Research-Centered Projects

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Across the CSU campuses, efforts to increase student retention and degree completion especially among first generation and low income students are being implemented.

However, the lack of awareness related to students’ challenges in meeting their basic needs (food insecurity, homelessness and mental health) and subsequent lack of support in helping students navigate points of services on campus undercut the efforts to increase retention and graduation rates.

Our research aims to inform policy, systems and environmental change that support student basic needs and their academic success.

Research Projects:
Food Insecurity and Utilization of Food Pantries at California State University Northridge
Using the Psychosociocultural Framework to create a campus climate that acknowledges and supports the role of basic needs in student success

Research Team:
Dr. Nelida Duran, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences – Nutrition
Dr. Mirna Troncoso-Sawyer, Department of Health Sciences – Public Health
Dr. Danielle Spratt, Department of English
Dr. Rosalia Garcia-Torres, Department of Family and Consumer Sciences – Food Science

Read more about this Cultural Mismatch Research-Centered Project

California higher education institutions vary on the information disclosed regarding their lactation policy for employees and students.

Differences may include who the policy is for, what the policy includes, and whether the policy states federal/state mandates. The purpose of developing a coding tool for lactation policies is to determine the quality (e.g., comprehensiveness and strength) of these schools’ policies. A 69-item coding tool was developed to evaluate 14 areas (e.g., time). Each area was scored based on comprehensiveness and availability of certain resources. We will include an equitable number of different higher education institutions (public (community college, bachelor’s Degree granting; PhD/Professional Degree granting), independent and private). Two trained raters will independently examine each school’s lactation policies. Two model policies will be used in pilot testing this tool and an expert panel will review this tool.

It is our plan that this coding system may provide a reliable method for comparing school lactation policies for students/employees. Also to provide recommendations to institution stakeholders so that they can better accommodate and protect lactating students/employees (and guests; spouses of students)

Research Area:

• Lactation Policy
• Lactation
• Breast Pumping
• Maternal and Infant Health
• Higher Education

Start Date:

October 2019 - May 2020 (anticipated)

Partners:

Lisa Bandong (Department of Public Health, CSU, San Marcos)

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SEA US, HEAR US is a research project funded ($1.04M) by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) as part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative to develop innovations for COVID-19 testing and vaccination.

Housed at CSU Northridge, the goal of SEA US, HEAR US (“Southeast Asians in the U.S.: Health Equity And Research to Understand COVID-19 Stories”), is to understand and address multi-level social, ethical, and behavioral implications of COVID-19 testing, vaccination, and its sequelae among Cambodian, Filipino, Thai, and Vietnamese Americans in the Greater Los Angeles area through a community-based, mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) approach. Over a 2-year span, the SEA US, HEAR USconsists of a longitudinal cohort study of approximately 1000 participants and one-on-one interviews with 60 community-based leaders.

This project involves multiple collaborators from non-profit community-based organizations, Cal State Los Angeles, and other academic and health organizations in the surrounding area. Led by women of color faculty, SEA US, HEAR US is the only project of its kind at the CSUs. The overall mission of SEA US, HEAR US is to collect disaggregated data on Southeast Asian Americans through a community-vetted approach, bringing visibility and voice to an understudied population.

For more information, please contact Dr. Patty Kwan at patty.kwan@csun.edu.