demonstrates the impact that food

insecurity has on students and universities, but most importantly, the need for a CSU system-

wide nutrition assistance program to help college students meet their basic needs and be

successful.

Context and Importance of Problem

In early 2015, the CSU Chancellor ordered a study to see what programs and resources

universities had put in place addressing food insecurity and homelessness and to what extent they

served the students needs, (Crutchfield et al 2016). The CSU school system acknowledges

responsibility in providing assistance to students who need help meeting their basic needs;

however there is no system wide policy in place that provides nutrition assistance for the

thousands of students dealing with food insecurity. The main issues regarding food insecurity

among college students are distribution of responsibility and the lack of research regarding the

issue. The responsibility for providing resources and creating food assistance programs for food

insecure students has primarily been left to each individual individual campus, even though the

issue is prevalent across the state. CSU system leaders have just recently acknowledged the issue

over the last few years, however funding for research on effective and innovative programs is

needed.

Once the CSU system takes initiative finding or creating effective programs, CSU leaders

will be able to create a policy that provides a foundation for a system-wide nutrition assistance
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that assists students and is maintainable. With a clear foundation of funding, goals, and

recommendations of effective programs it can be up to the discretion of each campus to tailor the

program to best meet the needs of their student population. The campus ability to tailor program

needs is important because of the various factors associated with food insecurity including

student housing, transportation, etc.

Critique of Policy Options

Currently at the CSU system, there is a basic needs initiative, in which all 23 campuses

agree to commit to the success of all 479,00 students within the system, (CalState.edu). These

campuses agree to meet the following needs: food, housing, quality education, emotional

support, financial support, and safety. Yet, there is no system-wide policy to support this.

However, 11 campuses have developed food pantries such as the DEN at CSUSB. At these

pantries, students get the chance to receive a bag full food food and sometimes toiletry items.

Nonetheless, these food pantries are based on on-campus donations only, meaning no external

sources get the opportunity to donate. Faculty members working at these food pantries also

encourage students to enroll in programs such as CalFresh, also known as the Supplemental

Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) or food stamps. Students can use CalFresh as monetary

value and purchase practically all types of foods at participating stores. They can also receive

food vouchers and referrals to other social service resources, including housing, (Crutchfield et.

al, 2016). In addition, CSU students can seek to receive help from outside sources such as

Feeding America and National Student Campaign against Hunger and Homelessness.

The CSU system is failing at successfully meeting the food needs of food insecure

students because currently only 11 out of 23 CSU campuses have implemented a food pantry or

some other type of nutritional service at their location. However, its important to note that even
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though the entire CSU system hasnt successfully met this need as a whole, these campuses have

successfully implemented these pantries and services due to more funds, help, and being able to

break through barriers. On other hand, other campuses have no type of program implemented

because they dont have enough faculty to lead these types of services or they face an

institutional barrier such as a lack of funds, (Crutchfield et. al, 2016). Moreover, one of the

greatest potential barriers is that about 79% CSU students lack the knowledge about available

resources, (Crutchfield et. al, 2016).

Additionally, these students also lack confidence to seek help on campus, so it

demonstrates a lack of awareness. If students lack the confidence to seek help, then it defeats the

purpose of the pantries and nutritional services. The CSU study also showed that students felt

that their needs were not being understood by some faculty members. These negative emotions

can lead students to become stuck as food insecure and not meet their health needs. Moreover,

being food insecure can affect students, not only physically, but mentally as well. In other words,

not giving student enough confidence, comprehension, and knowledge causes the CSU system to

fail to meet the needs of students and ultimately fail to satisfy the basic needs initiative.

Policy Recommendations

The CSU system needs to fund further research about food insecurity on all 23 campuses

in order to truly comprehend the needs of the students. If the CSU system were to fund more

research, then researchers could also narrow down which program or model can be properly

implemented across all 23 campuses. This program or model can be tweaked or changed slightly

into different types of replicas in order to fit the student population of each campus. They can

gain support for this through advocacy or lobbying and perhaps maybe receive outside grants

that can be used for this research. This will allow state officials and sponsors to become aware of
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the crisis that these food insecure college students are facing. After all, college students arent

exactly the population that most people think of in terms of food insecurity.

Once research is complete, the CSU system can then successfully implement a system-

wide policy to meet the needs of their food insecure students. The CSU system should also work

on building partnerships or alliances on campus with other faculty members and student

organizations. For example, faculty members that work with housing or financial aid can be an

essential support system for these students, (Crutchfield et. al, 2016). These faculty members can

help students navigate through their financial aid and perhaps help them set up budgets in order

to help them manage their finances more efficiently. This can help them allocate their funds in a

smarter way, so they can still fund their academics, housing, and food. Faculty members working

in housing can perhaps enroll these students in special programs for housing or help them find

cheaper housing. It would also be important to set up special training for faculty members in

order for them to provide help effectively and be sensitive to the needs of these students. This

can also provide other gateways or points of contact, where students can get help. Overall,

having properly trained and supportive faculty members can help students become more

comfortable in reaching out to faculty for help.

Student organizations on campus can be helpful partners because they can help with

donations and awareness. Most student organizations on campus volunteer as part of their work

and as a representation of their manta. Due to this, some require their members to do a certain

amount of volunteer hours each quarter or semester. Therefore, the CSU system might as well

build partnerships with these clubs and organizations in order to gain more volunteers who can

perhaps organize special events or set up booths on school events in order to spread awareness

among other students and faculty members. This can help increase donations and knowledge
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about resources, which will also increase the confidence of students to seek help for food

insecurity.

The Student Health Centers across all campuses can also provide great support because

they spread awareness and develop workshops in order to deal with certain health issues. Perhaps

creating a workshop on how to sign up for nutritional resources and how to eat on a budget can

be useful tools for food insecure students. During these workshops, guest speakers can come in

as representatives from different nutritional organizations such as CalFresh, WIC, local food

banks, etc. Perhaps even raffling off a grocery gift card can be used as an incentive. This will

definitely provide students with a structured support system and they will feel that they are not

alone. Cooking classes can also be established as part of this workshop, such as how California

State University, Humboldt did so. According to Crutchfield et al 2016, they created cooking

classes that used basic kitchen supplies found in dorms and taught students how to create

healthy, budget-friendly foods. At the end of the workshop, the participants would take home

ingredients and recipes in order to recreate them at home, (Crutchfield et al 2016). This could be

a resourceful add-on that can not only provide students with knowledge, but tools as well.

The CSU system can reduce the amount of stress and need among food insecure students

across all 23 campuses by establishing a system wide policy. They can actually be successful at

meeting the basic needs initiative by going through the following steps: advocating, lobbying,

finding funds, researching, implementing the proper model or program, training faculty

members, and creating support networks on campus within faculty members and student

organizations or clubs. By following these steps, the CSU system will have a higher success rate

with helping food insecure students and diminish health disparities among all 23 campuses. The

implementation of a system wide program can help increase graduation rates and passing grades
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since academics is majorly affected by the lack of proper nutrition. In essence, it is in the benefit

of the CSU system to establish a system wide policy in order to see significant changes across all

boards.

References

Bruening, M. , Brennhofer, S. , van Woerden, I. , Todd, M. , & Laska, M. (2016). Factors related

to the high rates of food insecurity among diverse, urban college freshmen. Journal of the

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 116(9), 1450-1457.

Crutchfield, R., Clark, K., Gamez, S., Green, A., Munson, D., & Stribling, H. (2016, January).

Serving Displaced and Food Insecure Students in the CSU. Retrieved June 8, 2017, from

https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/student-success/basic-needs-
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initiative/Documents/ServingDisplacedandFoodInsecureStudetnsintheCSUJanuary20163.

8.16.pdf

Maroto, M., Snelling, A., & Linck, H. (2014). Food insecurity among community college

students: Prevalence and association with grade point average. Community College

Journal of Research and Practice, 39(6), 1-12.

Martinez, S., Brown, E., & Ritchie, L. (2016). What factors increase risk for food insecurity

among college students?. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 48(7), S4.

Patton-Lez, M., Lpez-Cevallos, D., Cancel-Tirado, D., & Vazquez, L. (2014). Prevalence and

correlates of food insecurity among students attending a midsize rural university in

oregon. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior, 46(3), 209-214.