Food For Thought: The relationship between food insecurity and student success

Presenter(s)

Marcelo Espinoza Diaz, Faraaz Bukhari, Jewelyssa Rodriguez Rodriguez, Kendall Hollins, Calista Douglas, Nevaeh Newton, Dhajia Hopper, Ricky Winston

Abstract or Description

Food insecurity is a prevalent issue for college students. With the rising cost of living, tuition, and inflation, students are at a high risk for experiencing food insecurity. Programs like Rams Against Hunger (RAH) are designed to support students and provide resources to mitigate the subsequent effects of food insecurity. The goal of our project is to explore if RAH is effective at supporting student success. Student success in this context is defined as GPA, retention, graduation rates, and post-graduation ability to secure a job. To begin, we analyzed data from various surveys conducted by Institutional Research, RAH, and First Destination. Then we compared deidentified CSU ID numbers and the parameters of success. From this, we were able to create a model student who is the ideal target of people utilizing RAH.   

If our research finds that these programs are successful at supporting student success, then we intend to use our model to target students who could benefit from this resource. Furthermore, RAH can restructure their outreach and current programs to be more accessible to this model. 

Mentor

Stephanie Moreria, Jacob Leavitt, Grace Kirk